Features
Coming together, coming apart: Embattled Baptists in Texas
As baptist historian Walter Shurden once noted, Southern Baptists are "not a silent people." Their battles are often very intense and very public. The divisive issues of 1998 were merely a continuation of a long tradition. In June, messengers (delegates) to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention gained national attention when they added a new article on the family to the denomination's confession of faith.
Books
All on the family
By Leo G. Perdue, Joseph Blenkinsopp, John J. Collins and Carol Meyers, Families in Ancient Israel. (Westminster/John Knox, 285 pp.)...
Departments
Living the incarnation
Some Christian theologians these days are involved in an important discussion about the limits of our knowledge and speech about God. Those who listen in will hear a lot of talk about emptiness, otherness, negation, difference and nonbeing....
Taking God to court
In Joseph and His Brothers, Thomas Mann tells of an exchange between Jacob, who has just seen what he believes is proof of his son's death, and his servant Eliezer. The passage reminds me of two friends who were complaining about God....
Repent and expect
Tis the season for columnists to write their annual grumpy columns about how the season is misused. Here's my contribution. Advent, a time of penitence and expectation, should not be skipped over in the rush to Christmas....