Roger E. Olson's Blog, page 134

Discussion of “Malestrom” by Carolyn Custis James (Part One)

Discussion of Malestrom by Carolyn Custis James (Part One) I recently announced here that I would begin a series of blog posts based on evangelical author Carolyn Custis James’s new book Malestrom:Manhood Swept into the Currents of A Changing World (Zondervan, 2015). I realize most interested people will not have had time to order and [Read More...]

An Invitation to Discuss “Malestrom” by Carolyn Custis James

An Invitation to Discuss Malestrom by Carolyn Custis James Either serendipity or providence. Just a few weeks ago I was on a panel discussing Christ and Gender with Ben Witherington and Carolyn Custis James at the MissioAlliance gathering in Alexandria, Virginia. It’s an explosive issue; whatever a person says will inevitably spark some strong disagreement, [Read More...]

Help with New Denominations

This is a request for your help identifying relatively new Christian denominations in the U.S. It’s for a project I’m beginning to undertake. I will explain more about that project later. (I’ve had a special interest in denominations for many years and have served as a consultant to the last two editions of the Handbook [Read More...]

Recommendation of an Old But Good Book about the Human Condition (A Follow Up to the Previous Post about Christian Ignorance and Anti-Intellectualism)

Recommendation of an Old but Good Book about the Human Condition (A Follow Up to the Previous Post about Christian Ignorance and Anti-Inellectualism) Do you like to read serious but understandable Christian theology? Are you interested in creative and insightful, biblically-based, serious investigations of biblical themes correlated with contemporary cultural questions and issues? Are you [Read More...]

Whatever Happened to the Christian Mind?

Whatever Happened to the Christian Mind? Yes, I know, this has been asked before—numerous times and by many Christian philosophers and theologians. A relatively recent classic on the subject is Mark Noll’s The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Eerdmans, 1994). Francis Schaeffer, especially in his early works, decried Christian anti-intellectualism. Recently a friend sent me [Read More...]

True Christian Ecumenism: Reconciled Diversity

True Christian Ecumenism: Reconciled Diversity Some Christian theologians I know believe the existence of separate Christian denominations is scandalous. H. Richard Niebuhr very strongly promoted that belief in his classic book The Social Sources of Denominationalism (1929). For much of the twentieth century especially so-called “mainline” Protestants talked endlessly about “visible and institutional unity” of [Read More...]

Horizontal and Vertical Churches: Where’s the Balance?

Horizontal and Vertical Churches: Where’s the Balance? I visit a lot of churches. During my adult lifetime I have attended (more than one or two times) numerous churches of many denominations. And I read about churches. “Church life” is one of my strongest interests. (I served as consultant for two editions of Abingdon’s Handbook of [Read More...]

Why I Won’t Read “Go Set a Watchman” by Harper Lee

Why I Won’t Read Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee I recently read a commentary by a newspaper editor suggesting that both To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman be chosen as “books of the year” for an annual city-wide reading project. (Each year the city chooses one book and encourages people [Read More...]

Follow Up to Musings about Whether the Past Can Be Changed

Follow Up to Musings about Whether the Past Can Be Changed The immediately preceding post raised the question whether the past can be changed—even by God (July 24, 2015). Therein I asked specifically whether a prayer can influence the past and, if so, why Christians generally don’t pray for God to change the past and [Read More...]

Can the Past Be Changed (Even By God)? Some Musings about Time

Can the Past Be Changed (Even By God)? Some Musings about Time Recently I’ve been listening (on my ipod, as I exercise and drive) to Stephen King’s excellent novel “11-22-63.” I don’t really like King’s horror novels, but I have enjoyed listening to some of his books—especially murder mysteries (The Mercedes Man and Finders Keepers). [Read More...]