I’m going to try to do this every Friday, if this proves to be something people are interested in. I spend a great deal of time every week reading through countless blog articles popping up in the Christian blogosphere. In fact, many of you have come to this blog as the result of a comment or a ‘like’ I left on one of your own Christian blog articles! So, at the end of the week, I want to take a moment and highlight five of the best Christian blog articles worth sharing. Enjoy!
The Best Christian Blog Articles Of The Past Week
- Megan Phelps-Roper’s Decision To Leave Westboro – This one goes right at the top of the list. Yesterday, Christian news feeds and blogs all over exploded with the news that Megan Phelps-Roper, long the media head of the infamous “Christian” hate group known as the Westboro Baptist Church, has chosen to leave her family and friends in breaking from the group. Kicking off the whole media firestorm was Megan’s own article where she apologized for all the hate and harm and pain she has caused, and looks toward a brighter future. This is that article.
- Should I Get Re-Baptized? – Over at The Gospel Coalition, Jared Oliphint tackles a reader’s theological question on baptism. It is a great question – having been baptized as an infant or child, should I be baptized again on conversion. It is this question which divides the two camps: those who view baptism as an ordinance, and therefore typically fall into the ‘Believer’s baptism’ category, and those who view it as a sacrament, and therefore typically fall into the ‘Paedobaptist’ category. The latter baptizes infants (in fact, paedobaptist is just a fancy Latin term for ‘infant baptizer’). Jared lays out an incredibly cogent argument for infant baptism and against the need for rebaptism – a theology I very much agree with. Check it out.
- Preachers Should Be Like Naughty Kids – Tullian Tchividjian pulls a great quote which, I think, challenges preachers to be willing to make the tough leadership decisions in stimulating their congregations out of complacency. The beauty is in the analogy, and if I describe it to you it will give too much away. Just trust me… this is worth a read.
- Progressive Christians Don’t Need Any Foundations – Tony Jones over at Theoblogy addresses the questions of knowledge, foundations, and fundamentals. Ultimately, he makes the argument that “foundations of knowledge” is a myth, that our cognitive and moral reasoning does not operate in a grounds-up fashion but more like a web, and that when an important aspect of this web is broken it requires a new theological framework. I don’t agree with everything Tony discusses here, but it is still a very interesting read to get in on the conversation.
- When the “Good Book” is Bad: Challenging the Bible’s Violent Portrayals of God – This article was the first in a series of three guest articles written by Dr. Eric Sieger (you can read part two here and part three here) over on Pete Enns’ blog. While I highly disagree with most of the article, I think it is important reading. On the one hand, this Old Testament professor at Messiah College is willing to look at some of the incredibly difficult issues in the Old Testament that I think Christians need to get a handle on if we are going to be able to cogently defend our faith in an era which has villainized much of Christianity. On the other hand, Dr. Sieger’s response is to label the Bible as an immoral book that we have to get past if we want to progress as Christians. I have a very difficult time reconciling a rejection of Scripture with faithful Christianity. As one might expect, this has stirred some controversy. Responses to this series of articles have been popping up all over the Christian blogosphere, and if you want to be able to intelligently interact with the conversation, you need to read the article(s) that kicked it off.
So that’s this Friday’s Fab Five. Dig in, get reading, and enjoy!
How about you? What articles have you read this week that you would recommend? (And yes! You can list your own!)
Image Credit: Dr. GBB
melanie jean juneau (motherofnine9) February 8, 2013 at 12:05 pm
I would recommend all your posts this week because you offer spiritual and intellectual meat not just insipid, generic, CHRISTIAN MILK
and of course one of mine
Root Our Children in Love
http://melaniejeanjuneau.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/root-our-children-in-love/
T. E. Hanna February 8, 2013 at 12:46 pm
Haha! Thanks Melanie! I’ve enjoyed your discussions this week!
melanie jean juneau February 8, 2013 at 4:02 pm
Darla Kaarre February 8, 2013 at 1:32 pm
My husband’s Story of the Day on climbinghigher.org is truly one of the most refreshing blogs I read daily. I post them for him each day and then read check my blog followings after that. I have also loved your posts here! Keep up the good work. I like this idea of posting your top five…the one on Megan Phelps-Roper was indeed a helpful and insightful article. She and her sister Grace are in my prayers as they struggle and search for truth and ways to truly help others. Thanks for linking us to it!
Althea February 9, 2013 at 6:08 am
Thanks for sifting. It is a great tool on the one hand to steer readers who don’t have the time in a certain direction. On the other hand, there is always the risk of bloggers feeling a bit left out if their articles, etc., have not been chosen.