I benefited from reading Cabal and Rasor’s book in a variety of ways. It is written in a clear and accessible style and covers a lot of ground in an admirably concise fashion. Its particular strengths in my view are: 1) its attention to the history of these discussions in the church, 2) its focus…

  “Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.” Psalm 10:17–18   Stop Child Witch Accusations (SCWA) was formed in 2012 and is a coalition of predominantly Christian,…

In a previous post I mentioned that I drafted an “Elder Affirmations about Creation & Evolution” to articulate for the leadership of our church a set of convictions that we share in common and that might provide an outline for a teaching position for our church. I received several inquiries about this document and thus…

I came to know John Webster partly because I moved in the wide orbit of Barth studies, where he was an acknowledged master, and partly because I was his successor teaching theology at Wycliffe College. Even after his departure for Oxford John would return to Toronto from time to time to connect with friends, including…

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from C. Christopher Smith’s book, Reading for the Common Good, now available from IVP. Reading is a practice that is formative for communities of God’s people, especially when we learn to read in ways that are not driven merely by a desire for entertainment or for self-improvement. (Certainly,…

“You have to understand how shocked I am to be in this interview.I assured my husband, when we were engaged, that I would never join a church staff.” Stacie was a vibrant, passionate, highly gifted thirty-something. We were pursuing her as our Associate Pastor of Disciple-making. She was currently a doctoral philosophy student, a veteran…

This post continues the thoughts from my previous post on Discussing the Church. It is the second in a series of posts that will consider how the church has thought about its role and membership in history. Throughout the history of the Christian church, there have been several ways in which the church has understood…

If you use facebook or follow prominent Christian websites, you are probably aware of the recent lively discussion about church. The latest installment in this debate began when Donald Miller wrote a blog post in which he acknowledged that he does not frequently attend church. Many evangelicals responded to Miller’s comments. Several authors wrote defenses…

After postponing it for health complications, on Wednesday, April 17 at 1:00 in Hinkson Hall, the Henry Center and Jonathan Edwards Center will host Oliver Crisp (Fuller Theological Seminary) for our co-sponsored Edwards and the Church series. In his lecture, “Jonathan Edwards on Preaching,” Crisp will present Edwards’ understanding of the nature and task of…

In my last post, I raised some questions about the role of experience in our faith development.  The fact that we learn from experience seems rather obvious.  But what sorts of experiences are educative?  Precisely how do we learn from experience?  How can educators help others learn from their experiences? Several education theorists have sought…

Every fiber in my body tensed up.  In my mind, I immediately began barraging the man sitting to my left with questions.  I was baffled.  No sooner had I read the last word from a passage in Hebrews than he blurted, “I don’t agree with that.” That comment plagued my thoughts for several days.  What…

Celebrate the pastorate.  These words caught my eye as I scrolled through my Facebook feed earlier today.  I paused long enough to see that they were projected on the screen in the Trinity chapel behind speaker Philip Griffin.  This week, Philip Griffin kicked off the Timothy Series, a joint effort of the Henry Center and…