Published on April 5, 2019  

Douglas Sweeney Named Dean of Samford's Beeson Divinity School

Samford University is pleased to announce the appointment of Douglas A. Sweeney as the second dean of Beeson ­Divinity School, effective July 1, 2019. The appointment was announced April 5 by Samford Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs J. Michael Hardin. 

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Does Theology Cause Sexual Abuse? by Russell Moore

What we are dealing with in the sexual abuse of the vulnerable is, after all, demonic (and I mean that quite literally). And that means that the devil, and those carrying out his will, are able to hide behind, and to use, virtually any ideology or theology or church structure. Evildoers can hide behind church hierarchy (as we’ve seen), and behind church autonomy. They can hide behind systems where leaders are mandatorily celibate or in systems where the leaders have families with double-digit numbers of children. They can hide behind theologies that minimize “gender roles” or in those that exaggerate them.

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Jill Firth on "What Makes a Good Biblical Scholar and Theologian?" by Travis Bohlinger

A good biblical theologian pays attention to what God actually says, like the prophetess Huldah (and unlike Eve).

A good biblical theologian discerns patterns in God’s work in the world, and gives God praise, like Miriam, Deborah, and Hannah.

A good biblical theologian carries the good news about Jesus to others, like Mary Magdalene and the Samaritan woman in John 4.

Black and Evangelical: Why I Keep the Label by Brandon Washington

Cultural presuppositions are inherent to a theologian’s method. Intellectual integrity compels us to recognize that theologians do not do theology in a contextual vacuum. This is not necessarily bad. Personal and cultural experiences create lenses that are essential to the discovery of objective truths. However, to disregard this reality is detrimental. One must be mindful of how cultural contexts contribute to today’s ethnic rift.

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