This series of posts deals with the global context in its many dimensions-historical, social, cultural, political, economic, and religious. We will provide book notices, book reviews, and brief essays on these topics. We hope that you will find this series helpful as you live and bear witness in a complex and increasingly hyper-connected world.
J. M. Roberts’ The Penguin History of Europe is the best one-stop history of Europe available. (Norman Davies’ Europe: A History is … [Read More]
Administrator’s Note: Yestersday Tom Ascol posted a “bloggersation” between he and Alvin Reid at the Founders Ministries Blog. They discussed a number of issues, including the history of their friendship, the Great Commission Resurgence, the 2009 Louisville Convention, and the Calvinism debate in the SBC. Because of Alvin’s participation in that bloggersation, we thought it would be good to also publish this material at BtT. Special thanks to Tom Ascol for his gracious permission to … [Read More]
This is the third article in a four-part series on fifteen factors that have changed the SBC since 1979. As I noted in my previous article, this list is not exhaustive, overlap exists between some factors, and I list them in no particular order of importance. You can read the previous articles in this series here and here.
10. The Americanization of the South
OK, I admit that this one began long before 1979, though it reached … [Read More]
One of my earliest memories of my first semester at SEBTS involved a trip to a university in our state with a brand new seminary student named J. D. Greear. J.D. and I hit it off immediately once he enrolled in my first evangelism class. He took me that September to his college alma mater where I spoke to a large group of students meeting weekly in a Bible study he started.
That night I met … [Read More]
We first posted this article about a year ago at BtT, but have decided to publish it again. This is one of the questions we are most frequently asked by students, laypeople, and persons in need of spiritual counsel. For that reason it seems beneficial to once again make this resource available. It is our prayer that this article will help you come to biblical convinctions about this very important issue.
WHY WE BELIEVE CHILDREN WHO DIE … [Read More]
I have long been interested in the role that state Baptist papers have played in our denomination’s history. A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to present a conference paper titled “Baptist State Papers: One Source of Piety Among 19th Century Baptists in the South.” I have also written a couple of short articles for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina on Thomas Meredith, the founding editor of the Biblical Recorder (see here … [Read More]
This is the second article in a (now) four-part series on fifteen factors that have changed the SBC since 1979. As I noted in my previous article, this list is not exhaustive, overlap exists between some factors, and I list them in no particular order of importance. You can read the first article in this series here.
6. Changing Paradigms in Education Ministry
Whatever happened to the old-fashioned education minister? There was a time when virtually every … [Read More]
Noise-cancelling headphones are one of the best inventions in recent memory. I was given a set a couple of years ago. Since I travel a fair amount, I have come to appreciate the ability to block out aircraft engine noise and a fair amount of other distractions as well. I like my headphones.
But I’ve discovered that my headphones have their limitations. The do not cut out noise at certain frequencies, including high pitched baby squeals … [Read More]
One of my frustrations as a Baptist history professor is that many of my students, particularly those under age 35 or so, cannot name one well-known Southern Baptist preacher from the 20th century. In my Baptist history class last fall, there was not one student–not one–who had ever heard of George Truett, R. G. Lee, W. A. Criswell, Herschel Hobbs, or even Adrian Rogers. There were a couple who knew who Jerry Vines was, but that was because of … [Read More]
Where I live it is hard to escape it. It is, to employ one of those expensive words, ubiquitous. It is impossible to escape. “It” is the practice of Christians who display silly sayings on church signs.
It isn’t unusual that a Christian would wish to say something. After all, our faith is rooted in revelation. Our God is the speaking God who calls his people to speak after him. That Christians speak, then, is not … [Read More]
