Roger E. Olson's Blog, page 2

Jesus, the Strong and the Weak

“The strong must stand with the weak and defend their cause.” That is Walter Rauschenbusch’s third of Jesus’s social principles in The Social Principles of Jesus. If you are reading it with me, feel free to comment. If not, feel free to ask a question. In any case, observe the rules stated at the end […]

The Achilles Heel of Secular Humanism

Recently one of my valued interlocutors here, an intellectual who espouses secular humanism, asked me to consider the arguments of Jacob Bronowski. Bronowski argued that the human species has special value and dignity because of the capacities it has (we have) such as complex language and the ability to communicate and hand down discoveries and […]

Mystery, Paradox, Contradiction

A Mysterious Topic: “Mystery,” “Paradox,” and “Contradiction” in Theology One way in which some well-meaning but misguided persons have attempted to resolve the seemingly intractable differences between divine determinism, including evil as part of God’s plan rendered certain by God, and creaturely free will as power of contrary choice, including evil as not part of […]

Why I Am an Evangelical Arminian continued

This essay continues a series about why I am an “evangelical Arminian Christian.” 5) My Fifth Principle: Answers to Life’s Ultimate Questions Must Be Revealed (And Received) As I move on in this series of “my principles,” what I say will increasingly assume readers’ knowledge of the previous essays. Unlike many television shows, I will […]

Rauschenbusch: The Social Principles of Jesus

Here I begin discussion of Walter Rauschenbusch’s book The Social Principles of Jesus with the first chapter: The Value of Human Life. If you have read the chapter, feel free to comment. If not, feel free to ask a question. In any case, observe the rules stated at the end of this post. For those […]

Two Kinds of People?

After numerous conversations with people and watching and listening to many interviews and commentaries and reading many books I have concluded there are two kinds of people in the world. Some people are individualists who regard society as a collection of responsible individuals and some people are organic thinkers who regard society as an organic, […]

Why I Am An Evangelical Arminian 4

*First read my first three posts in this series; they immediately precede this blog post. This essay continues a series of essays answering why I am an “evangelical Arminian Christian.” 4) My Fourth Principle: There Is No “View from Nowhere” (or “View from Everywhere”) (By Roger E. Olson) As I move on in this series […]

Is Pacifism Naive and Dangerous?

  Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War in the US government, has publicly labeled pacifism “naive and dangerous” and declared that pacifists do not deserve to be defended. Of course, as a Mennonite, I take umbrage at that and ask for support from my fellow Christians, including those who are not pacifists. There is a large […]

New Book Discussion: The Social Principles of Jesus

Here I am announcing a new book discussion series: The Social Principles of Jesus by Walter Rauschenbusch. It was published in 1917. It is in the public domain, so it is available from any publishers. You can download it from Amazon for Kindle free (so it says). Or you can pay about $7 to purchase […]

The Night of the Long Knives

In late June and early July, 1934, over three to four days, German dictator Adolf Hitler had as many as one hundred of his enemies, and some others, murdered. The slaughter began with former Hitler sidekick and supporter Ernst Roehm, leader of the SA (popular known as the “Storm Troopers”), a Nazi-related militia gone rogue. […]