Author Archives: Greg

Nope: “The Fall”

I come from a tradition that demands “Bible words for Bible things.” That is not why I’m filing “the fall” in the Nope category. My beef is instead with a widely influential set of concerns that are read into Gen 3, for which “the fall” is usually shorthand. I deny that the rejection (whether anti-Pelagian or Reformed) of humankind’sContinue reading “Nope: “The Fall””

MBTI, Doctoral Studies, and Interdisciplinarity

As I apply to PhD programs, I’m naturally reflecting a lot on my strengths and weaknesses, wondering whether I’ll be accepted somewhere and how I will do in a demanding course of study at the terminal level. The application process is designed to raise these sorts of questions, so I don’t think they’re too neurotic, thoughContinue reading “MBTI, Doctoral Studies, and Interdisciplinarity”

The Kingdom Gospel in Latin America: Holistic Missions

by Bill Richardson [Dr. Bill Richardson has been an important part of the Christian Urban Development Association since its inception. CUDA was honored to have him speak at the benefit dinner hosted at the 2014 Global Missions Conference on October 17th. Dr. Richardson has been a vital part of my formation. He is a teacher, mentor, andContinue reading “The Kingdom Gospel in Latin America: Holistic Missions”

Latin American Missions

A few thoughts on missions in Latin America from one corner of South America. The Global Missions Conference is coming up. I’m participating in a track for college students on missions in my part of the world, basically as the Latin America representative. I suppose it would be wise not to speak for more than missionsContinue reading “Latin American Missions”

More Preamble on Women’s Roles

As I contemplate the future of hermeneutics in Churches of Christ in terms of a touchy subject like women’s roles, it strikes me that one critical issue is our collective emotional brokenness.  To personify the tradition, I can’t help but compare us to a child of divorce.  My own baggage certainly informs the analogy, but maybe it alsoContinue reading “More Preamble on Women’s Roles”

Female Leadership in Churches of Christ

I recently read Scot McKnight say in The Blue Parakeet that he regrets not advocating “mutual” (=egalitarian) female church leadership earlier in his career. I’m compelled not to have the same regret. Let this mark the beginning of my public advocacy: my church tradition, the Churches of Christ (a cappella), has been complicit in Christianity’s failure toContinue reading “Female Leadership in Churches of Christ”

English Bible Translations

What English Bible translation should I use?  This is a perennial question, so I’m posting my thoughts at the present time, and I’ll update them as they change.   The question has to be answered with questions.  For what use?  And who is asking? Two Basic Uses There is spiritual (“devotional”) reading, and there is study.  TheContinue reading “English Bible Translations”

Are Churches of Christ Evangelical?: An Ideological Question (Part 6)

Restoration What Should “Restoration” Mean? I address in this post what restoration should mean, rather than what it does mean, because the diversity of its meaning is well established.  Furthermore, I have Churches of Christ in mind when I ask the question, for whom restoration has often meant something that proved unprofitable.  That historical factContinue reading “Are Churches of Christ Evangelical?: An Ideological Question (Part 6)”

Are Churches of Christ Evangelical?: A Semantic Question (Part 5)

What Does “Evangelical” Mean? I’m going to begin with Scott Moreau’s understanding of evangelical in Contextualization in World Missions, because it is both concise and missiologically attuned.  Moreau begins with David Bebbington’s well known “quadrilateral”: conversion, activism, biblicism, and crucicentrism (Moreau, 19).  To this he adds “the common theological frame that characterizes evangelicals,” borrowing fromContinue reading “Are Churches of Christ Evangelical?: A Semantic Question (Part 5)”