Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Bloggers Accuse Seminary of Censorship
Bloggers roundly criticized Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's decision to limit Internet access to Tuesday's chapel service, the latest salvo in on ongoing debate over openness and dissent in the Southern...
Justice and Peace Must Kiss
In 1985, Andean Indians wrote a letter to Pope John Paul II, signed by leaders of several Indian organizations. In 1985, Andean Indians wrote a letter to Pope John Paul II, signed by leaders of several Indian...
Al Was Right
I myself am a little tired of the whole woman pastor debate, as it went on for a while on my personal blog a few weeks ago. I'm tired of it because debating rarely changes anybody's mind and because I...
This I Believe
I am a National Public Radio fan. It is the only radio station I listen to. One of my favorite programs on NPR is the "This I Believe" series. I have often thought about writing my own "This I Believe" essay for NPR,...
Seminary Pulls Plug on Webcast of Chapel Sermon
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary declined to archive a Webcast of Tuesday's chapel service, after a prominent black Southern Baptist pastor and seminary trustee reportedly said he uses a "private prayer...
Baptist Brothers Battle Over Church Count
Brothers fight. That reality is as old as the biblical witness and as new as today's sunrise. Cain murdered Abel. Ishmael and Isaac were separated only to become forefathers of endless combatants—Arabs and Jews. Jacob...
‘Waging a Living’
The PBS documentary series "P.O.V." delivers its 10th film tonight with the sobering "Waging a Living." Social-issues filmmaker Roger Weisberg candidly captures the struggles of the "working poor" by profiling four...
Arab Baptist Scholar Warns Against Political Bias in Reading Scripture
An Arab Baptist scholar told collegians in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday the 1948 establishment of Israel is "theologically insignificant" if the Bible is read from a Christ-centered, rather than a political and American...
A Personal Word … A Gift for Our Readers
The Baptist Center for Ethics has a book gift for our readers who make a $50 or more contribution. The book will enrich your life. Your gift will help BCE enrich the moral discourse in American life. You win twice with...
Billy Graham and the Mystery of Salvation
They both grew up in the South, and for much of their lives both have been Southern Baptists. Both have studied the Bible extensively, yet both preach a gospel which is foreign to today's Southern Baptist leaders. One...
Mohler Says Bible Clear on Women’s Roles
A Southern Baptist theologian says debate over women in ministry is not a matter of biblical interpretation, but rather of obedience to God's word. "I think it is an issue of basic obedience, because I don't believe...
‘Haystack’ Prayer Meeting Launched U.S. Mission Movement
A number of celebrations from various theological perspectives are planned this fall around the 200th anniversary of a student-led prayer meeting that marked the beginning of America's foreign missionary movement....
Why Injustice Happens
I live at a curious crossroads of faith and politics. I am senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Calvary is located almost exactly between the Capitol building and the White House. The challenges...
Christian Coalition: A Question Of Integrity
You can always tell when it's election time in Alabama. The red, white, and blue "vote for me" signs start popping up along the highways. Television ads with their mind numbing "I am more conservative than my opponent"...
Accepting Responsibility for Terrorism
The cult of the victim currently enjoys a worldwide following. It casts its shadow across all borders, cultures, and religions, and has contributed much to the vicious cycle of terrorism and warfare into which the...
Major Studio Will Release ‘The Nativity Story’ in December
Almost three years after Mel Gibson courted Christian churches for "The Passion of the Christ," a major studio will put the birth of the Christ onto big screens. "The Nativity Story," which focuses on Mary and Joseph...
Walking the Walk
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Seminary, has written an interesting assessment of the current state of women in Baptist ministry. Citing a study titled The State of Women in Baptist Life, 2005 by Baptist...
Earth Escapes Aug. 22 Doomsday Scare
If you're reading this you can breathe a sigh of relief. It means the world didn't end Aug. 22, as a number of conservative Web sites have speculated the last couple of weeks it might. It started not with some doomsday...
Baptists Abandon Legacy of Church/State Separation, Author Says
Baptists today have largely abandoned a noble tradition of the separation of church and state in part because they have forgotten what it is like to be a religious minority, says the author of a new book critical of...
Sunday School Teacher’s Dismissal Part of Church Fight
A small-town Baptist church fight snowballed into an international news story after deacons fired an 81-year-old woman as a Sunday school teacher, purportedly because of her gender. After receiving a letter from First...
A Response to Al Mohler
In a recent posting on his blog, Al Mohler comments on the fact that few moderate Baptist churches have called a woman to serve as their preaching pastor. Al is right to point out that "the proof is in the pudding." If...