Roger E. Olson's Blog, page 193

Certainty Not. (A Guest Post)

What follows is a guest post by Austin Fischer, Teaching Pastor at Vista Community Church, Belton, Texas. Austin is a seminary graduate with strong interest in theology. As always with guest posts, I have to say that “The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Roger Olson.” However, I wouldn’t put this here [...]

What distinguishes “evangelical” from “fundamentalist?”

What Distinguishes “Evangelical” from “Fundamentalist?” Is it possible to be truly, authentically evangelical without being fundamentalist? That’s what I really meant to ask in books like Reformed and Always Reforming, How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative, and Questions to All Your Answers (and in many of my articles about “postconservative evangelicalism.” The problem is [...]

Another Round in the Theodicy Debate (This Time Involving Bob Dylan!)

For some reason WordPress has changed my font size and being the complete non-techie that I am, i don’t know how to change it back! I hope this won’t prevent you from reading if that is your intention. I’ll try to get it back to normal size font as soon as possible. (Patheos.com has been [...]

Part 8 of Response to The Gospel as Center, Chapter 8: “Christ’s Redemption”

Part 8 of Response to The Gospel as Center; Chapter 8: “Christ’s Redemption” by Sandy Wilson   Sandy Wilson is pastor of an Evangelical Presbyterian church. That’s a distinct denomination: The Evangelical Presbyterian Church. I’ve been told it is somewhat less conservative than the PCA but more conservative than the PCUSA. Again, I approached this [...]

And Now…It’s Time’s Turn: April 16 (2012) Cover Story about Heaven

And Now…It’s Time’s Turn: April 16 (2012) Cover Story about Heaven It seems the major weekly news magazines are competing for readers by having more frequent covers stories about religion. A few days ago I blogged about Newsweek’s cover story about embracing Jesus and abandoning the church. The current issue of Time has a cover [...]

And Now…It's Time's Turn: April 16 (2012) Cover Story about Heaven

And Now…It's Time's Turn: April 16 (2012) Cover Story about Heaven It seems the major weekly news magazines are competing for readers by having more frequent covers stories about religion. A few days ago I blogged about Newsweek's cover story … Continue reading →

Part 7 of Response to The Gospel as Center: Chapter 7 “What Is the Gospel?”

Part 7 of Response to The Gospel as Center. Chapter 7: “What Is the Gospel” by Bryan Chapell Bryan Chapell is president of Covenant Theological Seminary and is Reformed Presbyterian. I approached this chapter expecting to find somewhere in it a ringing affirmation of monergism as part and parcel of the gospel. I was not [...]

Part 7 of Response to The Gospel as Center: Chapter 7 "What Is the Gospel?"

Part 7 of Response to The Gospel as Center. Chapter 7: "What Is the Gospel" by Bryan Chapell Bryan Chapell is president of Covenant Theological Seminary and is Reformed Presbyterian. I approached this chapter expecting to find somewhere in it … Continue reading →

Truly he is risen!…He sure is! An Easter Meditation

"Truly he is risen!"  "He…sure is!" An Easter Meditation On Easter Sunday morning I took my "Church Fathers and Reformers" class to the Orthodox cathedral. The priest knew we were coming and invited my class and me to come forward … Continue reading →

Reflections on Cognitive Dissonance: Hauerwas and Newsweek

Reflections on Cognitive Dissonance: Hauerwas and Newsweek Recently I've been reading a lot of Stanley Hauerwas who Time magazine labeled America's "best theologian." (Hauerwas famously responded that "best" is not a theological term.) Hauerwas, of course, is renowned for emphasizing … Continue reading →