According to this morning’s news, the Paige Patterson/SWBTS saga continues. Its prominence in the news cycle has focused my thinking on Jesus’ call to self-sacrificial love both as properly understood and also as commonly misunderstood. Continue reading On Being Useful vs. Suffering Abuse
Monthly Archives: May 2018
An Embassy in Jerusalem, a Rebuilt Temple, and Cynical Support for Israel
The recent ceremony celebrating the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem featured two figures that call attention to the cynical character of the uncritical support of the modern nation of Israel offered by many evangelical Christians in the US.
Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas, who offered a benediction at the Continue reading An Embassy in Jerusalem, a Rebuilt Temple, and Cynical Support for Israel
Spousal Abuse and Biblical Interpretation
Eph 4:21-33
A couple of weeks ago, the Baptist Blogger posted a video of a sermon preached in 2000 by fundamentalist SBC leader and president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Paige Patterson. In the sermon, Patterson related a story about a woman who sought his counsel concerning how to deal with her abusive husband. He advised her simply to pray, Continue reading Spousal Abuse and Biblical Interpretation
The “Christian Sabbath”
Saturday or Sunday?
Just as my “medical vacation” has ended (I am “back in the saddle,” as it were, although the horse is old, slow, and docile – no galloping yet), a question has come to me from a former student that probably crosses the minds of many Christians. If God commanded the observance of the Sabbath (seventh) day of the week (Saturday) as a holy day of rest and worship, why do Christians, who presumably desire to obey God’s specific commands, worship on the first day of the week, Sunday? The question invites a practical answer, a “Pauline” answer, and a reaffirmation of the theological purpose of Sabbath observance. Continue reading The “Christian Sabbath”