Collin Hansen:
As the end of the year approaches, we eagerly look forward to 2011 and make resolutions. The challenges of 2010 fade as we dream of new possibilities next year. But it’s also worthwhile to reflect on what’s changed in the last 12 months. The discipline allows us to transcend the constant, daily internet noise and take stock. So I’ve compiled a list of the top ten theology and church stories from 2010 in the United States. This list includes many of the most-read and most-discussed stories on TGC’s site. But I’ve also applied subjective analysis of stories that have shaped evangelical life, thought, and mission. Before the calendar turns, let’s take one last look back on 2010.
10.) Crystal Cathedral Files for Bankruptcy
The famed Southern California church made headlines in recent years due to a messy transition between founding pastor Robert Schuller, his son, and then his daughter. Still, when church leaders announced in October that they had incurred $55 million in debt, media couldn’t resist pointing out the obvious failure of the church’s hallmark “Possibility Thinking.” Lest you be tempted to rejoice in Schuller’s downfall, consider that his ministry has already spawned a thousand Crystal Cathedrals small and large across the United States and around the world.
9.) BioLogos Stirs Debate Over Evolution
National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins launched BioLogos in late 2007 with money from the John Templeton Foundation. This year BioLogos reignited the evolution debate among Christians in earnest. Thecontroversy began last spring. Venerable Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke resigned from Reformed Theological Seminary-Orlando after recording a video for BioLogos in which he said Christianity risked becoming a cult if the “data is overwhelmingly in favor of evolution.” Then BioLogos picked a fight with Al Mohler, a young earth creationist. Neither side appears willing to retreat.
8.) Philip Ryken Becomes President of Wheaton College
Some stories flare hot for a day, a week, or even a month. But other developments bear the potential to simmer for decades. That’s the sort of influence beloved university presidents can wield with the support of their board of trustees. Ryken served his alma mater on its board before taking over as president in 2010. Students sported “I’m Likin’ Ryken” T-shirts to celebrate their president’s return to Wheaton. Ryken’s career change also left vacant the senior pastorate at one of the most prominent evangelical churches in the country, Tenth Presbyterian in Philadelphia.
7.) Liberty Removes Ergun Caner as Seminary President
Ergun Caner has developed a reputation as an outspoken, provocative educator, apologist, and speaker. He has captured attention with dramatic stories of his childhood and conversion. But it turns out those stories are filled with contradictions. Liberty University investigated the seminary president and demoted him this summer. But they retained him as a theology professor, leaving one major question unanswered: Was Dr. Caner raised in Turkey as a Muslim terrorist trained in jihad?
6.) Matt Chandler Fights Malignant Brain Tumor
Chandler suffered a seizure on Thanksgiving 2009 and learned his grave diagnosis later that year. His prognosis improved a great deal in 2010. He spoke candidly about his fears and doubts, but he consistently expressed faith and hope in the God who is sovereign over all things. Christians surrounded him with prayer, as at the Together for the Gospel conference in April. His model of suffering caught the attention of several major mediaoutlets, giving Chandler an opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and declare his dependence on God.
5.) Glenn Beck Grabs the Religious Right’s Megaphone
Read the rest here.
