Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Opening Arguments Begin in Baptist Foundation of Arizona Trial
Two former executives of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona accused of taking more than $550 million from 11,000 investors aren't guilty of fraud, but were rather victims of an investment strategy being shut down before...
Affirmative Action at the High Court, but Not in the Church
We learned Tuesday that a new judge was on its way to Australia's High Court. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock announced the appointment of Judge Justice Susan Crennan to replace retiring judge Michael McHugh in...
The Toxic Flood of Fundamentalism
Twenty-five years ago fundamentalists vociferously contended that unnamed "liberals" at Southern Baptist Convention seminaries were leading the denomination on a slippery slope that would undermine our effectiveness in...
Should We Look for God in Every Storm?
Should we look for God in every storm? I've been mulling over that question a lot since Katrina rudely interrupted the lives of our Gulf Coast neighbors and Hurricane Rita now gains strength and threatens another part...
What Was The Sin Of Sodom?
Wiley Bennett, pastor of Woodland Hill Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas, welcomed Katrina evacuees into his community with these words on the message sign in front of his church: "The Big Easy is the modern day Sodom and...
Charities Use Disaster to Tout Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative
Some religious groups that offer disaster relief hope their quick response to Hurricane Katrina--contrasted with failures by government--will build momentum for President Bush's faith-based initiative. Bob Reccord of...
Group Asks Southern Baptists to Stop Efforts to Convert Jews
A leading Jewish organization condemned a proposed Southern Baptist Convention study on formally recognizing a "messianic" fellowship as an "evangelistic mission entity" to Jews. The SBC Executive Committee on Tuesday...
Task Force Laments Poor Giving by SBC Leaders
Electing leaders with poor records of Cooperative Program support has had a negative impact on the Southern Baptist Convention's fiscal health, according to a task force report released Saturday. An eight-member group...
Shaking North Carolina’s Biblical Foundations
A recent controversy over which "Holy Scriptures" on which Muslims must place their hands when swearing to tell the truth threatens to shake the biblical foundations of the state of North Carolina. When finally...
‘Theologians Under Hitler’
In Steven Martin's new film "Theologians Under Hitler," we hear yet another series of gruesome tales in which a nation-state co-opted Christian faith for its purposes and left prominent Christians in the unenviable...
NCC Leader Urges Churches To Observe National Public Lands Day
This Saturday, Sept. 24, marks a day of importance for our nation, although one not marked on many Americans' calendars: National Public Lands Day. Each fall thousands of volunteers and several government agencies join...
SBC Executive Committee Suggests Study of Mission to Jews
Southern Baptist Convention leaders are recommending the denomination's two mission boards jointly study the possibility of establishing a formal mission to Jews. "Inasmuch as we are grabbing the challenge of Acts...
SBC President’s Anti-Jewish Remark Helped Spark Conservative Revolution
"It is interesting at great political rallies how you have a Protestant to pray and a Catholic to pray, and then you have a Jew to pray. With all due respect to those dear people, my friend, God Almighty does not hear...
The Bible and Public Education
Few issues have been more contentious than the debate surrounding prayer and Bible reading in public schools. When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that teacher led prayer was unconstitutional, conservative...
American Baptist Leaders Clarify Stance on Homosexuality
Leaders meeting Friday and Saturday in Atlanta denied that American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. condones homosexuality, but said the denomination lacks authority to dictate theology to local churches. "We grieve and...
The Practice of Living Faithfully
More important than the question "What do you believe?" are the questions "Who are you?" and "What do you do as a Christian?" That concept forms the foundation of The Practice of Living Faithfully, an undated Bible...
Neo-Conservatives and Evangelical Christians: An Unholy Alliance
The Apostle Paul of the Christian New Testament writes in his letter to the Romans: "Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. In so far as there is peace and order, it's God order. So live responsibility as a...
Baptist Newspaper Article Saves Rwandan Family from Deportation
Great Britain's Baptist newspaper is credited with winning a late-hour reprieve for a family of six threatened with deportation to Rwanda, where friends say the husband and father faced certain prison or death....
Hurricane Katrina Resource for Sunday Morning (Updated 9/16)
EthicsDaily.com has carried several news and commentary items related to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Here are links, which may be useful to preachers and Sunday school teachers preparing for church services this...
‘Inside Narnia: A Guide to Exploring The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’
Baker Books is getting a jump on interest in Narnia spurred by the December 2005 movie adaptation by releasing Inside Narnia: A Guide to Exploring The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe. The 251-page book from C.S. Lewis...
Christian Leaders Speak of God’s Wrath in Hurricane
Prominent Christian leaders and evangelists have argued that Hurricane Katrina's destruction and its aftermath are signs of God's punishment on America. Franklin Graham, Hal Lindsay, Chuck Colson and Pat Robertson each...