Resident Theologian
About the Blog
How many American churches are screen-free?
A brief little wondering out-loud about church buildings and their sanctuaries in America.
The C. S. Lewis Test
A little test I like to apply to non-evangelical and non-Christian writers.
My latest: a review of Ryan Burge, in The Lamp
A link to my review of Ryan Burge’s new book in the latest issue of The Lamp.
Evangelical gentrification
An analogy that helps to clarify the nature of the evangelical absorption of Churches of Christ.
My latest: the fate of American Protestantism, in Public Discourse
A link to my latest essay in The Public Discourse.
My latest: Goldilocks Protestantism, in FT
A link to my essay in the latest issue of First Things.
The Eucharist: ceremony, doctrine, and the real presence
Further reflections on the Eucharist and its celebration across different Christian traditions.
My latest: an essay and response in Restoration Quarterly
An overview of the latest issue of Restoration Quarterly, which is organized around and in response to an essay of mine on the past, present, and future of churches of Christ.
My latest: the loosening of American evangelicalism, for CT
A link to my latest column for Christianity Today.
If Lewis wrote today
What would American evangelicals make of C. S. Lewis if he were alive and writing today?
Coda: what is a CoC?
Further reflections on “family marks” that once distinguished Churches of Christ from American evangelicalism, but no longer do so.
What is a Church of Christ?
A reflection on the family of marks that distinguish Churches of Christ, past and present.
Conversions, Protestantism, and a new mainline
Reflections on the appeal of Catholicism rather than Protestantism to public intellectuals as well as the possibility of a new conservative Protestant mainline in America.
A loosening
Reflections on trends in low-church Protestant settings regarding such things as tattoos, alcohol, charismatic gifts, feast days, and more.
Aping the Inklings
A plea—to myself first, then to others—to stop centering the Inklings and other “modern classics” as the north star for popular Christian writing today.
You can’t die for a question
A follow-up reflection on biblicism, catholicity, martyrdom, and perspicuity.
Church on Christmas Day
A response to the responses to Ruth Graham’s piece in the New York Times on American evangelicals staying home on Christmas Day. A sympathetic defense of the normies, in other words.
Evangelical and evangelical
The estimable Timothy Crouch raises a question about my series of posts, not from the CoC side, but from the evangelical. Here’s my attempt at a workable definition of “Evangelical” (the noun) and “evangelical” (the adjective).
CoC: past, present, future
My two posts on churches of Christ—the first on CoC-past as not-evangelical-but-catholic, the second on CoC-future as no-longer-catholic-but-evangelical—were intended to be merely descriptive, but I think their overall effect was something of a downer. This third and final post is meant to clarify what I’ve written and reflect constructively on the future.