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Evangelical

2015-02-24T15:08:58-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What I mean when I say someone is theologically “liberal”

Last updated on: February 24, 2015 at 3:08 pm By Roger E. Olson

Definitions of “liberal” in theology differ considerably–even among scholars of modern theology. Yale historical theologian (whose special area of scholarship was modern theology) Claude Welch defined it as “maximal acknowledgement of the claims of modernity.” Union Theological Seminary theologian (and self-identified theological liberal) Gary Dorrien defines it as recognizing no authority outside the self. (Of course he means no ultimate authority.) Iliff School of Theology theologian Delwin Brown describes it as permitting “the best of modern thought” to trump scripture... Read more

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2015-02-22T08:30:04-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Word from a Founder to All My “Moderate Baptist” Friends

Last updated on: February 22, 2015 at 8:30 am By Roger E. Olson

A Word from a Founder to All My “Moderate Baptist” Friends This post is intended primarily for Southerners among Baptists who consider themselves “Moderate.” For those of you outside that movement, I’ll explain briefly. Throughout the 1980s and until today many churches and individuals affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.) felt excluded by the SBC’s leadership because of their embrace of egalitarian beliefs and their denial of “biblical inerrancy.” They considered the new... Read more

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2015-02-19T08:29:19-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

An Example of Unwarranted Theological Speculation: Divine Timelessness

Last updated on: February 19, 2015 at 8:29 am By Roger E. Olson

An Example of Unwarranted Theological Speculation: Divine Timelessness In my immediately preceding post I argued that far too much Christian theology includes unwarranted speculation—especially about God. Under pressure from Greek ontology traditional, “classical theism” has generally agreed that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (the Yahweh of the Bible) is somehow (i.e., differently expressed) “outside of time” such that temporal sequence, the passage of past into present into future (or future into present into past) is known to God... Read more

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2015-02-17T08:13:08-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Theology and Speculation

Last updated on: February 17, 2015 at 8:13 am By Roger E. Olson

Theology and Speculation The issue here is the legitimacy of speculation in theology. What is speculation? In this context, if not in all contexts, “speculation” is making truth claims without clear warrant—reasonable grounding in relevant data. In theology “relevant data” are revelation/Scripture, tradition, reason (logic) and experience. “Experience” is intersubjective experience, not private experience. Some years ago I came to the conclusion that much Christian theology, truth claims made by Christian theologians, is speculation—as opposed to clear exegesis of Scripture... Read more

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2015-02-14T08:37:19-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Calvinism and Evangelism

Last updated on: February 14, 2015 at 8:37 am By Roger E. Olson

Calvinism and Evangelism One of the misconceptions about Calvinism (here meaning belief in T.U.L.I.P. and the eternal decree deciding who will and who will not be saved) is that Calvinists cannot or will not do evangelism. Or, to put it more mildly, that Calvinism undermines evangelism. In all such cases we have to distinguish between two things: the descriptive and the prescriptive. Descriptively, American evangelical Calvinists do evangelism. Some of the greatest evangelists who have been Calvinists; most of the... Read more

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2015-02-12T08:44:21-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Reformed Theologian’s Critique of Divine Determinism

Last updated on: February 12, 2015 at 8:44 am By Roger E. Olson

A Reformed Theologian’s Critique of Divine Determinism Hearty thanks go to publishers Wipf & Stock for re-publishing theologian Emil Brunner’s three volume Dogmatics which was originally published in English by Lutterworth Press in England and subsequently by Westminster Press in America. At least a generation of theological students, including yours truly, read Brunner’s Dogmatics in seminary and found it refreshing and (to say the least) illuminating. In my opinion it is unfortunate that Karl Barth’s popularity as a theologian largely... Read more

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2015-02-10T08:12:22-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What I Mean When I Label Someone “Liberal,” “Fundamentalist,” or “Evangelical” (A Quick Course in Prototype Theory)

Last updated on: February 10, 2015 at 8:12 am By Roger E. Olson

What I Mean When I Label Someone “Liberal,” “Fundamentalist,” or “Evangelical” (A Quick Course in Prototype Theory) It would be nice if we could just give up labels that libel. Too often, if not most often, these three labels are used to categorize people with the intention of pinning them down like dead butterflies to boards in a collection. Then we express shock if not dismay when they don’t stay pinned down and express some belief that doesn’t quite fit... Read more

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2015-02-09T07:29:03-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Blast from the Theological Past That’s Still Relevant: Augustus Hopkins Strong’s “Ethical Monism” (“There is but one substance—God.”)

Last updated on: February 9, 2015 at 7:29 am By Roger E. Olson

A Blast from the Theological Past That’s Still Relevant: Augustus Hopkins Strong’s “Ethical Monism” (“There is but one substance—God.”) I realize that this blog, like most, does not draw a large audience by delving into dusty, old theological issues. Unfortunately, most religious blog readers are interested only in “what’s happening now” including controversies, personalities, scandals and the latest “big ideas” (that usually turn out to be recycled ones from the past). However, some of my blog followers express appreciation that... Read more

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2015-02-07T09:58:11-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is Privileging Belief in God Justified? The Controversies over AA, the Boy Scouts, and Similar God-Centered Organizations

Last updated on: February 7, 2015 at 9:58 am By Roger E. Olson

Is Privileging Belief in God Justified? The Controversies over AA, the Boy Scouts and Similar God-Centered Organizations Over the years I have read many columns in newspapers complaining that atheists are unjustly discriminated against when they are excluded by non-church organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous and the Boy Scouts. (Strangely I’ve never read such a complaint about Freemasonry which also requires belief in God.) Two specific cases: A few years ago a newspaper published a whining guest column by a... Read more

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2015-02-05T08:45:45-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Must You Believe in the Doctrine of the Trinity to Be a Christian?

Last updated on: February 5, 2015 at 8:45 am By Roger E. Olson

Must You Believe in the Doctrine of the Trinity to Be a Christian? Perhaps the most surprising aspect of twentieth century Christian theology was the renaissance of the doctrine of the Trinity. Throughout the nineteenth century (and perhaps before) the doctrine had become dormant. Conservatives took it for granted, deists and liberals tended to deny it or at least put it on the shelf and ignore it. Conservatives thought everything that could be said about it had been said;... Read more

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