Understand the history, core values, and divisions as they've developed within the Evangelical Christian movement.Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism compares and contrasts four distinct positions on the current fundamentalist-evangelical spectrum. Each contributor offers their case for one of four primary views:Fundamentalism – defended b… Read more…
“Jesus is the answer.”“God has a perfect plan for your life.”“All sins are equal.”Sayings like these may make catchy bumper stickers, but as deep, life-changing truths they fall short. They are the earmarks of “folk religion”—a badly distorted pop-Christianity that thrives on clichés and slogans and resists reflection and examination. Such… Read more…
Recipient of a Christianity Today 1993 Critics' Choice AwardNow in paperback! Stanley Grenz and Roger Olson offer in this text a sympathetic introduction to twentieth-century theology and a critical survey of its significant thinkers and movements. Of particular interest is their attempt to show how twentieth-century theology has moved back and forth bet… Read more…
Many people equate evangelical Christianity with conservatism in religion, politics, theology and social attitudes. Some are scandalized by any separation between them. As one evangelical pastor's wife declared to a church group "We are a conservative people!"In fact, however, evangelicals have not always been conservative; radical stances on doctrines, … Read more…
Christianity Today Book of the Year Award ECPA Gold Medallion AwardHistory is made up of stories--narratives that recount the events, movements, ideas and lives that have shaped religions and nations. Theologian Roger Olson believes that the history of Christian theology should be told as such a story, one replete with thick plots, exciting twists, interesti… Read more…
To many Christians theology is something alien, overly intellectual and wholly unappealing. Even seminary students are known to balk at the prospect of a course on theology. Yet theology—most simply, the knowledge of God—is essential to the life and health of the church. In this short introduction, Stanley Grenz and Roger Olson, two theologians who care … Read more…
In this book, Roger Olson sets forth classical Arminian theology and addresses the myriad misunderstandings and misrepresentations of it through the ages. Irenic yet incisive, Olson argues that classical Arminian theology has a rightful place in the evangelical church because it maintains deep roots within Reformational theology, even though it maintains imp… Read more…
Many Christians’ faith exists as a loose collection of unexamined clichés and slogans borrowed from songs, devotional books, sermon illustrations, and even the internet. Too often this belief system (if it can be called a “system”) lacks coherence and intelligibility; it can hardly be expressed, let alone defended, to others. The problem with folk rel… Read more…
Many people equate evangelical Christianity with conservatism in religion, politics, theology and social attitudes. Some are scandalized by any separation between them. As one evangelical pastor's wife declared to a church group "We are a conservative people!" In fact, however, evangelicals have not always been conservative; radical stances on doctrines,… Read more…
The Shack has touched millions of readers with its portrayal of a compassionate God in the face of great evil. Many have identified with the main character’s Great Sadness, the terrible burden of grief that often accompanies and follows a deep loss. The Great Sadness is part of the human condition. And it compels us to ask, Where is God? Who is Go… Read more…
The community of evangelicals sometimes seems so broad as to defy definition, but theological conservatism has been one consistent marker. Now, says theologian Roger Olson, postconservatism is moving beyond conventional battles against liberalism and heresy to posit a dynamic and realistic approach. While conservatives strive to preserve tradition and protec… Read more…