Theologian William Placher once made the following observation: “Several times, introducing me to a church group, a well-meaning person has said, ‘Bill Placher is a theologian, but I think you’ll find what he has to say very interesting.’ That but always worries me, yet it captures something honest about contemporary attitudes to Christian theology.” I […]
spiritual formation
How we try to avoid coming to terms with hell (Part 1): Make it small
In my article “Hell, right doctrine, and right character” I proposed my thesis in the form of a rhetorical question: Shouldn’t right doctrine seamlessly interweave with right character formation? In other words, the more that the consistent and clear acceptance of a doctrine frustrates the formation of one’s Christian character the less likely the doctrine is […]
The spiritual discipline of reading your unfair critics
I’ve been actively blogging for four years now. And during that time I’ve read countless criticisms from non-Christians (usually atheists) and Christians (usually Calvinists) that I consider ignorant and unfair (to put it mildly). Here are a few examples: “I would leave this comment on Rauser’s site but you have to go through too much BS […]
