Perspectives on Christian Nationalism
Christian nationalism is theocracy in a Christian context. It is being proposed by many evangelicals, especially those in the MAGA movement. Christian nationalism was implemented in a covert sort of way in the Trump administration. Should Donald Trump be re-elected president in November 2024, all indications are that what was covert will move to the overt. Theocracy, Christian or not, is inherently anti-democratic, exclusionary, and divisive. This paper places Christian nationalism into a historical context. It also discusses present developments and plans for the future. This paper argues that evangelicals have drifted far from their original calling and have turned politics into a sort of idol. It calls for a major course correction, for the sake of democracy, as well as for the integrity and reputation of the evangelical faith itself.
Lessons from the Wittenberg Circle
Evolution is a major issue in evangelicalism today. In Martin Luther's day it was heliocentrism. This paper describes a choice the church had to make at that time -- suppress scientific discovery or allow scholars to freely study the issue and make their findings known, even if those findings challenge established doctrine.
Bernard Ramm and The Law of Unintended Consequences
Bernard Ramm was a well-respected Baptist theologian of the 1950's. His book, The Christian View of Science and Scripture, which endorsed a form of evolutionary science, prompted strong criticism and was a primary motivator for the writing of the young earth creationist classic The Genesis Flood.
Evangelicals and Evolutionary Science
Pastor Gregory O. Boyd says, "I am deeply invested in presenting the gospel in an intellectually credible fashion to nonbelievers in our culture. For this reason, I think it is incredibly significant that, from Galileo’s inquisition to the Scopes trial to the present evolution debates, whenever the church has assumed a rigid opposition to the consensus of the scientific community, it has eventually harmed the credibility of the church in the eyes of the broader culture."
Perspectives on the Sociology of Science
Science is a vast body of knowledge. It is also a method for gathering that knowledge. This paper seeks to place science into the proper context and clarify questions and concerns that many evangelicals have about science being predominately associated with atheism and therefore corrosive to faith.