These authors claim the name evangelical and generally present themselves as conservative or "postconservative." However, their views on the Bible, salvation, postmodernism, and the attributes of God often lead them into conflict with more traditional evangelicals. Frequently they hold to conservative positions on most issues but have a underlying worldview that is liberal or neo-orthodox. Many of these have opposed the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention and recent decisions by the Evangelical Theological Society. (Note: Norman Geisler and other authors have used the word "neo-evangelical" to describe these writers. But that term is sometimes used to describe all non-fundamentalist evangelicals (including Geisler himself), so I prefer to avoid the term altogether in favor of more specific labels. The authors on this page actually represent a departure from the 20th-century American evangelical movement.)
Calvin Miller and J. B. Phillips can be beneficial if read with care. Also, Warren McWilliams and Leon McBeth keep their "moderateness" close to their vest and are usually not too shaky. What I recommend most here is caution: since moderates often straddle the fence, their writing tends to be a bit ambiguous, and nailing down definitions and intentions can be very tricky. (For an example of slippery writing by moderates, see "The Word Made Fresh", a veiled plea for toleration of liberals within evangelicalism.)
Paul Basden (b. 1955) - moderate Arminian Baptist writer who has joined conservative Baptists on writing projects while opposing their political views. Former pastor of Brookwood Baptist Church, and professor at Beeson Divinity School. Basden is recognized for his knowledge of Baptist theology and advocacy of contemporary worship styles. Titles: Exploring the Worship Spectrum; Has Our Theology Changed?; The People of God: Essays on the Believer's Church; The Worship Maze.
David Basinger (b. 1947) - professor of philosophy and ethics at Roberts Wesleyan College since 1979. He has worked with John Sanders and Clark Pinnock in developing open theism. His beliefs are currently moving toward process theism. Basinger also specializes in bioethics and business ethics. Titles: The Case for Freewill Theism; Divine Power in Process Theism; Philosophy of Religion (Ed., et al.); Reason and Religious Belief (et al.); Philosophy and Miracle: The Contemporary Debate; Religious Diversity: A Philosophical Assessment.
Donald Bloesch (b. 1928) - moderate evangelical; former pastor for the United Church of Christ. For many years Bloesch has defended the key doctrines of the evangelical faith and answered the objections of liberals. In the last ten years, however, he has focused his energies on criticizing inerrancy and other aspects of conservative evangelicalism. He has also revealed himself to be egalitarian and inclusivist in recent years. Titles: The Battle for the Trinity; The Crisis of Piety; The Evangelical Renaissance; Freedom for Obedience; From East to West (Ed.); The Future of Evangelical Christianity; Holy Scripture: Revelation, Inspiration, and Interpretation; Is the Bible Sexist?; The Struggle of Prayer; and the Christian Foundations series, most notably the volume A Theology of Word and Spirit.Trent Butler (b. 1941) - manager of Bibles and textbooks for Broadman & Holman, which is owned by the SBC. Though not one to "rock the boat," his publication of a very liberal commentary on Joshua was one of the SBC's controversies during the 1990s. Butler also edited the Holman Bible Dictionary, choosing contributors from across the Baptist theological spectrum, and was on the editorial team for the HCSB. Other titles: Points for Emphasis; The Layman's Bible Book Commentary; Understanding the Basic Themes of Joshua; and commentaries on Judges, Isaiah, and Luke.Peter C. Craigie (1938-1985) - moderate evangelical who taught in England and Canada. A former Royal Air Force pilot, his career as a biblical scholar consisted largely of combining traditional Christianity with liberal methods of interpreting Scripture. The result was an odd mix of conservative and liberal views. For example, he believed that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, but he found portions of the Bible morally offensive (and thus less inspired), and believed many of the miracles in the Bible were "trans-historical" and were not actual events in the scientific sense. Titles: Ascribe to the Lord; Old Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content; The Problem of War in the Old Testament; Ugarit and the Old Testament; and commentaries on Deuteronomy, Psalms, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. He was also the Old Testament editor for the Daily Study Bible series.
Russell Dilday (b. 1930) - former president of Southwestern Seminary and the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Dilday has been at the head of the protest against the SBC's conservative leadership, particularly for its insistence that the Bible is the word of God. His Doctrine of Biblical Authority makes a sharp distinction between inerrancy and the authority of Scripture, even presenting the two concepts as opposed to each other. Other titles: Mastering the Old Testament; the Communicator's Commentary series, and commentaries on 1-2 Kings.
