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Archive: Randall Balmer
All creation has moral standing
Too often throughout church history Christians have used the notion of humanity at the pinnacle of creation to justify neglect and even wanton destruction of the natural world.
By Randall Balmer | June 17, 2010; 08:58 AM ET | Comments (7)
Who holds the pope accountable?
In Roman Catholic polity (at least since the Middle Ages), the pope is accountable to no one - except, presumably, to God. We can only hope - and, for the sake of the victims, pray - that Benedict finally, all these years later, does the right thing.
By Randall Balmer | March 29, 2010; 12:59 PM ET | Comments (6)
Pentecostalism's most effective translator
Roberts eventually toned down some of his tent-revival antics for television, and in so doing he helped to make Pentecostalism more palatable to the masses. No longer were Americans, including other evangelicals, able to dismiss Pentecostals as holy rollers.
By Randall Balmer | December 16, 2009; 10:42 AM ET | Comments (0)
Vatican's cynical and opportunistic overture
The Vatican's sudden overture to disaffected Anglicans strikes me as both cynical and opportunistic in that Rome is making the overture at what might be viewed as a moment of crisis or weakness in the Anglican Communion.
By Randall Balmer | October 22, 2009; 09:50 AM ET | Comments (10)
God Incarnate, not Internet
I've yet to discover a way to consecrate or to communicate (in a sacramental sense) over electronic media. That is as it should be, in keeping with the doctrine of the incarnation.
By Randall Balmer | August 11, 2009; 11:38 AM ET | Comments (4)
Should Clergy Act as State Agents?
This week's question begs a larger question: Should clergy function as agents of the state in officiating at weddings?
By Randall Balmer | June 10, 2009; 08:18 AM ET | Comments (4)
True Faith Not An Empty Ritual
The real danger with inaugural prayers, in my judgment, is that the faith is diminished by what many Americans see as an empty and perfunctory ritual.
By Randall Balmer | January 13, 2009; 11:46 AM ET | Comments (4)
Conservatives Leaving or Left Behind?
Any group that defines itself negatively doesn't have much of a message. Besides, the sector of religious folks who decry homosexuality is not exactly underserved here in North America. Goodbye - and good riddance.
By Randall Balmer | December 17, 2008; 08:28 AM ET | Comments (32)
Time to Untangle Moral from Legal
The blithe conflation of abortion as a moral issue with abortion as a legal issue has led to a deadlock that stymies any real deliberation over this matter. It's time to separate the two. I have no interest in making abortion illegal; I would like to make it unthinkable.
By Randall Balmer | September 30, 2008; 10:16 AM ET | Comments (12)
What Do You Do for Jesus?
For too long, we the voters have allowed politicians to get away with vague, gauzy affirmations of faith without bothering to interrogate those claims.
By Randall Balmer | August 14, 2008; 08:47 AM ET | Comments (32)
Politicians Can't Serve Two Masters
I see precious little evidence that any of the candidate's declarations of faith - all of them claim to be Christians - have a direct impact on their policies.
By Randall Balmer | February 22, 2008; 10:28 AM ET | Comments (7)
What Romney Could and Couldn't Say
Romney missed the opportunity to make his best case for a Mormon to be president. Mormons believe that America's charter documents are actually divinely inspired.
By Randall Balmer | December 6, 2007; 02:44 PM ET | Comments (62)
Ask What They Believe AND How They Would Apply It
Mr. Bush, Jesus, your favorite philosopher, expressed concern for the tiniest sparrow. How will that sentiment shape your environmental policies?
By Randall Balmer | October 3, 2007; 02:44 PM ET | Comments (33)
Beware Secular Fundamentalists
Mr. Hitchens shares with other fundamentalists a blindness to shades of gray.
By Randall Balmer | October 2, 2007; 07:45 AM ET | Comments (148)
Is It About Discipline or Control?
I’ve yet to encounter anyone in my travels throughout North America who said, “Yes, I’m a member of a cult!”
By Randall Balmer | September 19, 2007; 07:21 AM ET | Comments (8)
The Church's Sexual Fixation
I continue to be flummoxed by the current fixation on homosexuality in Protestant denominations. Jesus himself said nothing about the matter.
By Randall Balmer | August 27, 2007; 09:23 AM ET | Comments (157)
Peter, a Rock He Was Not
Jesus decides to entrust his Church, his entire legacy, into the hands of flawed human beings like Peter.
By Randall Balmer | July 19, 2007; 07:42 AM ET | Comments (38)
Immoral Start Begets Immoral Mess
The United States would be morally obligated to finance an international peacekeeping force as well as to pay reparations to the people of Iraq.
By Randall Balmer | June 20, 2007; 06:44 AM ET | Comments (81)
The Power of "I Believe"
I decided long ago that I would not allow the canons of Enlightenment Rationalism be the final arbiter of truth.
By Randall Balmer | June 16, 2007; 06:07 AM ET | Comments (65)
Belief and Behavior Inseparable
I think the Bible is pretty clear that faith and works are inseparable, though I’m enough a creature of the Reformation to hold that good works do not earn salvation. Martin Luther (following St. Paul) believed that good works would...
By Randall Balmer | June 8, 2007; 08:11 AM ET | Comments (25)
Life is Good, Even Off the Field
My only real disappointment is my failure to become a second baseman for the Detroit Tigers
By Randall Balmer | May 22, 2007; 08:27 AM ET | Comments (8)
We've Got the Whole World In Our Hands
I’ve wondered if the phenomenon of global warming will bring on the kind of apocalypticism described in the book of Revelation.
By Randall Balmer | March 22, 2007; 10:36 AM ET | Comments (33)
My Reponse to Richard Land
I must say, Richard, that I find your attempt to connect me with an “inside-the-beltway urban myth” rather amusing.
By Randall Balmer | March 2, 2007; 09:32 AM ET | Comments (2)
Too Selective in Love and Judgment
The issue here is what I have come to call the ruse of selective literalism.
By Randall Balmer | February 28, 2007; 10:53 AM ET | Comments (95)
Democratic Etiquette and the Religious Right
I really didn’t expect the Religious Right to climb out of the Republican Party’s cozy bed. But I did think they might stick out a foot and maybe wiggle a toe or two.
By Randall Balmer | November 14, 2006; 07:30 PM ET | Comments (184)
