apophasia

Continuing the chapter-by-chapter presentation of C. Douglas Weaver, Baptists and the Holy Spirit with 2: “Holiness, Healing, and A.J. Gordon.” I was raised to believe in the power of prayer. My devout Southern Baptist parents have always hewn to a straightforward evangelical understanding of the practice. It is, stated simply, a matter of “talking to … More Baptists and the Holy Spirit: Chapter 2

This post begins a review series of Jennifer Butler’s Who Stole My Bible?: Reclaiming Scripture as a Handbook for Resisting Tyranny. I received a free Kindle edition of the book through Speakeasy in exchange for writing a candid book review within 30 days. No other goods or services were exchanged. Jennifer Butler is a community … More Who Stole My Bible? – Introduction

This was a brief, 3-minute reflection I shared in today’s online chapel service, “TruthS: Stories and Songs,” for Starr King School for the Ministry: Mardi Gras is two weeks from today. Each year I was a student at Duke Divinity School, I hosted a Mardi Gras party. I would cook traditional Louisiana cuisine, such as … More A Reflection on Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday

Alternately animated and annoyed, my Facebook friends have encountered plenty of posts over the past several years offering critiques of the political career and presidential administration of Donald J. Trump. I have, I believe, striven to make sure that my posts were substantive in nature, void of shallow and spiteful polemics, and open to critical … More Donald Trump, Our Mirror

Chapter 1: Baptists and the Holiness Movement This post continues my planned chapter-by-chapter commentary on C. Douglas Weaver, Baptists and the Holy Spirit: The Contested History with Holiness-Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements (Baylor University Press, 2019). My commentary on the Introduction is available here. The Holiness Movement emerged in America during the early nineteenth-century as an outgrowth of … More Baptists and the Holy Spirit: Chapter 1

I’ve always loved Halloween. No doubt, my delight in the holiday takes on new meaning as I see it through my children’s eyes. But I still celebrate it in my own way as well. At this time of year, I marinate in accounts of the mysterious and anomalous. I step away from mundane concerns and … More A Baptist Exorcism Story from Japan

Last night, a friend shared on Facebook a piece recently published at Tikkun, the Jewish and interfaith magazine/website devoted to progressive political activism. “A Public Letter to Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett” is written by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox, a best-selling author and Episcopal priest. As is the actual case with open or public … More Matthew Fox, Odd Religion, and the Stories We Tell

For the Christian communions in the West that formally observe the liturgical calendar (as well as for individuals in other traditions who play along *grin*), this is the feast day that commemorates the ministry of angels, especially the Archangel Michael. This celebration unites the liturgical and the charismatic spirit in Christianity, as it ritualizes a … More Feast Day of St. Michael and All the Angels

I recently acquired a copy of Baptist historian C. Douglas Weaver’s massive new work, Baptists and the Holy Spirit: The Contested History with Holiness-Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements. Given the historical and theological continuity between the three movements named in the subtitle, we could refer to them more generically as charismatic or “Spirit-filled” Christianity. While acknowledging their differences, … More Baptists and the Holy Spirit: Introduction

This is an experience reported by a Particular Baptist in the American colonies during the eighteenth century. I deliver this third-hand, as it was recorded by a Baptist historian at the time, Morgan Edwards, and is reproduced by Thomas S. Kidd and Barry Hankins in the recent book Baptists in America: A History (Oxford University Press, 2015), … More A Baptist Pastor’s Shared Death Experience (1753)