Roger E. Olson's Blog, page 166

A Modest Proposal for Fixing the World: Let Women Run It

A Modest Proposal for Fixing the World: Let Women Run It I take it most people are aware by now that women are morally superior to men. Few would argue that women actually have greater value than men—in some ontological sense (whether in the eyes of God or simply in terms of value to world). [Read More...]

“Mr. Smith” Goes to Church, but Should He Be Allowed To? (When Should Churches Exclude People?)

“Mr. Smith” Goes to Church, but Should He Be Allowed To? (When Should Churches Exclude People?)             Raise the possibility of excluding anyone from church in the circles I move in and you’ll get push back immediately. “Church is for everyone; we welcome all.” That’s the attitude of a lot of well-meaning Christians in America [Read More...]

Was Dietrich Bonhoeffer a Would-Be Assassin? (Review of a New Book)

Was Dietrich Bonhoeffer a Would-Be Assassin? We’re in the middle of another Dietrich Bonhoeffer renaissance. A new wave of interest in the German theologian is being lifted by new biographies and examinations of his theology. Everyone seems to want to claim Bonhoeffer for their own causes. This was the case, of course, in the 1960s [Read More...]

The Ethics of Football

The Ethics of Football This may be one of the most controversial blog posts I’ve written yet. Who in their right mind takes on football in America today? Especially while living in the most pro-football state in America? And yet, that is exactly what an ethicist should do—challenge sacred cows. No, not kill them, but [Read More...]

What Is “Liberal Theology?”

During my career as a Christian theologian I have several times been accused of being either liberal or on the way to being liberal. The accusers clearly meant liberal as in “liberal theology”–not liberal politically (which I am). John Piper told me to my face that he perceived me as “on a liberal trajectory.” (I [Read More...]

Case Studies in “Re-forming Orthodoxy”

Case Studies in “Re-forming Orthodoxy” Of course, following one definition of “orthodoxy” nobody should “re-form” it. That definition is simply “right thinking” or “theological correctness.” If you’re convinced a doctrine is true and correct, then you wouldn’t want to re-form it. However, there are other definitions of “orthodoxy.” A common one is “what ought to [Read More...]

A Final Word (Hopefully) about the McDermott Article and My Alleged “Meliorism”

A Final Word (Hopefully) about the McDermott Article and My Alleged “Meliorism” If you have not read my two previous (and recent) blog posts about theologian Gerald McDermott’s article “The Emerging Divide in Evangelical Theology” (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 56:2 [June 2013]) this third one will not make much sense to you. I [Read More...]

Returning to the Issue of International Adoption

  A few months ago I posted some comments here about pitfalls in international adoptions. Here is a case study in three web sites. Even if you aren’t already interested in this issue, please take a look. Feel free to spread these links far and wide. http://www.speakoutaboutgivinghoperes... https://rally.org/adoptivefamiliesnee... http://speakoutaboutgivinghoperescuem...

Would McDermott Call Donald Bloesch a “Meliorist?” (And Some Comments about Evangelical Heresy-Hunting)

Donald Bloesch was one of the most highly respected evangelical theologians for forty years. He was born in 1928 and died in 2010. He wrote numerous books–all considered within the mainstream of American evangelical thought (except perhaps by fundamentalists). True, he studied with Karl Barth and was influenced by him, but he was always irenically [Read More...]

What Should a Pastor Say to a Group of Boys?

What Should a Pastor Say to a Group of Boys? A friend who is youth pastor at a “mainline” Protestant church has invited me to speak with the boys of his youth group. Fortunately, the youth pastor sees the precarious situation of boys in our contemporary American society as it really is—precarious and pernicious. He [Read More...]