John Stackhouse
12 min read
Rest in Peace, David Martin (1929-2019)
I’ve only just heard that my latter-day mentor in the sociology of religion, David Martin, passed away last month. I confess that I...
John Stackhouse
3 min read
Christianity Is Weird, but Perhaps Not as Weird as Your Think
Christianity has what I sometimes call a “double weirdness problem.” Elements of its teaching that are truly strange—such as the...
John Stackhouse
2 min read
Evangelicals, Ethics, and Supporting Donald Trump
Evangelicals—at least, we white ones—are having a hard time in the public eye these days. Perhaps you’ve noticed. Jerry Falwell, Jr.,...
John Stackhouse
3 min read
Immortality Will Be . . . Boring?
It is astonishing, and depressing, to encounter again the blithe arrogance of certain members of my class: the highly educated pundits...
John Stackhouse
3 min read
Eminent Scientist Concludes God Doesn’t Exist—Again
Stephen Hawking gets one more chance to give “Brief Answers to the Big Questions” in his new book, finished after his death last March by...
John Stackhouse
4 min read
Body-Shaming? Or Education-Honouring?
It’s back-to-school time and, for many Canadian pupils, it’s back to the demands of school dress codes. Not just in private schools, but...
John Stackhouse
4 min read
Reality: What a Concept
“I prefer to think of my bank account as limitless.” “I prefer to think of myself as universally charming.” “I prefer to think of traffic...
John Stackhouse
3 min read
Hey, Have You Heard the Latest?
Here’s another good reason to read the Bible regularly and think about it hard: It will help you avoid succumbing to pleasantly written...
John Stackhouse
3 min read
Paige Patterson, Donald Trump, and Theological Malpractice
As Christian leaders have defended Southern Baptist leader Paige Patterson over this past couple of months and President Donald Trump...
John Stackhouse
3 min read
The Ascension of the God Who Remains One of Us
Europeans do like their titles. And why shouldn’t they? They have some excellent ones. I was attending a meeting in Britain of university...
John Stackhouse
3 min read
What We Can Learn from Easter 2018
I write this on Good Friday 2018, but I could have written something like it on any day, any year. For the more some things change, it...
John Stackhouse
2 min read
Why Isn’t Christianity Simpler?
When I moved to Vancouver in 1998, once people found out I had been a guest of various radio hosts in Winnipeg and elsewhere, the...
John Stackhouse
7 min read
Treasure in Heaven: A Review of Gary Anderson’s “Charity”
In his fine study of Sin: A History (Yale, 2010), Notre Dame professor of theology Gary Anderson rendered an understanding of his subject...
John Stackhouse
2 min read
A Good Definition of Forgiveness
I have blogged about forgiveness in some detail before, notably here and here. Today I came across a particular detail that is good...
John Stackhouse
3 min read
Simple Is Good; Oversimple Is Bad
I happen to chair the committee that coordinates the major lectureship at Regent College, the Laing Lectures. Roger Laing, our patron, is...
John Stackhouse
5 min read
What’s Good about (Bloody) Good Friday? Some Thoughts on the Atonement
A correspondent recently wrote: “I’m more baffled than ever about the Atonement. I sometimes feel like banging my head against the wall...