Ragnarok
One aspect of Thomas Oden’s life which is both admirable and perplexing is his denominational loyalty. Oden is a United Methodist and it is clear from his autobiography that he is committed to his church and perhaps even optimistic that…
Blog
Read MoreRagnarok
Breaking: New Archeological Discoveries Reveal Early, Earthy Kind of Christian
Swedish archeologists working near Gadol Eshed Nahar in Midwestern Palestine have discovered what seems to be conclusive textual evidence of the existence of Q. Scholars of early Christianity have long regarded Q–an abbreviation for “Quelle” (a German term which means…
John Owen was never a Baptist
I remember once telling a friend at church that I was going to go do a PhD on John Owen. They replied, “Oh yes, I know him. He’s that great Baptist theologian.” Somewhat startled, I thought I’d since made this…
Critiquing Westminster Shorter Catechism #1
The Westminster Shorter Catechism on Q. & A. is wrong-headed, in my view. Almost everyone in Reformed circles knows the following question and answer by heart: Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is…
A Guest Review: McKnight on Oden
As readers will know, this week MoS is focusing on Thomas Oden's autobiography, A Change of Heart. As I have reviewed it for the January edition of First Things, I asked Scot McKnight, as a friend and representative of another…
Follow the Blood
Do you remember the story of Hansel and Gretel? Two young children are taken out into the forest one day and then abandoned by their father, who can’t afford to look after them anymore. (Perhaps it was during the credit…
How to Teach the Doctrine of the Blessedness of God [Part 4]
Divine blessedness is fruitful. Of course the divine blessedness itself, the beatitude of God, is fruitful, as the source of everything that has come into being. But my point here, as in the earlier articles in this series, is that…
How to Teach the Doctrine of the Blessedness of God [Part 4]
Divine blessedness is fruitful. Of course the divine blessedness itself, the beatitude of God, is fruitful, as the source of everything that has come into being. But my point here, as in the earlier articles in this series, is that…
Valhalla Writing
One of the striking features of Thomas Oden’s spiritual life is his expansive intellectual appetite, evidenced in both his reading and his writing. From his early liberal passion for radical theological and political literature to his later development of the…
Cross-Contamination at the Lord’s Table
My husband has an irrational fear of food poisoning. I can’t even tease him about it, because I would then be the one who has to deal with the imagined stomach aches. I can’t tell you how many times I…