It is safe to say that conservative evangelical Christians have, for the most part, ignored the writings of the church fathers in recent generations. For much of my Christian life I have been no different than my fellow evangelicals in this respect.

I vividly recall my experience 30 years ago this fall when I entered Emmaus Bible School in Oak Park, Illinois (it’s now Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa) and encountered its library’s complete set (38 large hardbound volumes) of the Philip and David Schaff edition of the Ante-Nicene (i.e., before the writing of the Nicene Creed in A.D. 325) Nicene, and Post-Nicene Fathers. I remember thinking something like, “Who’s ever gonna read all that?” I also remember thinking something along the lines of, “Aren’t those the dudes that got us into all the trouble in the first place, and forced us to have a Reformation and everything?” (more…)

Not many good Christian blogs begin with the phrase: “I was watching Paris Hilton the other day.” This one does. I promise though that it will be my only Paris Hilton blog. Ever. Anyway, I was watching Paris a few weeks ago. I couldn’t help it. She was plastered all over the three big networks and I don’t have cable.

It was the day after her appearance on Larry King Live. As I was asking myself, “Why don’t you turn off the TV and do something constructive like writing your dissertation?” I found myself getting really annoyed with the cause celebre of Paris’ post-prison meet and greet and it’s marring of my watching of serious TV like House and all those shows that start with a dead body. What made me so cynical about this girl talking about her “change of heart” and her turning over a new leaf? Couldn’t I be gracious? Hopeful? I mean I’m part of a faith that has an entire holy scripture full of stories of people who after one significant encounter with God changed their whole life. And that was the question everyone was asking in what passes for commentary in the endless news cycle. They all asked: “Has something in Paris changed?” I caught myself scoffing. Oh Puleeez. Who does this lip-glossed blimbo think she is? (a blimbo is a rich bimbo with jewelry or “bling”—hence “blimbo”) Yep. I was working up a good self-righteous lather. I know there are some stones to throw around here somewhere . . . (more…)

It is with great regularity that I receive emails, letters and occasionally phone calls from folks who want to tell me how mean, divisive, negative and generally a troubler of the brethren I am. Others contact me to ask how they can be discerning without being viewed as mean, divisive, negative and generally a troubler of the brethren? In a church culture that has seemingly gone mad and is embracing all manner of false teaching solely on the basis that it is “spiritual,” the name calling of those who attempt to follow the biblical mandate to be discerning will increase from the current howls to shrieks akin to the creatures in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But is that any reason to stop? After all it seems that the false teachers are being more honest with their views than Evangelical leaders are. For example, in our article Thus Saith Rome we pointed out that Rick Warren had said: (more…)

Doug Phillips – New Paganism?

A number of years ago Dr. Albert Mohler spoke at an EMNR conference and in his talk shared a story about Bishop John Shelby Spong. According to Mohler, at the Lambeth Conference, Spong had committed a cultural and political boo-boo. He had been pressing for the ordination of homosexuals but was unable to get the majority to agree at the time because the bishops from Africa held firmly against it. In a moment of frustration Spong lashed out with, “The reason the African bishops believe the Bible to literally is because they have been so recently converted from paganism.” To which the Bishop from Uganda responded, “The reason Spong doesn’t believe the Bible is because he has so recently been converted to paganism.”

I have thought a lot about this exchange lately. It is easy for many of us to write off liberalism, the Emerging Church and Postmodernism as an embracing of paganism by church leaders and their followers. And, to be sure, it is. But, do some segments of conservative believers embrace other forms of paganism (more…)