Richard Albert Mohler Jr. (born October 19, 1959) is an American

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

theologian, the ninth president of

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was a ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, and host of the podcast ''The Briefing'', where he daily analyzes the news and recent events from an evangelical perspective. He has been described as "one of America's most influential evangelicals".

Education and personal life

Mohler was born on October 19, 1959, in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...

. During his Lakeland years, he attended Southside

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

Church. Mohler attended college at

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-ca ...

in Boca Raton in

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...

as a Faculty Scholar. He then received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

from Samford University, a private, coeducational

-affiliated college in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. His Master of Divinity and

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degrees in systematic and historical theology were conferred by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Career

In addition to his presidency at SBTS, Mohler was the host of ''The Albert Mohler Program'', a nationwide radio show "devoted to engaging contemporary culture with Christian beliefs." He currently produces a weekday podcast on the news, ''The Briefing'', in which he provides commentary on current events from a Christian point of view, often providing a historical background as well. He also regularly broadcasts interviews with various different people on a podcast called ''Thinking in Public''. He is former vice chairman of the board of Focus on the Family and a member of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. '' Christianity Today'' recognized Mohler as a leader among American evangelicals, and in 2003 ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' called him the "reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the U.S." Mohler has presented lectures or addresses at a variety of conservative evangelical universities. Mohler served as editor of ''The Christian Index'', the biweekly newsletter of the Georgia Baptist Convention. From 1985 to 1993 he was Associate Editor of the bi-monthly ''Preaching Magazine''. Mohler also served on the Advisory Council for the 2001 English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible. Mohler previously blogged on Crosswalk.com, a web site maintained by Salem Web Network of Richmond, Virginia. Mohler currently blogs on his website, where his podcasts can also be listened to for free. In 2018, Mohler labeled turmoil in the Southern Baptist Convention as the SBC's "own horrifying #MeToo moment" and said it stemmed from "an unorganized conspiracy of silence" about sexual misconduct and abuse. He wrote that the SBC's "issues are far deeper and wider" than the controversy surrounding

Paige Patterson L. Paige Patterson (born October 19, 1942) served as the fifth president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., from 1992 to 2003, as president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) from 1998 to 2000, and as the eigh ...

, who’d been moved that day from president to president emeritus of

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and is one of the largest seminaries in the world. It ...

. In early 2019, explosive newspaper reports of sexual abuse by church leaders and volunteers shook the Southern Baptist Convention, and Mohler called for independent third-party investigations. Just days after the Houston Chronicle’s 2019 report of allegations of hundreds of sexual abuse cases (some of which were not reported to law enforcement), Mohler apologized in an interview with the newspaper for supporting a religious leader who was accused of helping conceal sexual abuses at his former church. Some have lauded Mohler, while others have questioned the timing and motivations of these comments. One day after Mohler's remarks to the Houston Chronicle, his Southern Baptist Theological Seminary office released a related statement by him.

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Mohler joined the staff of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, in 1983 as Coordinator of Foundation Support. In 1987, he became Director of Capital Funding, a post he held until 1989. From 1983 to 1989, while still a student, he had served as assistant to then-President Roy Honeycutt. In February 1993, Mohler was appointed the ninth President of the seminary by the institution's board of trustees to succeed Honeycutt.

Theology and other faiths

In 2008, Al Mohler declined to sign An Evangelical Manifesto, publishing a lengthy explanation for his decision. Mohler is an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

and an exclusivist, which means that he believes

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

is the only way through which an individual can attain

salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

or have a relationship with God the Father. As a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

, Mohler believes that human salvation is a free gift from God which cannot be earned by human action or will and is only given to the

elect An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

. He has publicly advanced this position with respect to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

, Islam,''The O'Reilly Factor'', Fox News Channel. March 17, 2006. and

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He recently stated that "any belief system, any world view, whether it's

Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), an ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

or dialectical materialism for that matter,

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

, that keeps persons captive and keeps them from coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, is a demonstration of Satanic power." He believes Muslims are motivated by demonic power and in the months after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Mohler characterized Islamic views of Jesus as false and destructive:

Media appearances

Mohler appeared on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

Donahue Donahue is the Americanized version of Irish surname Donohoe, which, in turn, is an Anglicized version of the ancient Irish name "Donnchadh" (sometimes "Donncha"). Donncha was a common “first name” in 9th Century Ireland, and when the use of ...

on August 20, 2002. The subject was Christian

evangelization In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are ...

of Jews. Mohler and Michael L. Brown, a

Messianic Jew Messianic Judaism ( he, or , ) is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism. It emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier ...

