Dr Paul Allen

A leading Christian book publisher has resigned its membership in the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) after a dispute over God and the Gay Christian, a new book published by an affiliated imprint. In a letter to board members, NRB president and CEO Jerry Johnson said that employees of WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, the evangelical division of Penguin Random House , worked on the book. The book, which argues that same-gender sex is not sinful, was published by Convergent Books, a 16-month-old Penguin Random House line that describes itself as "publishing books for progressive and mainline Christians who demand an open, inclusive, and culturally engaged exploration of faith." "Unfortunately, while the Multnomah Publishing Group is separate from Convergent, as a legal and business entity, the staff of the Multnomah and Convergent operations are substantially the same," Johnson wrote. "Most notably, Steven W. Cobb serves as the chief publishing ex...

The following post is a guest post from Dr. Jerry Johnson . Jerry A. Johnson, Ph.D., is President & CEO of National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). He's a theologian who has taught on cinema and theology. Find him on Twitter @DrJerryJohnson . This post is about the March 28, 2014 movie Noah . I interviewed Jerry about the film last week at the NRB meeting. In that interview, he mentioned asking Paramount to add a disclaimer and they just did (see the bottom of this post). Here are some of Jerry's well-informed thoughts. Note: Spoilers ahead, including the fact that there is a big flood and only a few people make it through the flood in a big boat. From someone who has actually seen it. Too often, Christians are in knee-jerk reaction mode when it comes to popular culture. If the world made it, we are against it, and can provide the list to tell you why. This is especially true with Hollywood. While there may be much to critique about Tinsel Town, it is more fair (and ...

PARAMOUNT PICTURES The following post is a guest post from Dr. Jerry Johnson . Jerry A. Johnson, Ph.D., is President & CEO of National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). He's a theologian who has taught on cinema and theology. Find him on Twitter @DrJerryJohnson . This post is about the March 28, 2014 movie Noah . I interviewed Jerry about the film last week at the NRB meeting. In that interview, he mentioned asking Paramount to add a disclaimer and they just did (see the bottom of this post). Last Friday, Jerry shared five positives of Noah , and today he's sharing five negatives. Here are some of Jerry's well-informed thoughts. Note: Spoilers ahead, including the fact that there is a big flood and only a few people make it through the flood in a big boat. But, really, these are big spoilers... so don't complain if you read on. Finally, this is part analysis and part review. There is stuff in the film that is not in the Bible (gasp!) and you are about to fin...

Image via CrunchBase A new study has found that Google and other major social media sites such as Facebook have “actively” censored Christian and conservative viewpoints. The first report , conducted by  National Religious Broadcasters  (NRB) and the  American Center for Law and Justice , examined the policies and practices of several major Internet-interactive “new media” communications platforms and service providers, including Apple and its iTunes App Store , Facebook, Google, and others. Many of the top social media sites have been found to be "actively" censoring Christian viewpoints. The study found that some of the new media technology companies have outright banned Christian content, and that all social media sites, except Twitter, have speech policies more restrictive than the free speech rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. According to the study, seven of the major social media sites have banned “hate speech,” a term that the study authors point out “...