Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
May 8, 2018
‘We are Shocked’: Thousands of Southern Baptist Women Denounce Leader’s ‘Objectifying’ Comments, Advice to Abused (Washington Post) Patterson Controversy Prompts Called Meeting of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary...
4 Legacies to Remember the Founder of Black Theology
Today, the life of Rev. Dr. James Hal Cone will be celebrated at Riverside Church in New York City. Immediately after the service, his mortal remains will be interred at Fair Lawn Cemetery in Fair Lawn, New Jersey....
The Convergence of Protestant, Catholic Ethics – Part 1
The reformers broke dramatically with the Roman Catholic Church when it came to the doctrines of salvation and ecclesiology. They did not do so with respect to ethics. In fact, in some ways, their views were closer to...
Prison, Death Row Populations Continue Multiyear Decline
The total number of people in the U.S. correctional system and the number of inmates under sentence of death in U.S. prisons both declined in 2016, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) statistical briefs...
My Journey to Become an Interfaith Baptist
Interfaith cooperation was the last thing on my mind. Having grown up in a conservative Baptist church, studied in an evangelical seminary and served as an American Baptist missionary in the predominantly Christian...
Practicing Christians More Likely to Work to End Poverty
Practicing Christians "outpace all U.S. adults in poverty action," according to Barna Group data released on April 26. In every category surveyed for its "The Good News about Global Poverty" report, Barna found that...
May 4, 2018
The Scandal Tearing Apart America’s Largest Protestant Denomination (The Atlantic) Trump Marks National Day of Prayer with New Faith Initiative; His Evangelical Followers Cheer, While Church State Separation Advocates...
When Spiritual Siblings Unite for the Common Good
Genesis details the family origins of Abraham and his sons. After receiving a promise from Yahweh, Abraham bore his first son through Sarah's Egyptian servant, Hagar. Hagar's son was named Ishmael. Years later, Sarah...
How One Teacher Educated Kids About Muslim Neighbors
My interfaith journey began early one August morning as my new kindergarten students entered my classroom. Some came in eagerly, some were shy and a few shed a tear or two. The room filled with parents who were also...
How Religion, Public Schools Ensure Our Freedom
Jesus understood that freedom and truth go hand in hand. In John 8:31-32, Jesus taught his disciples that the "truth will set you free." Where there is no truth, there is no freedom. And this is true "on earth as it is...
May 3, 2018
Southern Baptist Leader’s Advice to Abused Women Sends Leaders Scrambling to Respond (Washington Post) SWBTS Trustees, SBC Entity Presidents Address Abuse (Baptist Press) Iowa Lawmakers Approve the Most Restrictive...
Did the church mislead us or have Christian values changed?
By John D. Pierce Having earned perfect attendance Sunday school pins as children and attended two weeks of Vacation Bible School each summer, many of us thought we had learned something about Christian values. We...
Profiles in Goodwill: Shauw Chin Capps
Shauw Chin Capps is the moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. She has served since 2003 as executive director of Hope Haven, a children's advocacy and rape crisis center in Beaufort, South Carolina. 1. Where...
Bearing Witness to Confront Negative Stereotypes about Islam
How do you begin conversations with parishioners and neighbors at home whose minds seemed closed by negative stereotypes of Islam? We Baptists wondered this aloud as we left the third national Baptist-Muslim Dialogue...
Why This Baptist Pastor Says, ‘I’m With Muslims’
I had no idea what to expect when I got off the plane in Wisconsin for the third national Baptist-Muslim Dialogue. I was honored to have been asked to represent a delegation of Baptists for this historic meeting held...
May 2, 2018
Paige Patterson Stands by His Controversial Advice to Spousal Abuse Victims (Charlotte News & Observer) Baptist Leaders Denounce Physical Abuse After Seminary Head Says ‘Submit’ (CBN) Baptist Group Ejects Church...
A faith-full visit with the remarkable Morgan Nelson
By John D. Pierce Roswell, New Mexico is best known — or vaguely known, at least — for a 1947 UFO incident, some 75 miles from town, that flooded the area with conspiracy theories rather than green aliens. Some hotels...
6 Factors That Brought Baptist, Muslim Leaders Together
Sugar and spice, thunder and lightning, picnics and ants, ocean and waves, washers and dryers, children and laughter, Baptists and Muslims. If you were playing a categories game where you named pairs of items that...
Baptist-Muslim Dialogue Opened My Eyes to Interfaith Engagement
I did not know what to expect when I was asked to attend the third Baptist-Muslim Dialogue of North America in the stead of Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Secretary Elijah M. Brown. The reports from the first and...
Religious Adults in N. America Less Accepting of Migrants
Adults in the U.S. and Canada who say religion is important in their lives tend to be less accepting of migrants, according to a Gallup report released on April 26. "Gallup created the Migrant Acceptance Index (MAI) to...
May 1, 2018
In a #MeToo Moment, Will Southern Baptists Hold Powerful Men Accountable? (Washington Post) Mac Brunson Resigns as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church (News4Jax) Remembering the Theologian Who Took on the Hypocrisy...