B-2 PEOPLE FILES
- Robert Barron - David Bebbington - David Beckmann - Michael Behe- Matthias Beier - Peter J Belini - Peter Bell - Rob Bell - John Benefiel - David & Jason Benham -
==robert barron=====
Bishop Barron Goes Full MAGA: A Silence and a Scandal Behind His Rightward Shift
Once seen as a centrist evangelist with wide appeal, Bishop Robert Barron has spent the past few years aligning himself with MAGA politicians, right-wing media, and partisan culture war flashpoints. One of the most revealing tests of a Catholic leader is which issues they choose to address — and which they pointedly ignore. On that score, Bishop Barron’s recent record is striking. Consider a few matters of life and justice he has not found time to seriously engage: though Leo talks about it nearly weekly, not a single public word about the Israeli bombardment of Gaza that killed over 13,000 children since 2023. No mention of the young woman killed by an ICE agent last week in his home state of Minnesota. (Letters from Leo; 1.14.26) READMORE>>>>>
Once seen as a centrist evangelist with wide appeal, Bishop Robert Barron has spent the past few years aligning himself with MAGA politicians, right-wing media, and partisan culture war flashpoints. One of the most revealing tests of a Catholic leader is which issues they choose to address — and which they pointedly ignore. On that score, Bishop Barron’s recent record is striking. Consider a few matters of life and justice he has not found time to seriously engage: though Leo talks about it nearly weekly, not a single public word about the Israeli bombardment of Gaza that killed over 13,000 children since 2023. No mention of the young woman killed by an ICE agent last week in his home state of Minnesota. (Letters from Leo; 1.14.26) READMORE>>>>>
==david bebbingtom======
David William Bebbington (born 25 July 1949) is a British historian who is a professor of history at the University of Stirling in Scotland and a distinguished visiting professor of history at Baylor University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Historical Society. Bebbington was born in Nottingham, England, on 25 July 1949 and was raised in Sherwood, a northern suburb of Nottingham. An undergraduate at Jesus College, Cambridge (1968–1971), Bebbington began his doctoral studies there (1971–1973) before becoming a research fellow of Fitzwilliam College (1973–1976). Since 1976 he has taught at the University of Stirling, where since 1999 he has been Professor of History. He was President of the Ecclesiastical History Society (2006–2007).
November 13, 2025: Christianity Today reported: Robert Webber once reminded evangelicals that “the road to the future runs through the past.” If evangelicalism is fracturing, we may just find our way to unity through what Kevin Vanhoozer called “Protestant catholicity” by retracing our steps. This, of course, raises the thorny question “What is an evangelical?” People have made valiant efforts to sort evangelicals into groups or types. Evangelicals are a diverse bunch, and the rapid growth of the movement in the Global South has only increased this diversity. It needs to be said more often and more clearly that evangelicalism is not an American movement—it is a global one—and the vast majority of the world’s evangelicals today are African, Asian, and Latin American. Evangelicalism was a transnational movement from the very outset and has never been confined to a single nation or ethnicity. David Bebbington, whose intellectual labors laid the cornerstone for building out a robust evangelical historiography, is a British evangelical whose perspectives have helpfully challenged American-centric descriptions of the movement. In this new era of world Christianity, deeper engagement with the global church (and the older church) could lead us closer to an evangelical catholicity.
November 11, 2023: Public Discourse reported: American evangelicals have long been proficient at introspective assessments of our own movement. Since the mid-1980s, sociologists like James Davison Hunter have diagnosed evangelicalism’s contemporary virtues and pathologies, while thinkers like Mark Noll and David Bebbington have sought to interpret the movement through a historical lens. Such diagnoses have often taken on an urgent tone that, rather than undermining the movement, has been one of the keys to its endurance and vitality. In 1967, Carl Henry wrote Evangelicals at the Brink of Crisis, warning that evangelicals were in danger of being culturally marginalized. In 1976, he penned a similarly anxious missive, Evangelicals in Search of an Identity. If evangelicalism is anything at all, it is probably a movement preoccupied with such a search and with the social alienation that demands it.
==david beckman======
David Beckmann is coordinator of the Circle of Protection, an advocacy coalition of church bodies and ministries that include 100 million people. He is both an economist and a pastor.
