Theology

Voddie Baucham, Pastor of Preaching at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, has released a blog post in which he explains why he turned down an invitation to participate in the second round of The Elephant Room, held Jan. 25, and left another conference hosted by James MacDonald without fulfilling his speaking duties.

The Elephant Room, a theological roundtable featuring blunt conversations among seven influential pastors, generated a noted level of controversy due to the invitation of Bishop T.D. Jakes, founder and senior pastor of The Potter's House in Dallas, to participate in the discussions. Jakes has been accused of heresy by some in the Christian community for his affiliation with modalism, which explains the Godhead in non-Trinitarian terms.

Modalism, a 3rd-century teaching accredited to theologian Sabellius, purports that the members of the Trinity are not three distinct, eternally co-existing persons, but that instead God, a singular spirit, manifests Himself at different times in three modes – a doctrine espoused by Oneness Apostolic Pentecostal and United Pentecostal Church International denominations. more >>

An increasing number of Christians are drifting away from their faith because of the lack of good answers to their spiritual questions, warns apologetics author Mark Mittelberg in an interview with The Christian Post.

The author of The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask as well as his latest release, The Reason Why Faith Makes Sense, believes that the plethora of misinformation found in bestselling, so-called religious books, and the rapidly growing number of skeptical websites have Christians second-guessing themselves.

Mittelberg's passion for getting answers to the myriad of questions about Christianity in the hands of believers and non-believers led him to team up with author and speaker Lee Strobel more than a year ago. The two apologists have formed The Institute at Cherry Hills, an apologetics and evangelism ministry at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colo. more >>

The Roman Catholic Church and Oriental Orthodox Churches in the U.K. have welcomed an "unprecedented" move towards unity this week.

The Churches have launched a new book entitled "Joint Statements" outlining areas of theological agreement between the two denominations.

The book was developed by the Catholic-Oriental Orthodox Regional Forum (COORF) and presented by the body's co-chairs Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the U.K., and the Catholic Archbishop of Southwark Kevin McDonald. more >>

One of the co-hosts of the second installment of the Elephant Room, a theological roundtable featuring blunt conversations among seven influential pastors, says he purposefully toned down his aggressive line of questioning from his moderation of last year's conference in order to make sure relationships were built.

Church leaders who had watched both events (Rounds 1 and 2) and posted their observations online about the conference said they noticed a more friendly dialogue during the sessions that were simulcast live to 70 host locations throughout North America on Wednesday.

Pastor James MacDonald, who shared moderator duties with Pastor Mark Driscoll, may have helped eliminate the fireworks that took place during Round 1 of the Elephant Room but there were plenty of repercussions before and after the Round 2 discussion. more >>

Jefferson Bethke, the online evangelist whose recent video "Why I Hate Religion" saw over 17 million views in just one week, has created a new spoken word poem – this time tackling love, sex and marriage.

Bethke, 22, says that his hope for "Sex, Marriage & Fairytales" is to highlight the most common and problematic issues plaguing marriages today, while emphasizing Jesus as the "ultimate healer, redeemer, and restorer of every marriage."

"My intention would be that this poem would allow you to look more deeply to Jesus to either better your current marriage, or prepare for your future marriage," he writes below the YouTube clip. more >>

How do we relate in a helpful way with those who are (or are perceived to be) outside of orthodoxy? When you choose to interact with people with such views, there are certainly consequences to pay but, I propose, there can be benefits to reap in the right circumstances.

Bad examples exist where evangelical Christians have been used by those outside orthodoxy to legitimize their aberrant views. In addition, the scriptures warn us away from false teachers. Yet, I believe in interaction around the scriptures in a way that leads to helpful conversations and theological clarity when such people are considering (or engaging in) moves toward orthodoxy.

Probably the most prominent example in modern times has to be the Worldwide Church of God. They were once a non-Trinitarian, heretical cult (their term, not mine), and are now an evangelical denomination and a member of the National Association of Evangelicals. more >>