Talk about an eye-opening book! Ken Wytsma has given us one of incredible value here. The Myth of Equality is subtitled Uncovering the Roots of Injustice and Privilege. The “roots” claim is valid. Wytsma’s is an American story, not just of centuries or decades past, but of the present as well. It is written particularly to Wytsma’s fellow Christians who are theologically conservative. But not them alone by any means. Anyone reading is almost certain to have their eyes opened to specific events and statistics (even if generally well-informed on racism and inequality in America), and to broad pa ..read more

This is a re-post of a 2013 article which is pertinent for the pre-Easter season particularly, and historically, for non-Christians as well as Christians. The book titled Zealot is probably little known any longer among a younger generation of Jesus-followers and others interested in who Jesus was and what he did. I feel it is still a worthwhile read although many more “historical Jesus” books have appeared since 2013. Please note that I am neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the conclusions there. Rather, my article is focused on one key incident, the “cleansing of the Temple”. The recounti ..read more

I found Tim Alberta’s recent book (Dec., 2023) engaging and very well written, and thus easy to read. The full title describes it well: The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism. It IS long, so it takes a while. But there is no irrelevant froth in it, unless one doesn’t appreciate the significant personal aspect which is a strong element in the book. I found that to make the book both more interesting and more credible. You see, Alberta is a life-long Evangelical (also white, like the big majority, perhaps all, of the Evangelicals he interviewed ..read more

I just noted we are at the thirteenth anniversary of the second Big Tent Christianity conference. Sadly, it proved to be the last (so far, anyway). The first had convened in September, 2010, in Raleigh, North Carolina. I attended only its follow-up, second conference in Phoenix, AZ, in February, 2011. I don’t recall knowing of the size or level of enthusiasm of the first conference, but I’m presuming from the little I heard, that it was similar to the second. The attendance in Phoenix the following February (an enticing month for much of the country to get to Phoenix) was around 300. My sense ..read more

Perhaps the most significant discovery of ancient religious texts of the New Testament era (1st and early 2nd centuries) was the one which included the Gospel of Thomas. It was made in late 1945, in southern Egypt, near a place called Nag Hammadi (the name generally attached to the collection of key texts discovered there).  Among the important and fascinating texts found, the one given the title Gospel of Thomas has created the most stir, continuing to this day, although at a lowered level of intensity than the period of the late 50s to the 70s. (It wasn’t published, even for most scholars ..read more

I was hoping to not feel compelled to write another post on Donald Trump, years after my last one. But I cannot remain silent. I doubt that I have any new concepts of substance to add to the many, many reports, articles, videos, and entire books analyzing him and the phenomena of his supporters. However, in the hopes that even one person may benefit from something I say here, I will speak up. And I feel I must add my small part…. The threat on many levels is extreme if things don’t change. I fear it’s even possible we could get what some Trump loyalists are saying they see coming in certain sc ..read more

Below is a letter I sent to Dr. Matthew J. Hall, the new provost and senior vice president at Biola University. I attended Biola for three degrees in the late 1960s to late 1970s. This is a response to remarks of his at his installation earlier this year. Beyond my points here, I have numerous theological departures from my days at Biola, but wanted to keep a primary focus and limit the length of the letter. I also here use more Christian lingo than I typically use, and in ways Dr. Hall would probably mean a little differently than I do. The letter, after minor edits: Dear Dr. Hall, I just rea ..read more

This book somehow escaped my radar until recently. I’m glad I ran across it! Here is a vulnerable, frank story of a journey to Christian faith and back out – by a kind of professional seldom heard from as to their faith journey – a reporter. I must add that author, William Lobdell, was not merely a “beat” reporter, but at times also a newspaper editor. He did some complex and deep investigative reporting. If one lived in the Los Angeles area during his era with Los Angeles Times affiliated papers, and followed issues and stories on religion, one would know his name. (I did not, having lived th ..read more

With so many crises and dire needs these days, I need to connect this good article to some of them. One in particular is the rancorous division we have in the US right now… with no signs of it improving. A great deal of this is among Christians and between certain Christians and others. In this context, those who seek to be sure religious freedom is not curtailed, or are “defenders of the faith ” have particular responsibility to understand both Jesus and Paul. And to grasp and FOLLOW their example in making the gospel truly good news for everyone, not just those who view things similarly ..read more

This “Eco Forum”, on every aspect of creating a ecological civilization for our survival and thriving, from poor to rich, is more than worth the time: https://claremontecoforum.org/. Sorry for the short notice, but if you are a leader in any of these (or other) areas, you should at least look over the topics and high-level presenters and moderators (for the substantial break-outs): –Sustainability (farming and beyond) –New Economic Models –Education for Change –Community Development –Law and Governance –Youth (advisement, education, etc.) You may quickly realize that all six subject areas cove ..read more