Sometimes Christians with a public platform say foolish and irresponsible things that gain international attention and bring significant embarrassment to the cause of Christ and His gospel. Such is the case again with Pat Robertson’s declaration that God judged Haiti with an earthquake for having swore a pact with the devil in the 18th century to escape French rule and oppression. Such an outrageous statement quickly made its way around the world. I am currently … [Read More]
Jesus and the Economic Recession
Robbie Sagers has written an excellent article titled “Jesus and the Economic Recession” for Evangel, an evangelical blog affiliated with First Things. An excerpt:
Financially, these are certainly not the best of times. The temptation comes to “save up” in times of hardship, with intentions of “giving more” when one is able. What’s needed in such a situation is what’s always needed in instances of delayed obedience—that is, swift repentance.
A poor economy provides believers with the … [Read More]
A City within a City: Church, Culture, & Counter-Culture
We at BtT invite you to join us for our February conference, “City within a City: Church, Culture, & Counter-Culture (Feb 5-6, 2010). The conference features five plenary sessions (Danny Akin, Matt Chandler, David Platt, JD Greear, and Clayton King) and 30 breakout sessions (Chandler, Platt, McKinion, Reid, Finn, Ashford, King, Greear, etc.).
This is our annual collegiate conference and is focused on college-aged students, but we welcome seminary students, young professionals, and mature high school students. We expect … [Read More]
The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience
Last Friday a document titled “The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience” was released to the public. According to the press release, “The 4,700-word declaration issues a clarion call to Christians to adhere to their convictions and informs civil authorities that the signers will not – under any circumstance – abandon their Christian consciences” (emphasis in original). The declaration was drafted by Robert George, Timothy George, and Chuck Colson and signed by more than … [Read More]
Ideas Have Consequences: The Place of the Liberal Arts within a Theological Education, Part 2
This is the second article in a series of two defending the study of the history of ideas as a crucial component in a balanced undergraduate theological education. Our guest author for this article is Ed Gravely, who serves as Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and the History of Ideas at Southeastern Seminary. His teaching responsibilities include courses in New Testament at both the graduate and undergraduate level and courses in the History of Ideas … [Read More]
Ideas Have Consequences: The Place of the Liberal Arts within a Theological Education, Part 1
Our guest author for this article is Ed Gravely, who serves as Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and the History of Ideas at Southeastern Seminary. His teaching responsibilities include courses in New Testament at both the graduate and undergraduate level and courses in the History of Ideas for undergraduate students at The College at Southeastern. Though Ed is a text critic by training, but he is the quintessential “Renaissance Man” with interests in philosophy, intellectual … [Read More]
Richard Gamble on the American Patriot’s Bible
Richard Gamble has written a blistering review of The American Patriot’s Bible. Gamble is dead-on in his thoughts about evangelicals, civil religion, and the abuse of both the Bible and American history among so many politically conservative evangelicals, including not a few Southern Baptists. Almost every semester I have a student or two in my Baptist history classes who argue that America is a Christian nation, the notion of a free church in a free state … [Read More]
The Church Planter’s Library (4): Global and Cultural Context
A good missiologist (whether North American or International) is first and foremost a theologian, but also a student of other disciplines such as world religions, cultural anthropology, history, current affairs, and anything else he can get his hands on in order to understand his context. By studying world religions, the missiologist learns to understand the core beliefs and religious practices of those to whom he will minister. From cultural anthropology, he learns to pay careful … [Read More]
Global Context Series (Central Asia): Ghost Wars
Ghost Wars
A wise man would refuse to lug even the paperback version of Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars to bed, for fear of being crushed to death if he dozes off in mid-sentence. However, despite being 712 pages long Coll’s volume is well worth the read for anyone interested in U. S. involvement in Afghanistan beginning in 1979 and spanning more than two decades.
Coll’s book is not a history of Afghanistan, per se, but rather a … [Read More]
