... "What We Talk About When We Talk About What Rob Bell Talks About."  What is Rob Bell doing when he preaches?  Is it dangerous?  Is it biblical?  A brief sketch, and a few tentative conclusions.

Relevant has a short profile catching us up on Rob Bell. 

I think something interesting is happening among the progressive evangelicals (ugh, I don't like that term) out west. (I think I'm going to start referring to everyone who's still arguably evangelical but just a skosh to my left as "the radical center.") ("Skosh": I saw an online dictionary that etymologized "skosh" as coming from a … Continue reading “The Last Time We Stood in the West”

A very Rohr quote, from Stephen Freeman, "One-Storey Universe" (here), 17.  Freeman is an Orthodox priest.  In this blog, he describes how Orthodox Christians believe that all the cosmos is sacred and God-drenched.  There is no separation into "sacred" or "common": everything & every activity is (or can, or should be) sacred. Some implications of … Continue reading Living in a One Storey Universe

Not a definitive takedown, but worth reading.  http://religionnews.com/2016/06/06/the-gospel-coalition-and-how-not-to-engage-culture/

These are the seven themes around which Richard Rohr's teaching revolves.  I'm posting them here, and interacting with them on a subsequent post. Do I need to post a disclaimer saying that the fact that I'm posting them here, or the fact that I'm a severe Rohr fanboy, does NOT mean I agree with everything … Continue reading Richard Rohr’s Seven Themes

This past week, former Cincinnati Christian Seminary theology professor Jack Cottrell, the dean of conservative Christian Church theologians, posted a brief "takedown" of the New Perspective on Paul, specifically N.T. Wright.  You can find Cottrell's post here. This afternoon, I posted the following response. Respectfully, I see several methodological problems with your response. 1. Although … Continue reading Against Cottrell’s Rebuttal of Wright

What do you call Christians who listen to / read Rob Bell, The Liturgists, Richard Rohr, Tripp Fuller, etc.? I hate the label "progressive evangelical," in part because it applies affinity with progressive politics.  I'm not politically progressive; good grief, I supported Ted Cruz (although I preferred Marco Rubio.) But I have a real affinity … Continue reading Regarding Labels

I'm not good at resting. I've just finished a school year where I was up every night until after 11, read from my iPad every night until midnight-ish, and woke up five days a week at 5.30. I was teaching 8 am classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays; the traffic on I-35 is hellish, so I … Continue reading “Perry Hath Murdered Sleep”