Latest Blog Entries

The Exploring Origins conference at Point Loma Nazarene University was a great success! I’m grateful to the many who attended and to those who led in various ways. This aspect of the Nazarenes Exploring Evolution project, however, taught me some things.

I'm beginning a new book project! Thanks to a generous grant from the randomness and divine providence project, I'm offering a proposal for how we might best believe God acts providentially in our world.

My friend, Ian Barbour, died recently. He was 90 years old. Widely considered a groundbreaking giant in the science-and-religion dialogue, Ian was especially kind to me. I consider him the godfather of contemporary science and religion scholarship.

In Jacob Arminius: Theologian of Grace, Keith Stanglin and Thomas H. McCall elucidate Arminius’s theological perspectives.  I commend them for this much-needed explanation of Arminius’s own theology. But the book left me unsatisfied.

Although some Christians have heard of the great Dutch theologian, Jacob Arminius, few know much about him. Two new books aim to change this.

Recently, the Church of the Nazarene reexamined its view of the Bible. A study committee recommended that the denomination retain its current doctrine of scripture and reject strict inerrancy.

For the past decade or more, I have been thinking about the love, science, and theology interface. The questions about how these three major domains relate to one another are complex. And they require complex but understandable answers.

I just finished a wonderfully accessible and clear book on God's activity in the world. It was written from an advocate of Thomas Aquinas's theology, and it addresses recent scientific theory and scholarship. I'll be recommending that serious scholars of science and theology read this book... even though I strongly disagree with its proposals!

A recent survey indicates that pastors are beginning to change their views on evolution and creation. And I think that’s a good thing!

Alvin Plantinga is an excellent philosopher and someone I admire greatly. His new book, Where the Conflict Really Lies, offers great arguments and insights. But when it comes to the relationship between science, God’s action, and creaturely freedom, Plantinga’s proposals disappoint.