We need to hear from the presidential candidates about poverty
(RNS) — In the run-up to Election Day in 2020, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden delivered a major address on strategies to reduce U.S. poverty. To his credit, that strategy was later reflected in his Build Back Better program, much of it passed in the first year of the Biden administration. Its pandemic relief and recovery measures, some of them approved on a bipartisan basis, provided needed assistance, kept unemployment low and reduced poverty in America to its lowest level in history. A diverse coalition of church leaders called the Circle of Protection, working with the Poor People’s Campaign, helped convince Biden to give that big speech about poverty. Starting with outreach to the Obama and Romney campaigns in 2012, the group had been working for years to get presidential candidates to explain how they would provide more opportunity to people struggling with poverty and hunger. Our simple ask has been for the candidates from the two major parties to make videos explaining their policies on poverty. In the 2016 and 2020 elections, nearly all candidates in both parties made videos. Donald Trump submitted a written statement in 2016.
(David Beckmann/ Religion News 11/24/23)
Read More>>>>>
(RNS) — In the run-up to Election Day in 2020, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden delivered a major address on strategies to reduce U.S. poverty. To his credit, that strategy was later reflected in his Build Back Better program, much of it passed in the first year of the Biden administration. Its pandemic relief and recovery measures, some of them approved on a bipartisan basis, provided needed assistance, kept unemployment low and reduced poverty in America to its lowest level in history. A diverse coalition of church leaders called the Circle of Protection, working with the Poor People’s Campaign, helped convince Biden to give that big speech about poverty. Starting with outreach to the Obama and Romney campaigns in 2012, the group had been working for years to get presidential candidates to explain how they would provide more opportunity to people struggling with poverty and hunger. Our simple ask has been for the candidates from the two major parties to make videos explaining their policies on poverty. In the 2016 and 2020 elections, nearly all candidates in both parties made videos. Donald Trump submitted a written statement in 2016.
(David Beckmann/ Religion News 11/24/23)
Read More>>>>>
==michael behe======
Michael J. Behe (born January 18, 1952) is an American biochemist, author, and intelligent design (ID) advocate. He currently serves as professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and as a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. Behe is best known for his argument for irreducible complexity (IC), which argues that some biochemical structures are too complex to be adequately explained by known evolutionary mechanisms and are therefore more probably the result of intelligent design. Behe has testified in several court cases related to intelligent design, including the court case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that resulted in a ruling that intelligent design was religious in nature. Behe's claims about the irreducible complexity of essential cellular structures have been rejected by the vast majority of the scientific community, and his own biology department at Lehigh University published an official statement opposing Behe's views and intelligent design
Apr 25, 2023: Evolution News: Michael Behe, Stephen Meyer, John Lennox: The Evidence for Design Is Growing
On a new episode of ID the Future, Uncommon Knowledge’s Peter Robinson sits down with Michael Behe, John Lennox, and Stephen Meyer, three of the leading voices in science and academia on the case for an intelligent designer of life and the universe. In this wide-ranging conversation in Fiesole, Italy, they explore the growing problems with modern evolutionary theory and the increasing evidence, uncovered by a rigorous application of the scientific method, that points to intentional design of the physical world.
On a new episode of ID the Future, Uncommon Knowledge’s Peter Robinson sits down with Michael Behe, John Lennox, and Stephen Meyer, three of the leading voices in science and academia on the case for an intelligent designer of life and the universe. In this wide-ranging conversation in Fiesole, Italy, they explore the growing problems with modern evolutionary theory and the increasing evidence, uncovered by a rigorous application of the scientific method, that points to intentional design of the physical world.
Aug 30, 2021: Evolution News: How Engineers Helped Save Biology from Evolutionary Theory
Evolutionist Jerry Coyne emphasized in his hatchet-job review of Michael Behe’s Darwin Devolves how life should display similar bottom-up design:
Dec 19, 2014: Rational Skepticism: Behe declares victory on all fronts
In a talk in South Korea, Michael Behe has admitted doing a "victory dance" in his office based on new evidence that he claims supports his ID contentions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlvYn0WrHaY
Evolutionist Jerry Coyne emphasized in his hatchet-job review of Michael Behe’s Darwin Devolves how life should display similar bottom-up design:
Dec 19, 2014: Rational Skepticism: Behe declares victory on all fronts
In a talk in South Korea, Michael Behe has admitted doing a "victory dance" in his office based on new evidence that he claims supports his ID contentions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlvYn0WrHaY
Sept 10, 2008: Evolution News: Rebuttals at OpposingViews.com: Will Intelligent Design's Legal Critics (Americans United) Retract Their Demonstrably False Claims?
Michael Behe and I have posted our first couple objections to the opening statements posted by critics of intelligent design (ID) on OpposingViews.com.
Michael Behe and I have posted our first couple objections to the opening statements posted by critics of intelligent design (ID) on OpposingViews.com.
