Roger E. Olson's Blog, page 131

My Holley-Hull Lectures at Samford University

This week (October 6-9, 2015) I’ve had the privilege of delivering the annual Holly-Hull Lectures at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Several people asked me about receiving copies of my lectures and I promised to put those here. I’ll do that over the next week–one at a time. Others may find them interesting as well. [Read More...]

Is There a Role for Shaming in Public Ethics?

One of the most famous questions ever asked in public of a public person was U.S. Army counsel Joseph Welch’s question to Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954 during McCarthy’s anti-communist witch hunt in Congress. In total disgust Welch asked McCarthy “At long last, Senator, have you no sense of decency?” This was an example of [Read More...]

Discussion of Scot McKnight’s “Kingdom Conspiracy” Part Four

Discussion of Scot McKnight’s Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church Part Four A week and some days ago I invited you to read Kingdom Conspiracy (Brazos Press, 2014) along with me and participate in a discussion of it here. Hopefully you have obtained the book by now and are prepared [Read More...]

Guest Column from Austin Fischer: Monergism…

As some of you who have been my long-time readers know, Austin Fischer is my protégé even tough I can’t take credit for his intelligence or writing skills. He’s a brilliant thinker, teaching pastor (The Vista Community Church, Temple, Texas) and excellent writer. His book “Young, Restless, No Longer Reformed” (Wipf & Stock) has sold [Read More...]

Discussion of Scot McKnight’s “Kingdom Conspiracy” Part Three

Discussion of Scot McKnight’s Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church Part Three A week and some days ago I invited you to read Kingdom Conspiracy (Brazos Press, 2014) along with me and participate in a discussion of it here. Hopefully you have obtained the book by now and are prepared [Read More...]

Returning to My Roots for One Day

Today, Sunday, September 27, 2015, I return to my roots for a day. My home church, the church I grew up in, a “sort of” Pentecostal church (that fits nobody’s stereotype of that religious type) invited me to preach and lead the singing. Many people have asked me about my idea of an “ideal New [Read More...]

Is It Capitalism at Work or “Gouging” or Both?

Current news reports (September 23/24, 2015) are pointing an accusing finger at a pharmaceutical company’s CEO for suddenly increasing the price of a medicine it manufactures and sells–from about $15 per pill to about $700 per pill. (The details vary, of course, because what price is charged can depend on the retailer.) Apparently, from reports [Read More...]

Discussion of Scot McKnight’s “Kingdom Conspiracy” Part Two

Discussion of Scot McKnight’s Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church Part Two A few days ago here I invited you to read Kingdom Conspiracy (Brazos Press, 2014) along with me and participate in a discussion of it here. Hopefully you have obtained the book by now and are prepared to [Read More...]

Should A Christian Be President of the United States?

Should A Christian Be President of the United States? According to news reports, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president of the United States was asked whether a Muslim should be president of the United States and he responded that he did not think so. Later, according to other news reports, he “clarified” that [Read More...]

Embarrassed by the Parousia? Evangelicals and the Return of Christ

Embarrassed by the Parousia? Evangelicals and the Return of Christ A while back I blogged here about evangelical embarrassment about the supernatural, miracles. I admitted then that most American evangelical Christians pay lip service to the reality of miracles but seem reluctant actually to believe in contemporary miracles—except “on the mission fields” (viz., Africa and [Read More...]