, debated this subject as well as Mohler's insistence that salvation lies exclusively in the personal acceptance of Christ before the afterlife with Donahue, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and Rabbi

Shmuley Boteach Jacob Shmuel Boteach ( ; born November 19, 1966) is an American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, author, and television host. Boteach is the author of 31 books, including the best seller ''Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy'', and '' Kosher Jes ...

, an Orthodox Jew. On April 15, 2003, Mohler was interviewed by ''

'' on the subject of evangelizing Iraqi Muslims in the form of Christian aid groups. On May 5, 2003, Mohler appeared on NPR's ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...

'' with

Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining N ...

to discuss the issue of evangelization of the Iraqis. At issue was whether the coupling of evangelizing with basic human aid relief might be perceived as aggressive or coercive by the Iraqi people, and whether such a perception, if widespread, might place other relief workers in jeopardy. Mohler argued that biblical, evangelical Christianity is not uniquely American, but exists as a movement throughout the world, so that Christian witnessing is not, in his view, to be interpreted as a move on the part of any single nation against the religion of another. At the same time, however, Mohler acknowledged the need for "sensitivity," and distanced himself from the idea that religion coerced. When pressed, Mohler expressed support for the idea of religious freedom as a theoretical matter of law. On December 18, 2004, Mohler debated retired Episcopal bishop

John Shelby Spong John Shelby "Jack" Spong (June 16, 1931 – September 12, 2021) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. From 1979 to 2000, he was the Bishop of Newark, New Jersey. A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he call ...

on '' Faith Under Fire'', a program hosted by

Lee Strobel Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...

and appearing on

PAX Pax or PAX may refer to: Peace * Peace (Latin: ''pax'') ** Pax (goddess), the Roman goddess of peace ** Pax, a truce term * Pax (liturgy), a salutation in Catholic and Lutheran religious services * Pax (liturgical object), an object formerly ki ...

, a Christian television network. The subject was the historicity and truthfulness of the Bible. On December 19, 2013, Mohler appeared on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

to discuss the controversy surrounding comments made by

Phil Robertson Phil Alexander Robertson (born April 24, 1946) is an American professional hunter, businessman (Duck Commander company), and reality television star on the popular television series ''Duck Dynasty''. He is also featured on the television show ' ...

Duck Dynasty ''Duck Dynasty'' is an American reality television series that aired on A&E from 2012 to 2017. The series portrays the lives of the Robertson family, who became successful from their family-operated business, Duck Commander. The West Monroe, ...

. GLAAD National Spokesman Wilson Cruz was also on the program.

Speaking engagements

On November 8–9, 2004, Mohler spoke at the annual meeting of the Florida Baptist State Convention. On May 21, 2005, Mohler gave the commencement address at

Union University Union University is a private Baptist Christian university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It is ...

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Mohler told graduates they could display the glory of God by telling and defending the truth, sharing the gospel, engaging the culture, changing the world, loving the church and showing the glory of God in their own lives. On February 25, 2014, Mohler delivered a Forum Lecture in the Marriott Center Arena at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

in Provo,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. The title of Mohler's lecture was, "Strengthen the Things that Remain: Human Dignity, Human Rights, and Human Flourishing in a Dangerous Age."

Justice Sunday

Mohler was on the board of directors of Focus on the Family. In this role he was one of the principal organizers of Justice Sunday, a nationally televised event broadcast from

Highview Baptist Church Highview Baptist Church is a Baptist multi-site megachurch based in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and Southern Baptist Convention. Mark Bishop is currently the church's senior pastor. History Foun ...

, in Louisville on April 24, 2005. Mohler shared the stage with

Charles Colson Charles Wendell Colson (October 16, 1931 – April 21, 2012), generally referred to as Chuck Colson, was an American attorney and political advisor who served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1970. Once known as P ...

and Focus on the Family founder

James Dobson James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FOTF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influentia ...

. US Senate Majority Leader

Bill Frist William Harrison Frist (born February 22, 1952) is an American physician, businessman, and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as Senate Majority Lea ...

appeared at the event via videotape. Another host of the program was

Family Research Council The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, emb ...

president Tony Perkins. The purpose of the broadcast was to mobilize the conservative base in lobbying the United States Senate to curtail debate on the nominations to the federal judiciary made by

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

Theological views

On Catholicism

Mohler believes the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

is a "false church" that teaches a "false gospel" and regards the

Papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

as an illegitmate office.. During a March 13, 2014 podcast of ''The Briefing'', Mohler stated that Evangelicals "simply cannot accept the legitimacy of the papacy" and that "to do otherwise would be to compromise Biblical truth and reverse the Reformation." Mohler has denounced

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

for his perceived left-leaning leadership. Mohler stated that he was one of the original signatories to the '' Manhattan Declaration'' because it is a limited ecumenical statement of Christian conviction on the topics of

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

, euthanasia and

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

, and not a wide-ranging theological document that subverts confessional integrity. He emphasized that he signed the document in spite of his deep theological disagreements with the

Family Planning

Mohler spoke in June 2004, about married adults who choose not to have children. Mohler has also been critical of birth control methods that prevent implantation of the fertilized egg, which he believes "involve nothing less than an early abortion." He has attempted to bring about a new reflection on the topic within evangelical opinion.

