Wyatt Graham

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A Timeline of The Debates around Megan Basham’s Shepherds for Sale

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The reception Megan Basham’s book Shepherds for Sale earlier this week led to intense disagreement online. In this short article, I chronicle the timeline around these responses and link to key articles and videos. 

This article will be updated semi-regularly as events transpire. So feel free to bookmark this link and check back from time-to-time.

July 30: The First Review

The first review I saw of the book came from Samuel James, a review I shared on the evening of July 30th. As of August 3, my tweet has gained over 100,000 impressions.

Since James critically reviewed Basham’s book, Basham herself responded to some of his claims on X. From her point of view, James misrepresented parts of her argument. 

Wesley Hill on July 30th also questioned Basham’s ability to fact-find because she misidentified the seminary he went to:

On August 1st, Doug Wilson recommended Basham’s book.

One might have guessed the disagreements would slowly fizzle away as reviews came out for Basham’s book.  After all, most books receive critical reviews, and usually in the course of things, an author will reply to those criticisms either by admitting fault or defending her claims. 

But that did not happen. 

[Read more…] about A Timeline of The Debates around Megan Basham’s Shepherds for Sale

How to Afford a Family as a Millennial or Old Gen-Zer

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One reason why millennials delay marriage and family has to do with cost.

A home is no longer 4x income but, say, 12x. And saving for a down payment takes much longer. Rent too has gone up so that a 2-3 bedroom townhome or equivalent could be $4000 + all sorts of fees. It makes it FEEL unaffordable since the cost of living has risen fast since the 90s.

FT / The housing crisis is still being underplayed

However, I also think that millennials as a rule can afford children, but they’d have re-shape their whole lives. If they are DINKY, one partner would probably need to work part time. They may need to move out of a very expensive city to a cheaper one, get new jobs. [Read more…] about How to Afford a Family as a Millennial or Old Gen-Zer

Judith Butler and Gender Performance

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In a 1988 article, gender theorist Judith Butler argued that performative acts in society constitute gender. What she meant was this. Society defines gender norms, and men and women act and dress according to those norms. But these norms have no deep structure. They are stylized performances of gender. Male and femaleness have no essential gender. “Gender is what is put on,” she argues (1988: 531). 

Butler affirms and builds on Simone de Beauvoir’s claim that “one is not born, but, rather becomes a woman” (1988: 519). Beauvoir means that the idea of af being a “woman” is not a natural given but something shaped by society.  [Read more…] about Judith Butler and Gender Performance

Four Thoughts on Student Loan Forgiveness and the Bible

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The Bible teaches forgiveness. It teaches that God sent his only and beloved Son to satisfy the just penalty required of us due to our sin. Using biblical forgiveness as an analogy for student loan forgiveness also requires an explanation for how forgiven loans will satisfy the requirements of the loan (i.e. who foots the bills). [Read more…] about Four Thoughts on Student Loan Forgiveness and the Bible

The Last T4G: The Unraveling and Reweaving of North American Evangelicalism

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I attended the last T4G. It marked the end of an era. But something was not quite right. Two of the four original founders were not there: Al Mohler and CJ Mahaney. Yet undoubtedly the conference and the theological culture it helped cultivate changed the evangelical landscape. Baptists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans fellowshipped at T4G. At one level, T4G 2022 evinced its success. We were there. All together.

But its success, significant as it is, does not match the larger evangelical scene. The Southern Baptist Convention—my former convention—has recently entered into a crisis. Russell Moore goes further and calls it an apocalypse. I am too far away from the SBC today to really understand what’s happening. But if Peter Wehner’s piece in the Atlantic is accurate, then apocalypse may very well be the right word.  [Read more…] about The Last T4G: The Unraveling and Reweaving of North American Evangelicalism