Roger E. Olson's Blog, page 66

On Not Making a Religion of Politics

On Not Making a Religion of Politics My observation is that many Americans are making a religion out of politics. That is, they are putting into political activism, even if only on social media, the passion that should be reserved for religion. To be even clearer and more specific, for many people, many Christians included, […]

My Deep Disappointment with Franklin Graham

My Deep Disappointment with Franklin Graham According to news reports, after the vote by the House of Representatives to impeach Trump, evangelical leader Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, compared the Republican members of Congress who voted to impeach to Judas, betrayer of Christ. I am not alone among evangelicals when I criticize Graham for […]

What Is “The Church?”

What Is “The Church?” Of course this question—What Is the Church?—is far too “big” for a blog essay to answer. Here is why I am asking this question now, in this forum, and attempting to answer it—however partially. Over the past few years I have heard and read many people publicly referring to “the American […]

Is “Liberal Christianity” Authentic Christianity?

Is “Liberal Christianity” Authentic Christianity? A few weeks ago I invited you to join me in reading A Theology for the Twenty-first Century by theologian Douglas Ottati (Eerdmans, 2020). I don’t know how many, if any, took up my invitation, but I plunged on perhaps alone and finished the 749 page volume today. Why? Because […]

A Church Father Senator Hawley and His Mentors Should Read

A Church Father Senator Hawley and His Mentors Should Read Recently I commented here about U.S Senator Joshua Hawley’s misuse of fifth century heretic Pelagius. The attempt to draw a line of influence from him to today’s social decadence in America is just wrong. But here is who Hawley and his mentors (I think I […]

False Right-wing Political Appeal to Ancient Christian Heretic Pelagius

False Right-wing Political Appeal to the Ancient Christian Heretic Pelagius All too frequently, conservative Christians attempt to connect dots that cannot fairly be connected. They attempt to draw lines from something awful today back to something awful in the past. Why? Well, in most cases it’s sheer demagoguery and one is tempted to suspect they […]

Guest Essay by Theologian Ted Peters: Is America Suffering from Moral Injury?

Guest Essay: Is America Suffering from Moral Injury? Ted Peters (American Lutheran Theologian) During the storming of the Capitol on Epiphany, January 6, 2021, one QAnon activist, Ashli Babbitt, was shot to death by police. She had tweeted the day prior to the assault, “It’s all I dream about and pray for! What is dark […]

Social Hysteria: A Suggested Explanation of a Common Phenomenon

Social Hysteria: A Suggested Explanation of a Common Phenomenon *Note: I wrote this before the insurrection of January 6, 2021* I am neither a sociologist nor a psychologist, let alone a social psychologist. So, there, that’s out of the way. What I propose here is an amateur explanation of a phenomenon anyone familiar with social […]

Free Will or Not? Another Round in the Debate

Free Will or Not? Another Round in the Debate I promised Arminian theologian Robert E. Picirilli (Free Will Baptist) that I would review his book Free Will Revisited: A Respectful Response to Luther, Calvin, and Edwards (Wipf & Stock, 2017) on my blog. This, however, is more than a review; it is an interaction with […]

The Dark Side of Feminism

The Dark Side of Feminism Don’t get all worked up about the title of this blog post, please! I have here and everywhere fully supported the main goals of the women’s movement/feminism such as total, absolute equality between the sexes. I have long taught against patriarchy in all its forms and lived that commitment in […]