James Dunn - Pauline theologian, and emeritus professor at the University of Durham, and leading advocate of the "New Perspective on justification" (a term he was apparently the first to use). This view insists that believers stand justified before God at least partly on the basis of their own works, and that the legalism that Paul opposed was the nationalistic exclusion of Gentiles, so that he actually would have agreed that works are factored into one's standing before God. Standing about midway between conservative evangelicals and left-leaning moderates, Dunn has also been sharply critical of the methods of the Jesus Seminar and other liberal reconstructions of the beginnings of Christianity. Titles: The Cambridge Companion to St. Paul (Ed.); Christology in the Making; The Evidence for Jesus; Jesus Remembered; The Parting of the Ways; The Theology of Paul the Apostle; The Theology of Paul's Letter to the Galatians; and commentaries on Acts, Romans, Colossians, and Philemon.
Bill Easum (b. date) - postmodern church growth consultant and author. He emphasizes culture-driven worship, lay involvement, self-discovery, and allowance for chaos in services. A religious pluralist, his recommendations go beyond the norm by encouraging interfaith worship and a definite move away from doctrine. Titles: Dancing with Dinosaurs; Growing Spiritual Redwoods; How to Reach Baby Boomers; It Could Happen Here; Leadership on the Other Side; Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First; Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers; Unfreezing Moves.
John Eldredge - moderate evangelical Christian humorist and counselor who teaches through storytelling. He directs Ransomed Heart Ministries and was formerly associated with Focus on the Family. Eldredge emphasizes the relational and experiential aspects of the Christian life and seems especially drawn to Catholic and Quaker forms of mysticism. Recent books by Eldredge suggest a theology similar to that of open theism. Titles: Dare to Desire; Epic; The Journey of Desire; The Sacred Romance (w/ Brent Curtis); Waking the Dead; Wild at Heart; You Have What It Takes.
William Estep (b. 1920) - former history professor at Southwestern Seminary, 1954-1994. One of the harshest critics of inerrantists and Calvinists within the SBC, and (ironically) the mentor of leading Calvinist and inerrantist Tom Nettles. His historical work involves non-traditional understandings of Christian theological development. He also advocates a very strict understanding of the separation of church and state. Anabaptist Beginnings (Ed.); The Anabaptist Story; Renaissance and Reformation; Revolution with the Revolution; Whole Gospel, Whole World.
Joel Green (b. 1956) - United Methodist dean of theology at Asbury, and important New Testament scholar. Green tends to deal more with sociology than doctrine when interpreting Scripture, and like most moderates, it is often difficult to tell where he stands from his writing. Green broke from conservative evangelicals over the doctrines of substitutionary atonement and imputed righteousness. Titles: Between Two Horizons; Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (Ed. w/ I. Howard Marshall and Scot McKnight); Hearing the New Testament; How to Read the Gospels and Acts; Introducing the New Testament (et al.); Jesus of Nazareth: God and Christ; Recovering the Scandal of the Cross (w/ Mark D. Baker); Theology of the Gospel of Luke; and a commentary on Luke.
Stan Grenz (1950-2005) - Canadian Baptist professor at Regent College. His focus was on community and incorporating the best of postmodernism into the Christian faith. He also had great admiration for Pannenberg, under whom he studied, and was an active opponent of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and a champion of egalitarianism and ministerial ethics. Titles: Betrayal of Trust (w/ Roy D. Bell); Beyond Foundationalism (w/ John Franke); Created for Community; The Millennial Maze; The Moral Quest; A Primer on Postmodernism; Rediscovering the Triune God; Revisioning Evangelical Theology; The Social God and the Relational Self; Theology for the Community of God; 20th Century Theology (w/ Roger Olson); Welcoming but Not Affirming; Who Needs Theology? (w/ Roger Olson); Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry.Bob Gundry (b. 1932) - brother of Stanley Gundry, and formerly a Reformed evangelical inerrantist. When he adopted liberal views of Scripture in a 1982 commentary on Matthew, he was expelled from the Evangelical Theological Society. He has recently denied substitutionary atonement and the concept of imputed righteousness. Older (conservative) titles: The Church and the Triublation; First the Antichrist; A Survey of the New Testament. Later (moderate) titles: Jesus the Word According to John the Sectarian; Soma in Biblical Theology; The Use of the Old Testament in St. Matthew's Gospel; and commentaries on Matthew and Mark. Not to be confused with conservative Bible scholar Donald Guthrie.Robison James (b. 1931) - Baptist professor at the University of Richmond and outspoken opponent of the conservative resurgence in the SBC. Titles: Beyond the Impasse? (Ed. w/ David Dockery); The Takeover in the SBC; Tillich and World Religions; The Unfettered Word: Confronting the Authority-Inerrancy Question. Not to be confused with conservative, charismatic Baptist James Robison.
