Roger E. Olson's Blog, page 25

Walter Rauschenbusch and the Social Gospel

Walter Rauschenbusch and the Social Gospel A faithful follower of this blog asked me to post something about Walter Rauschenbusch which I’m glad to do. He is one of my heroes. Which is not to say I agree with everything he wrote. Rauschenbusch was the son of a German immigrant who became a Baptist in […]

Evangelical Pastor Goes Ballistic on Trump

Evangelical Pastor Goes Ballistic on Trump You may have already seen it. It’s all over Youtube. Pastor Loren Livingston of Central Church of God in Charlotte, North Carolina, preaches a powerful sermon against Donald Trump, MAGA politics mixed with Christianity, and the new Bible that Trump is selling that contains the US Constitution. Go to […]

The Political Meaning of Christianity: Revolution and …

The Political Meaning of Christianity: Revolution and … Equality/Inequality Here I am taking up for comment and discussion (among those who have read it) pages 165 to 180 of The Political Meaning of Christianity by Glenn Tinder. The sections under consideration here are of Chapter Four: Social Transformation and they are titled Revolution and Inequality […]

My Experiences with Liberal Churches

My Experiences with Liberal Churches Recently I posted a blog essay here about my nostalgia for some aspects of my fundamentalist church upbringing. But what about my experiences in liberal Protestant churches? I have, in the past, been a member of two different liberal Protestant churches. They would probably not call themselves “liberal,” but I […]

Feeling Nostalgia for Fundamentalism

Feeling Nostalgia for Fundamentalism I had a memory “flashback.” I suddenly, out of nowhere, remembered and felt an experience from the somewhat distant past. I was attending the annual national convention of the American Academy of Religion—a professional society of religion scholars that drew around four to five thousand attenders. I don’t remember the city-location […]

The Political Meaning of Christianity: Social Reform

The Political Meaning of Christianity: Social Reform Here I take up two more sections of Glenn Tinder’s book The Political Meaning of Christianity: Chapter Four, Social Transformation, sections Prophetic Hope and Social Reform and Communal Liberation and the Will of God (pp. 151-165). Among other things, Tinder asserts that, in spite of “the Christian record,” […]

Why Calvinism Cannot Be True and Is It Heresy?

Why Calvinism Cannot Be True and Is It Heresy? Of course I’ve addressed this before here and elsewhere. But, since I have posted about two thousand essays here, there is very little about which I have not written here. So, I am returning to a basic theme here—Calvinism. As everyone knows, I am an evangelical […]

How Many Gods Do Christians Believe In?

How Many Gods Do Christians Believe in? Titles generally require that all nouns begin with capital letters, but now I will revise the title of this blog post to correct it: “How many gods do Christians believe in?” Notice the difference. And know that here I am not talking about Mormonism or Latter Day Saints. […]

The Political Meaning of Christianity: Power & State

The Political Meaning of Christianity: Power & State Several readers and I are here discussing the book The Political Meaning of Christianity by Glenn Tinder (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991). Those who are reading the book, and have read the pages I’m commenting on, are welcome to comment and question. Others are welcome to question. Two sections of […]

What Is (Christian) Folk Religion?

What Is (Christian) Folk Religion? Folk religion is an anthropological category also used in the sociology of religion. It is religion done, believed, practiced, by the people, not the scholars. Every religion has its own form of folk religion. However, folk religions share some common features. Here I am writing specifically about American Christian folk […]