Instead of answering this question theoretically, perhaps it will be easier to illustrate the problem of understanding God through our human speculation by considering the legend of St. George and the Dragon.

Today, however, it seems that apologetics tends to be a performance rather than an authentic dialog, an exercise in being clever rather than being compelling, and a source of self-satisfaction rather than an invitation to risky but respectful engagement.

Anti-intellectualism goes straight out the window when a topic truly matters to us. I can’t recall how many times I’ve noticed the same folks who disdain academic jargon start using bigger, more technical words than I in one of three circumstances.

Barth's ideas resulted in a movement known as neo-orthodoxy, sometimes called dialectical theology, theology of crisis, or simply Barthianism.

In an American evangelical landscape that emphasizes the importance of an individual’s personal decision to follow Jesus—as if that were the basis for God’s grace towards a man or woman—Lutherans and Reformed Christians insist that justification before God is based solely on Jesus’ work, two millennia ago.

Apologetics (providing evidence for one’s faith) is a bad word in some circles. In others, apologetics is an entirely negative enterprise: that is, it only tangles up opponents and exposes their intellectual incoherence while refusing to provide positive reasons to believe in Christianity.

For all our best efforts—political and evangelistic—our approach should always be through the Theology of the Cross. Our gardens are still bloody, but the blood of the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world will one day restore peace to our gardens.

A clever skeptic named James Huber created a clever skit called “Kissing Hank’s Butt”. That’s the version he created for use in G-rated contexts. His main site uses more mature language. Many Christians will find it offensive.

Ever experience a congregation with the word "Grace" in its name that was nonetheless ironically ungracious and legalistic? I have.

Well, there’s not much more to type here than we have said on the last, and now this, show. This isn’t sayonara from your pals, Jeff and Dan, but rather a marker in their lives as they move onto new projects

This is the kind of interview that could have been 4 hours and ranged from everything from ethics to REM to “virtue signaling” and Bob Dylan. David Zahl is the founder of Mockingbird Ministries which does some of the kind of stuff we like to do here at Virtue in the Wasteland, in fact, we like to think of them as our more distinguished East Coast colleagues

It's easy to find other religions to blame for social or theological ills. But what if the real problem isn't worshipping the wrong God, but the right God in the wrong way? Join us on part 1 of a two-part series on the "religion of cruel power".