Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
June 18, 2018
The Age Gap in Religion Around the World (Pew Forum) The Bible’s #MeToo Problem (New York Times) Jeff Sessions Church Calls His Immigration Polices ‘A Shocking Violation of the Spirit of the Gospel’ (United Methodist...
Dig these stories … Part Three
Participants on the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences Jezreel Dig team have much to share about their thoughts and experiences. My two previous posts included thoughts from six...
Dig these stories … part two
Participants on the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences Jezreel Dig team have much to share about their thoughts and experiences, and I'm posting a few along the way. All students received...
Dig these stories …
Readers hear enough of me ... I've asked participants on the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences Jezreel Dig team to share some of their thoughts and experiences, and will be posting a few...
June 15, 2018
Paynter Addresses #MeToo and #ChurchToo in Report to CBF Assembly (CBF Blog) U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Appeals to ‘Church Friends,’ Cites Bible in Defense of Separating Children from Migrant Parents...
Why You Should ‘Try Not to Make God Look Stupid’
A student I'd taught decades ago made this comment to me recently. "It's been more than 20 years since I took your class, and I've forgotten most everything you taught. What I do remember from your class is that we're...
The 1 Word That Should Describe Your Church. Does It?
Ready for a vocabulary lesson? Stagnant. Boring. Aimless. Tired. Tepid. What do these words describe? You? Your minister? Your church? Your Sunday School class? Your career? All too often, I hear ministers and...
June 14, 2018
Southern Baptists Aren't the Only Baptist Group Meeting in Dallas This Week (Dallas Morning News) Mike Pence Gave a Trump Speech to a Group of Southern Baptists, and it Didn't Go Over Very Well (Slate) Pence Speech...
Free Short Documentaries to Focus on Women in Ministry
A micro-documentary series focused on women in ministry will be jointly produced by Baptist Women in Ministry (BWIM) and EthicsDaily.com in 2018-19. Each micro-documentary will share a contextual story of one female...
What Christians Can Learn When They Listen to Jesus
There is a good deal of parsing of Scripture these days declaring such things as "complementarian" relationships between men and women, what is and what is not an "abomination," and whether freedom of religion trumps...
Profiles in Goodwill: Corey Fields
Corey Fields is senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Newark, Delaware. 1. Where did you grow up? Harrisonburg, Virginia, a county seat town in the Shenandoah Valley. 2. What is your favorite verse, book or story...
Where Do Animals Fit in Environmental Ethics, Theology?
I'm grateful to Martin Hodson for highlighting the tensions between environmental and animal ethics. The approaches have a very great deal in common, of course. Those beginning with animal ethics are acutely aware that...
June 13, 2018
Protest Calls for Change Inside Southern Baptist Convention Over Treatment of Women (WFAA) Pence’s Speech Approved by Southern Baptists, But Not Without Dissent (Dallas Morning News) Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Task...
What is taking so long?
By John D. Pierce As a denominational body that has capitulated to fundamentalist power, the Southern Baptist Convention is at times a curiosity to me, but not a matter of real interest. I moved on long ago. Primarily,...
Getting down and dirty …
Archaeology lovers who have joined the Jezreel Expedition archaeological dig for the next two weeks started getting down and dirty on Monday and Tuesday. Monday began before sunup with an orientation walk from...
Where Do Animals Fit in Environmental Ethics, Theology?
Many years ago, I was manning a booth for Sage, Oxford's Christian environmental group, at the annual Green Fair in Oxford Town Hall. One of the visitors to the booth was Andrew Linzey, the leading Christian animal...
50 Years Later: ‘Mindless Violence’ Speech Still Resonates
On April 5, 1968, the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Sen. Robert F. Kennedy spoke at the City Club of Cleveland. Kennedy's speech on the "mindless menace of violence" continues to resonate. Less...
June 12, 2018
Vice President Mike Pence to Attend Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas (NBC Dallas/Fort Worth) MeToo Crisis Jolts Southern Baptists Ahead of Key Gathering (Boston Globe) Pastor Defends White Nationalist Parishioner...
By sea and river and hills …
Thirteen travelers associated with Nurturing Faith Experiences and Campbell University Divinity School made their way from Jerusalem to Jezreel by a circuitous route on Sunday. We began the day by driving from...
Dallas doings
By John D. Pierce Nurturing Faith will have an active presence at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly this week (June 13-15) at the Hyatt Regency Dallas. Our exhibit will feature sample copies of...
Complementarianism: A Separate-But-Equal Knockoff
An article I read recently extoling the virtues of complementarianism nagged at me. It would not let me rest. Complementarianism is a religious construct that deals with the roles of gender. The message is evil at its...