The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How and When was the New Testament Canon Put Together?
For the last few weeks, I have been posting a series of videos where Andreas Köstenberger and I discuss our response to Walter Bauer’s thesis on heresy and orthodoxy in early Christianity.
These discussions are based on our book, The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity (Crossway, 2010).
The first week was an overview of Bauer and why we wrote the book (see here), and the second week was on the role of diversity in the NT books themselves (see here).
In this video below, we discuss an area very central to the Bauer thesis, namely the development … Continue reading...
The One Area of Diversity That Doesn’t Count
Evangelical Christians have been making the same point for so long, we are running out of ways to say it.
We’ve tried the following phrases/statements:
- The intolerance of tolerance.
- There is a lack of diversity in the push for diversity.
- Those complaining the loudest about discrimination, are often the most discriminatory.
- Liberals are not really liberals, but simply want one view.
- Those pushing for all view to be treated fairly, are not treating all views fairly.
- The supposed quest for equality, is really a quest to privilege a certain viewpoint.
And on and on we could go.
The basic point is this. In the modern liberal push for diversity there … Continue reading...
Should Churches Make Diversity Their Highest Goal?
When it comes to ethnic diversity, one of the most common refrains in our culture is that 11AM to 12Noon on Sundays is the most segregated hour of the week. Such statements understandably raise important questions about our churches and ministries and whether they are focused enough on ethnic diversity.
However, African-American pastor Voddie Baucham, who leads Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, is concerned about our culture’s incessant push for diversity–what he calls “cherished pluralism.” In a recent interview with Ministry and Leadership, the magazine of Reformed Theological Seminary, Voddie offered some very helpful insights:
…Q: How does the church adapt to the multicultural, multiethnic world
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