H. Leon McBeth - Arminian professor of church history at Southwestern Seminary. Best described as a moderate in terms of Baptist politics, but with a nominally conservative approach to theology and Scripture. McBeth is currently one of the most respected Baptist historians. Titles: The Baptist Heritage; Celebrating Heritage and Hope; English Baptist Literature on Religious Liberty; Strange New Religions; Texas Baptists: A Sesquicentennial History; Women in Baptist Life. Not to be confused with biblical scholar Leon Morris.
Warren McWilliams (b. 1946) - pietistic professor at Oklahoma Baptist University. Affirms biblical inerrancy and is generally not outspoken about his own beliefs, but joined the efforts of moderates in attempting to overturn the SBC's conservative resurgence. He has nevertheless kept the SBC his home and continues to write Sunday School material. Titles: Christ and Narcissus: Prayer in a Self-Centered World; Dear Chris; Free in Christ; The Passion of God: Divine Suffering in Contemporary Protestant Theology; When You Walk Through the Fire.
Calvin Miller (b. 1936) - Beeson professor and master wordsmith whose writings include theology, biblical studies, poetry, and fiction. Miller is critical of expository preaching, preferring a narrative approach, and he is as popular and comfortable with moderates as with conservatives. (It's hard to tell where he stands on most of the defining issues.) Miller was one of the editors for the HCSB. Titles: The Book of Jesus; Disarming the Darkness; The Empowered Communicator; The Empowered Leader; A Hunger for the Holy; Into the Depths of God; Loving God Up Close; A Requiem for Love; The Sermon Maker; The Singer Trilogy; Spirit, Word, and Story; Until He Comes; Walking with the Saints; When the Aardvark Parked on the Ark. He also edited the Celebrate Jesus Millennium Bible and the Fruit of the Spirit Bible.Dale Moody (1915-1992) - theology professor dismissed from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary even during its liberal years, for opposing eternal security and teaching baptismal regeneration. Also opposed any hint of Calvinism or dispensationalism. Titles: Apostasy: A Study in the Epistle to the Hebrews and in Baptist History; Spirit of the Living God; The Word of Truth. Not to be confused with Dwight L. Moody. 
Roger Olson - moderate theology professor at Truett Seminary (at Baylor). One of Baylor's more conservative instructors, he alternately critiques and defends moderate-to-liberal evangelicals. Olson's skill is communicating moderate and postmodern theology to the lay reader (the "person in the pew"). His views on the Trinity focus more on the relational unity of the Father, Son, and Spirit, than on their equality of Godhood. He may also be moving toward open theism. Titles: The Mosaic of Christian BeliefsThe Story of Christian Theology; The Trinity; 20th Century Theology (w/ Stan Grenz); The Westminster Handbook of Evangelical Theology; Who Needs Theology? (w/ Stan Grenz).Michael Peterson (b. 1950) - philosophy professor at Asbury College, and managing editor of the journal Faith and Philosophy. One of the primary advocates of open theism. Like most moderates, he also argues for annihilationism and inclusivism. Titles: God and Evil: An Introduction to the Issues; Philosophy of Religion (Ed., et al.); Reason and Religious Belief (et al.); With All Your Mind: A Christian Philosophy of Education. Not to be confused with conservative Presbyterian Eugene Peterson.J. B. Phillips (1906-1982) - prominent Anglican writer during the mid-20th century. Not quite a liberal, though he was a universalist who denied the existence of Satan and the ascension of Christ. His New Testament in Modern English sought to make the Bible understandable, based on the view that its meaning was inspired rather than its words. Titles: Peter's Portrait of Jesus; Ring of Truth: A Translator's Testimony; When God Was Man; Your God Is Too Small. Not to be confused with dispensationalist John L. Phillips.
Leonard I. Sweet (b. 1947) - pastor, historian, and self-proclaimed visionary who "sees things others do not see." Former president of United Theological Seminary in Dayton. His beliefs are a unique blend of evangelical and postmodern concepts, and he believes the church must embrace much of postmodernism in order to grow in today's culture. Titles: Aquachurch; Carpe Mañana; The Church in Emerging Culture (Ed.); A Cup of Coffee at the Soul Café; FaithQuakes; Jesus Drives Me Crazy; The Jesus Prescription for a Healthy Life; Postmodern Pilgrims; Soul Salsa; Soul Tsunami; Summoned to Lead.
For a statement of my beliefs, see my Declaration of Faith.
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