This week, the blog and podcast is going to focus on Thomas Oden, specifically his delightful memoir, A Change of Heart. Now, one of the key contributions of Thomas Oden to evangelical life was his involvement in 'Evangelicals and Catholics…
The other evening over dinner, a young Roman Catholic friend asked me if I thought evangelicalism would hold firm on gay marriage. I told him I thought a major collapse in the consensus was imminent and also speculated that he…
Todd brought this little gem to my attention yesterday: Mount Holyoke College has apparently canceled a performance of that pinnacle of Western literary achievement, 'The Vagina Monologues,' because it might be offensive to transgender women who do not have the…
Last week’s Malarkey business was sad. Though the lad involved clearly did wrong, it did not seem to me that he had been motivated by greed, simply by a desire for attention. That does not sanctify the sin but it…
Yesterday Aimee brought my attention to a recent post by Beth Moore. In it, Moore complains about the scurvy treatment she has received online. As I read the article, I could not help but think that Beth Moore deserves better,…
The recent terrorist attack in Paris highlights perhaps the great political dilemma of the current age, that of Western freedoms being used to destroy Western freedoms. But perhaps just as importantly, its target was perfectly chosen. Democracy requires more than…
Politico published an interesting article on Oral Roberts over the weekend. Unlike the typical hit-piece one might expect on such a figure, the portrait of Roberts here is more nuanced. Perhaps the key paragraph is this: At the dawn of…
The confusion and contradictory statements emanating from Wheaton College over same sex attraction some weeks ago provoked the Ref Pack into revisiting a topic which Aimee and I have written on before: the cheapening and loss of the category of…
A friend brought my attention to this article by an Anglican priest, Andrew Foreshew-Cain, over the weekend. Foreshew-Cain is distressed by Archbishop Welby’s stand on gay marriage, especially as it relates to the Anglican priesthood. The article is instructive for…
One of the regular concerns expressed by readers of this blog and listeners to the podcast is the fact that many of the suggestions we make about church life and practice seem to be rather Presbyterian. Some are simply puzzled…
