Stackhouse, who formerly taught at the University of Manitoba, is writing a book on evangelicalism--what it is, what it isn't, and how it is different from what we see in the U.S.--for Oxford University Press. Before it comes out next year, I asked him a few questions about the book and the state of evangelicalism today.

The book is due out next year.

What prompted you to want to write this book?/B>

I have studied all aspects of the controversies about RZ, talked with many witnesses to the issues and events involved, and also used a leading private investigator who is a friend. I did not do all this in order to prove Ravi guilty or innocent. All things being equal, I wanted him to be what he claimed, an apologist with total moral integrity. I took pains in all this investigation in order to figure out truth. My ultimate aim was pastoral.

I want to make a confession of sin. Just moments after hearing the first reports of Jacob Blake's shooting, I went numb. The litany of shootings, violent protests, politicized racial vitriol, and non-stop lament since Ahmaud Arbery ("say his name") had numbed me. I recognize this as both evidence of white privilege and the result of personal complacency.

Over the weekend, that same friend e-mailed me to say he was wrong. This story just appeared in Baptist Press. You should know going in that Robby Gallaty is a very influential young Southern Baptist pastor. Excerpts:

Robby Gallaty, pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., said he views the impact of COVID-19 on ministry not as an interruption, but instead as a disruption to the way things have typically been done in the local church.