By: Kristin Hamilton on March 17, 2017
My normal practice, when posting about the books we read for our DMin program, is to first read the reviews and articles about the book and the author. This week that may have been a bad choice. Before ever opening Bad Religion: How we became a nation of heretics, I was…well…I guess I’ll just say…
By: Jason Kennedy on March 16, 2017
Adrian Thatcher’s very thorough work, God, Sex and Gender: An Introduction dives into the 21st century world to offer a look at the sexual ethics we have and tries to bring a theological and historical understanding to the world of sexuality. The author tackles this difficult subject with three main ideas: – To introduce students…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on March 16, 2017
“This is the real story of religion in America. For all its piety and fervor, today’s United States needs to be recognized for what it really is: not a Christian country, but a nation of heretics...”[1] Growing up as a young girl, I have seen a lot of fairy tales. Each fairy tale had strife,…
By: Chip Stapleton on March 16, 2017
In his book Bad Religion New York Times Columnist Ross Douthat describes how, America has always inhabited a strange paradox of being formally secular, but also relying on religion – more heavily than almost any other Western world – to provide a moral framework for its citizens (Douthat, Kindle location 118), something has changed, however in our…
By: Phil Goldsberry on March 16, 2017
Introduction The Jackson 5 (of Michael Jackson fame) had a song in the 1970’s that said: “ABC, it’s as easy as 1-2-3, As simple as do re mi, ABC, 1-2-3, Baby you and me”. Oh, how times have changed. Now, it is not as simple as ABC or 1-2-3 or who gets to be “baby”…
By: Garfield Harvey on March 16, 2017
Two years into my doctoral program and the inescapable relational conversation is staring me in the face. Thatcher’s book God, Sex, and Gender dives into the sensitive sex talk, much similar to the one you will be engaging shortly. Yes, my cohort finally gets a chance to share our conviction on sexuality with clear, theological…
By: Aaron Cole on March 16, 2017
Summary: God, Sex, and Gender An Introduction by Adrian Thatcher is just that that on the subject, an introduction. The author introduces the issues, the ideas, and the connection between the three. Thatcher does a good job in clearly and in plain vernacular express the secular and the sacred positions as well as the historical…
By: Lynda Gittens on March 16, 2017
BAD RELIGION by Ross Douthat Douthat shared his views on the American Christianity, i.e. Contemporary and Liberal. He shares how Christians integrated within the political arena, and it was a negative impact. Can a Politician force their Christian views and values on the country they lead? Douthat addressed the history of Christians and their…
By: Rose Anding on March 16, 2017
Introduction Adrian Thatcher’s book, God, Sex and Gender: An Introduction, is an engaging account by a highly respected theologian. The author is well known for his works related to human sexuality and theology[1] and has become an important voice on these themes.[2] The book is written with the aim of comprehensively introducing readers to the…
By: Aaron Peterson on March 16, 2017
True story: After church a few years ago I eavesdropped in on a conversation a few Hub pre-teens were having about homosexuality. The youngest in the circle, my 9-year old son exclaimed, “Of course there is gay marriage in the Bible! It says in Genesis that God created Adam and Yves.” I laughed so hard…
By: Stu Cocanougher on March 16, 2017
I need to confess something. When given a choice, I would rather eat ice cream than eat broccoli. Yes, I understand fully that broccoli is low calorie, packed with vitamins, and also has fiber. But ice cream tastes really good. I know that I am not alone. Think about this, when was the last time…
By: Claire Appiah on March 16, 2017
Adrian Thatcher—God, Sex, and Gender: An Introduction This book is a great educational resource in which Adrian Thatcher provides readers with complex, comprehensive, and compelling arguments surrounding the theological implications of sex and gender as they have been understood and controverted throughout ancient times and the history of the church. I think the overall value…
By: Jim Sabella on March 16, 2017
Douthat, Ross Gregory. Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics. New York: Free Press, 2013. Summary I think that there are few who would argue that Christianity in the USA looks different than it did just one generation ago. Many would argue that Christianity in America has lost its cultural influence altogether; church…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on March 15, 2017
As I read through the pages of “Bad Religion”, a comment from our last chat haunted my thoughts. It was remarked how we as Christians can stand back and criticize without really making significant world changes. Ironically, this seemed to sum up “Bad Religion”, where the author lived up to his title. He seemed bent…
By: Katy Drage Lines on March 15, 2017
Ahh, where to begin in my exploration of Bad Religion? Perhaps in introducing a comparison between Ross Douthat’s text and James Davison Hunter’s To Change the World. Hunter introduced us to ways American Christians engage the world from the left (“relevance to the culture”), right (“defensive against”) and neo-Anabaptist.[1] Whereas Hunter introduces three (really, two)…
By: Mary Walker on March 15, 2017
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ Martin Luther King. For the last few weeks we have been discussing ways to change our culture. If we accept that “To be Christian is to be obliged to engage the world, pursuing God’s restorative purposes over all of…
By: Marc Andresen on March 15, 2017
In God, Sex, and Gender Adrian Thatcher covers a number of topics under the enormous umbrella of God, Sex, and Gender. He discusses “desire” in general and how it pertains to our sexuality and our desire for God. “You may have just agreed with me that desire has an object.” [1] Following Taylor and Luhrmann,…
By: Pablo Morales on March 11, 2017
One day a psychological anthropologist from Stanford University shows up at your church with a brilliant idea. She wants to spend two years attending your services and participating in your small groups in order to better understand how people experience their Christian faith. She attends Bible classes, church retreats, and everything that can help her…
By: Kevin Norwood on March 10, 2017
All leading to this thought, Does God still speak? How? God speaks through thoughts and we must learn to discern between our thoughts and His thoughts. The authors wrote about developing a “new theory of mind.”[2] This concept of hearing things that are perceived is a very clinical perspective of how God speaks. Learning to…
By: Kristin Hamilton on March 10, 2017
Anticipation. Excitement. Trepidation. Anxiety. These are a few of the things I felt when I boarded the plane headed to London to join my cohort of 10, two previous cohorts, professors, administrators, and our lead mentor for the Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Global Perspectives England Advance 2016. That’s a huge title,…
