Roger E. Olson's Blog, page 68

People Disagree. So What?

People Disagree. So What? I don’t remember ever being bothered by the fact that seemingly intelligent and good people disagree about important issues. But I often encounter people who are bothered by that or who believe that such pluralism means there’s no point in continuing the search for truth or being committed to a certain […]

Reclaiming Something Good from a Deeply Flawed Religious Heritage

Reclaiming Something Good from a Deeply Flawed Religious Heritage I was tempted to title this blog essay something like “My experience of ‘second naivete’.” But I was afraid that would send potential readers running scared. I don’t know how many people know what is meant by “second naivete.” I learned the concept from philosopher-theologian Paul […]

Essentials of Christian Thought

Essentials of Christian Thought I interrupt this fascinating discussion about God (change, death) with a commercial break. My publisher has asked me to announce on my blog, today, a special deal on one of my books–good only today (November 19, 2020). Here is the email I received: “I wanted to let you know that The Essentials […]

Who Died on the Cross?

Who Died on the Cross? This is really “part 2”—following my immediately preceding blog essay “Can God Change without Changing?” There I answered in the affirmative. I do not believe in God’s immutability or impassibility or simplicity—as those attributes are often explained in the literature of traditional Christian theism. Of course I believe in them […]

Can God Change without Changing?

Can God Change without Changing? Prior to the 20th century, almost all Christian theologians held firmly to the traditional doctrine of the immutability of God. It was interpreted by most as meaning that God cannot have new experiences; nothing can affect God. God is perfect being and any change in God would be toward greater […]

Distinguishing between a Movement and Its Ethos

Distinguishing between a Movement and Its Ethos People ask me how I can still call myself “evangelical” in light of the fact that about eighty percent of white American evangelicals say they support Donald Trump (who is still, as I write this, president of the United States). Many of my progressive evangelical friends and acquaintances […]

What Is a “Miracle?”

What Is a “Miracle?” Recently I blogged here rather pessimistically that theology might be dead. By that I meant that Christian theologians’ ideas, even consensus ones, those arrived at virtually across the spectrum, do not seem to trickle down into pulpits or pews. Today I want to give an example. I often ask Christians “What […]

Some Random Thoughts on Another Election Day in the U.S.A.

Some Random Thoughts on Another Election Day in the U.S.A. It’s November 3, 2020, another major election day in America. This day comes around every four years; every four years, on the first Tuesday of November, we, American citizens, elect our president and some members of our Congress. (Senators serve for six years.) This is […]

Are “Patriot Churches” Real Churches?

Are “Patriot Churches” Real Churches? *Here, in this essay, I am not thinking of or writing about any particular individual, congregation, or organization. I am only addressing the idea and phenomenon of so-called “Patriot Churches” in the United States of America.* The question I want to address is whether a true “Patriot Church” is really […]

Does Theology Even Matter Anymore?

Does Theology Even Matter Anymore? Toward the untimely end of his life, my friend and co-author Stanley J. Grenz was worrying about whether theology matters anymore. He was saying privately, to me and a few friends, that he felt theology’s time was over and that Christianity was entering into a post-theological phase. And not “phase” […]