How Do We Balance Accountability and Mercy?

How Do We Balance Accountability and Mercy?

It is important that the biblical story of Jonah be more than the beginning of a “did that really happen?” debate. In fact, Jonah’s placement among the prophetic books of the Bible should tell us that, like the other prophetic works, the story of Jonah will cause us...
When Jesus Almost Came Back in the ’70s

When Jesus Almost Came Back in the ’70s

We were so sure Jesus was coming back in the 1970s. And he missed a good opportunity. The signs were all there. That’s what we were assured. The whole apocalyptic scheme was surely playing out before us. We read about it, heard sermons aplenty and, of course, sang...
Being Honest When You Talk About the Bible

Being Honest When You Talk About the Bible

When we talk about God, let’s be honest. Kirby Godsey wrote a book with that title several years ago, and I think we need to do the same with the Bible. Most of the students I teach, whether they are Christian or not, tend to think of the Bible as a book of answers, a...
A New Look at an Old Word

A New Look at an Old Word

Those of us who participated in or at least lived through the hot debates on “inerrancy” that divided the Southern Baptist Convention will recall that a favorite term of its adherents was (and is) theopneustos, a rare word that appears only once in the Bible, in 2...