Fred Sanders

Last week a controversial book of theology was condemned by well-established critics who cautioned the public that the book did not present Christian doctrine in an accurate, biblical, or traditional way. As news of the book’s official condemnation spread, book sales spiked.This has nothing . . . . Continue Reading »

There’s an exciting new project called Theological Engagement with California Culture that is taking its first steps toward coming to terms with the entity that is California. Of course I think it’s exciting; it’s partly my idea to get this thing going. I’ve lived in . . . . Continue Reading »

In 1864, Scottish theologian Robert Candlish gave a series of lectures in Edinburgh on the theology of the Fatherhood of God. As he ended those lectures, he said “I do so with the feeling that, however inadequately I have handled my great theme, I have at least thrown out some suggestive . . . . Continue Reading »

I know the Chronicles of Narnia are not straightforward allegory, but I also know that the stone table of Aslan is the cross of Christ (depending on what the meaning of “is” is). And without any cramming or reductionism, astute readers can follow the imagination of C.S. Lewis as it maps . . . . Continue Reading »

I was driving cross-country in the summer of 1995, at a time when the music of Hootie and the Blowfish was inescapable. My wife and I listened to the radio from Kentucky to California, and the soundtrack assigned to us by American pop music was song after song from the multiplatinum album Cracked . . . . Continue Reading »

Seems like there’s a whole lot of Newman talk going on around here lately. It’s like he’s been beatified or something! I can’t exactly get behind that, but I can add my admiration of Newman’s Christian intellect to the chorus.There’s something I read in Newman . . . . Continue Reading »

I wasn’t able to follow all the news, never mind all the news-analysis and pundit chatter, about the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the UK this past week. I knew it was happening, and had a sense of its historic character. I saw some headlines about the major events and reactions.Rolling . . . . Continue Reading »

This is an attempt to revisit the terms of a contemporary theological cliché. I don’t know who invented the argument that anybody lower than you on the sacramental realism scale is supposed to be called gnostic, but it’s an argument that has caught on. Any defection from high . . . . Continue Reading »

(Apologies for cross-posting from my home blog, Scriptorium Daily. I thought the passing of Bloesch ought to be noted over here for the audience at First Things’ Evangel blog as well.)Donald Bloesch, evangelical theologian, died this week. He was a unique figure in twentieth-century theology, . . . . Continue Reading »

Last week, pastor Trevin Wax posted an interesting blog entry about the way serious preaching demands serious presentation. Specifically, Wax is watching a trend of churches “focusing on the centrality of the Word in worship,” and noting that it clashes with the contemporary . . . . Continue Reading »