A Twenty-first Century Reformation?
Every year a new round of publications on the Protestant Reformation checker the pages of academic catalogs around this time. While the arguments and approaches of these books differ, they all implicitly point to the same conclusion: the Reformation’s significance to Christianity is enduring and will continue to be the subject of conversation going forward. Baptists are frequently dismissed as not being historically or theologically...
Religion for the Weak
“Who did Jesus come for?” This is not the typical way we frame the purpose of Jesus’ coming. Usually we think about the cross, forgiveness, and perhaps even the kingdom of God. But inserting the interrogative “who” moves our thoughts elsewhere. Former Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura (D), infamously said, “Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers.” We could dismiss this as the...
Great Is Thy Faithfulness? An Interview with Heath Thomas
One character trait that I admire in a biblical scholar is his/her willingness to tackle tough subjects. They focus on aspects of biblical literature that others avoid, and then seek to draw their students and readers into new horizons of Scripture’s spiritual landscape. Dr. Heath Thomas is one such scholar. He serves as professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina....
Arminius on the Human Condition
Determining what’s wrong with people is arguably the most important job of physicians. But the task of diagnostics goes far beyond what shows up in lab results. It is a theological task as well. One of the most important areas of any theologian’s thought is their anthropology. In particular, what perspective they adopt concerning the fall, sin, and the human condition is paramount for knowing whether their theology is biblically...
What Is Worldliness?
“Don’t drink, don’t smoke; don’t cuss, don’t chew; don’t go with girls who do.” This humorous mantra is not so foreign to the ears of some conservative Christians. While its origin is unknown, it is often attributed to fundamentalist preachers of the mid-late twentieth century. The aim of this saying was to combat the problem of worldliness. Nearly everyone reared in a religious setting has encountered some mode of engagement with the...
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