Theology

Mel Gibson’s movie has everyone buzzing about theology, and liberal extremist theologians John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg have found an audience to whom they can sound off: The theology that informs “The Passion of Christ” is that God sacrificed Jesus to pay the penalty for humanity’s sins. All of humanity, therefore, is responsible for … Read more

If you’ve been in evangelical Christian circles for even a short while, you’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase, “all sin is the same in the eyes of God.” Aside from the explicit, it’s typically used to show that a Jared Bridges is in the same need of redemption as a Joseph Stalin. So far, so good. … Read more

Being the valiant romantic that I am, I took the missus to Cincinnati this Valentine’s weekend where we saw the exhibit, Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes at the Cincinnati Museum Center. Nothing keeps the spark in your marriage going like a few Papal artifacts, eh? The exhibit had its ups … Read more

Jim Tonkowich has a great article on the relationship between boredom and a lack of wonder: If we are bored and casting about for the next experience that may, at least temporarily, jerk us back to life, we will never develop a Christian spirituality and worldview. First, we will never make the time and take … Read more

I was reading Carl F. H. Henry’s The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism last night and something was bothering me—Henry used the terms “evangelical” and “fundamentalist” interchangeably. If I were reading the book in 1947 when Henry wrote it, I wouldn’t have any problem with that—the terms meant the same thing in 1947. Today, however, … Read more

I don’t use the term “heretic” freely, but the wildly popular Benny Hinn doesn’t do anything to help himself avoid the label. He is, to put it simply, a heretic and a shyster. This month’s issue of The Door Magazine has a particularly denunciatory article/expose on the white-suited evangelist: He has no church. He belongs … Read more

The Russian newspaper Pravda is reporting that Elijah Ripson, who along with Michael Drosnin wrote the 1997 book, The Bible Code, has emerged with a new set of predictions that the Bible has given us: In his research, Ripson concludes that the upcoming year of 2006 will be the most dangerous in terms of terrorist … Read more

I have many, many points of contention with this article by Alan Wolfe in the January 2004 edition of the British magazine Prospect. In the article, entitled “Dieting for Jesus,” Wolfe paints American evangelicalism with a broad stroke that is cheifly pejorative in tone. The general thesis of the article is summed up in the … Read more

If you haven’t yet heard of the bizarre case of Armin Meiwes, the German cannibal who killed and ate the apparently willing Bernd Brandes, this is not something from an Anthony Hopkins movie or Thomas Harris book. Meiwes, who sought out potential victims on the internet, is on trial in Germany and is actually trying … Read more

After speaking in a church, and finally openly talking about religion, it appears that Howard Dean is now a theologian: Touring with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Dr. Dean also visited Galilee, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. “If you know much about the Bible — which I do — to see … Read more