Gender roles and sexuality

In 2017, Mohler signed the Nashville Statement. He opposed the repeal of '''dont ask don't tell on the grounds of religious liberty. He said of trans people "We cannot affirm someone in a delusion" when asked whether Christians should use a person's preferred name.

Science

Mohler is a

young earth creationist Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widesp ...

Yoga

According to Mohler,

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

practice is not consistent with Christianity. After voicing his stance on the topic, Mohler stated that he was 'surprised by the depth of the commitment to yoga found on the part of many who identify as Christians'.

Libertarianism

Mohler has argued that libertarianism is idolatrous, and as a comprehensive

world view A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural ...

or fundamental guiding principle for human life, is inconsistent with Christian ideals. He is a proponent of personal liberty, but believes such liberties can run into problems when applied in the political sphere. The more limited economic libertarianism, on the other hand, can be consistent with the "comprehensive world view that Christianity puts forward."

Selected bibliography

Books authored by R. Albert Mohler Jr.

*''Atheism Remix: A Christian Confronts the New Atheists'' *''Culture Shift: Engaging Current Issues with Timeless Truth'' (Today's Critical Concerns) *''He Is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World'' (September 1, 2008) *''Desire and Deceit: The Real Cost of the New Sexual Tolerance'' (September 16, 2008) *''The Conviction to Lead: The 25 Principles for Leadership That Matters'', expresses the view that leadership stems from conviction and moral character (2012). *''We Cannot Be Silent: Speaking Truth to a Culture Redefining Sex, Marriage, and the Very Meaning of Right and Wrong'' (October 27, 2015) *''Acts 1-12 For You'', first in a two-part popular-level commentary on the book of Acts (The Good Book Company, 2018) * The Apostles' Creed: Discovering Authentic Christianity in an Age of Counterfeits, (Thomas Nelson, 2019) *''The Gathering Storm: Secularism, Culture, and the Church'' (Thomas Nelson, 2020)) *''The Disappearance of God: Dangerous Beliefs in the New Spiritual Openness '' Multnomah (May 5, 2009)

Books edited by R. Albert Mohler Jr.

* . *Theological Education in the Evangelical Tradition (Editor, with D. G. Hart)

Books to which R. Albert Mohler Jr. has contributed

*Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching *''The Coming Evangelical Crisis: Current Challenges to the Authority of Scripture and the Gospel'' by R. Kent Hughes (Editor), John MacArthur Jr. (Editor),

R. C. Sproul Robert Charles Sproul ( ; February 13, 1939 – December 14, 2017) was an American Reformed theologian and ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America. He was the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries (named for the Ligonier ...

(Editor), Michael S. Horton (Editor), Albert Mohler Jr. (Editor), John H. Armstrong (Editor) (Moody, 1996) *''The Compromised Church'' John H. Armstrong (Editor) (Crossway Books, 1998) *''Why I Am a Baptist'' Tom J. Nettles and

Russell D. Moore Russell D. Moore (born 9 October 1971) is an American theologian, ethicist, and preacher. In June 2021, he became the director of the Public Theology Project at ''Christianity Today'', and on August 4, 2022, was announced as the magazine's incomi ...

Eds. Chapter 6 (p. 58), entitled "Being Baptist Means Conviction" (Broadman & Holman, 2001) *A Theology For The church Daniel L. Akin (Editor). Conclusion (p. 927) entitled "The Pastor as Theologian" (Broadman & Holman, 2007) *''Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy'' by J. Merrick and Stephen M. Garrett, eds. (Zondervan, 2013)

References

External links

Albert Mohler
Official Website.
Albert Mohler
on Twitter. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohler, Albert 1959 births American Calvinist and Reformed theologians American critics of Islam American Baptist theologians Baptist writers American Christian Young Earth creationists Living people People from Lakeland, Florida Writers from Louisville, Kentucky Florida Atlantic University alumni Samford University alumni Southern Baptist ministers Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni Southern Baptist Theological Seminary presidents 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Christian critics of Islam Critics of the Catholic Church Christian bloggers Baptists from Kentucky American Calvinist and Reformed Christians