Roger E. Olson's Blog, page 158

Does God Change?

Does God Change? I don’t remember when it happened, but I remember the shock I felt when I first encountered the idea that God cannot change—as an idea I was supposed to believe as an evangelical Christian. It was probably sometime during seminary, but it may have been before in some college religion class. I’m [Read More...]

Good Books on the Holy Spirit?

This fall (2014) I will be teaching an elective seminar on the Holy Spirit. I want to make sure I am aware of the best books IN PRINT (that’s very important) about the Holy Spirit from a broadly orthodox Christian perspective. What are your suggestions? What do you consider really good books of a theological [Read More...]

The “Chief End of Man”…God’s Glory…Yes and Amen (But…)

Recently I re-read Jonathan Edwards “Dissertation on the End for Which God Created the World.” And I watched and listened to John Piper’s address about why the evangelical church needs Edwards’ “God-entranced vision” today. (It’s on Youtube.) Some people would be surprised to hear that I agree ALMOST entirely with Edwards and Piper about this [Read More...]

A Word about Preaching: Whatever Happened to “Points?”

I’ve listened to preaching all my life. My father was a preacher (52 years). Many of my uncles and even some of my aunts were preachers. (The aunts were missionaries but could preach circles around some men when given the opportunity!) I visit many churches and hear numerous sermons by different preachers throughout each year. [Read More...]

What We Should Learn from “12 Years a Slave”

I finally watched the movie “12 Years a Slave.” It was very difficult to watch. Why? Not just the brutality portrayed but the fact that the men (and some women) who carried out the brutalities were human beings. (The movie is based on a book written by the protagonist, victim, and is generally considered true.) [Read More...]

Is the “Arminian God” Good?

Is the “Arminian God” Good? Several times I have argued here that a main reason high Calvinism (double predestinarianism) must be wrong is that if it were true God would not be good in any meaningful sense. If it were true, we would have no idea what we mean when we say “God is good” [Read More...]

Off the Usual Topics: Gender Double Stereotypes

Off the Usual Topics: Gender Double Standards We hear and see a lot decrying cultural double standards that harm girls and women. Most recently I saw a campaign by several organizations to stop referring to girls and women as “bossy” when they are simply being assertive in the same way boys and men can be [Read More...]

“Belong, Believe, Behave?” Or “Believe, Behave, Belong?”

“Belong, Believe, Behave?” Or “Believe, Behave, Belong?” I’m not sure who first suggested the idea, but some years ago someone associated with the “emerging church” movement said that churches need to move from a policy of requiring right belief and right living for belonging to offering belonging followed by believing and behaving. For some postevangelical [Read More...]

The Difference between “Orthodoxy” and “Fundamentalism”

Something that dismays me is the common confusion between “Christian orthodoxy” and “fundamentalism.” There are probably many reasons for it, but I think the common one (among Christians, anyway) is that people “burned” by fundamentalism run from orthodoxy due to an over reaction. Some people I know almost break out in hives when they hear [Read More...]

Follow Up to Why (High) Calvinism Is Impossible

Suppose someone said “God is sovereign but God’s sovereignty is different from our ideas of sovereignty. God is sovereign but possesses only the power of persuasion.” Someone else objects saying “But wait. There is no meaning of ‘sovereignty’ known to man that is compatible with having only the power of persuasion.” The first person responds, [Read More...]