Roger E. Olson

“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...

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...

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...

In The Mosaic of Christian Belief Roger E. Olson thematically traces the contours of Christian belief down through the ages, revealing a pattern of both unity and diversity. He finds a consensus of teaching that is both unitive and able to incorporate a faithful diversity when not forced into...

Liberal Christian theology is a big topic in today's churches and seminaries. But what does liberal theology really mean and why is it so controversial? What does it actually believe about truth, Scripture, and Jesus Christ? And where does it lead? The term "liberal theology" is often...

A respectful approach to the debate over Reformed theology. Calvinist theology has been debated and promoted for centuries. Roger Olson suggests that Calvinism, also commonly known as Reformed theology, holds an unwarranted place in our list of accepted theologies and certainly shouldn’t be...

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...