==matthias beier======
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Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith and Matthias Beier, associate professor at the Christian Theological Seminary
Nov 12, 2025: Watch as two Indiana pastors on opposing ends of the spectrum on Christian Nationalism debate the role Christianity should have in governing and society. In this segment, they take on the question," What role do Christian morals play in policy? |
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==Peter j Bellini======
Peter J. Bellini received his B.A. in English from the Ohio State University, the M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Asbury Theological Seminary with a specialization in Urban North America. Bellini is a mission theologian and serves as Senior Pastor of Westville United Methodist Church and Adjunct Professor of Urban Studies at United Theological Seminary in Ohio. He is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church and has served in urban ministry for 21 years. Dr. Bellini has been a leader in every facet of ministry, including new church starts, church turnarounds, mergers, local church renewal, discipleship and leadership training, inner city and global missions and several marketplace ministries.
Peter J Bellini
Christ becomes the beginning and end of our identity and our salvation. The Athanasian idiom claims that “God became human that we may become like God.” The Incarnation is the grounds and goal of our sanctification, theosis. Humanity is made in the image of the Logos, and the Logos became human in Christ Jesus. The God-man defines the image of God and reforms the shape of that image in us. The image of God in Christ is revealed to us through him that we may become like him. The Incarnation, the image of God in Christ, is understood relationally. It is a hypostatic union between God and humanity, divinity and humanity in a person. The Incarnation defines who Christ is and why he came to save us. The Incarnation defines our image in creation and redemption, our genesis and our end. In creation, God identified with us by making us in his image. In salvation, Christ identified with us, so that we can identify with him. We begin to learn and practice his righteousness. For the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
“Whose image and inscription are engraved on that coin?”
“Caesar’s!”
“Well, give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s! And whose image and inscription are engraved on your soul?”
“God’s!”
“Well, give unto God what is God’s!” -Peter J Bellini; Firebrand Magazine; Giving Unto Caesar: Thoughts on Power and the Church in a Day of Politicization 9.5.23
“Whose image and inscription are engraved on that coin?”
“Caesar’s!”
“Well, give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s! And whose image and inscription are engraved on your soul?”
“God’s!”
“Well, give unto God what is God’s!” -Peter J Bellini; Firebrand Magazine; Giving Unto Caesar: Thoughts on Power and the Church in a Day of Politicization 9.5.23
==peter bell======
Peter Bell is a Reformed theologian, researcher, and host of The Sons of Patriarchy, an investigative podcast examining the rise of Christian Nationalism and abuse aligned with hyper-patriarchal theology. Raised in the PCUSA and educated at Wheaton, Biola, and Westminster Seminary California, Bell brings a rare mix of theological expertise, pastoral sensitivity, and investigative rigor. His work focuses on exposing harmful systems within the church while championing the flourishing of survivors and vulnerable Christians. Bell has served in multiple Reformed traditions, most recently within the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He is driven by a commitment to truth, accountability, and a church that reflects the love and justice of Christ. Based in Southern California, Bell’s voice is emerging as a significant and courageous advocate at the intersection of faith, power, and cultural influence.
After Challenging Doug Wilson, Podcaster’s Confession Shakes Anti-Patriarchy Movement
Days after challenging Pastor Doug Wilson to a public debate, Peter Bell, producer and host of the podcast “Sons of Patriarchy,” made a social media confession that has forced a reckoning within the community he helped build around exposing abuse in patriarchal churches. Bell, whose podcast investigates Wilson’s Moscow, Idaho-based church movement, said in a since-deleted Aug. 23 Facebook post that he struggled with pornography addiction for nearly two decades, was fired from multiple jobs for lying and experienced marital separation during his podcast’s first season last year. The confession came shortly after Bell appeared at a Moscow community event Aug. 8 at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center, where he and others spoke about the impact of Wilson’s teachings. The podcast producers scheduled their first Moscow visit to coincide with Grace Agenda, a weekend conference hosted by Wilson’s Christ Church that serves as a major recruiting event for the church. (Julie Roys 9/4/25) READMORE>>>>>
Days after challenging Pastor Doug Wilson to a public debate, Peter Bell, producer and host of the podcast “Sons of Patriarchy,” made a social media confession that has forced a reckoning within the community he helped build around exposing abuse in patriarchal churches. Bell, whose podcast investigates Wilson’s Moscow, Idaho-based church movement, said in a since-deleted Aug. 23 Facebook post that he struggled with pornography addiction for nearly two decades, was fired from multiple jobs for lying and experienced marital separation during his podcast’s first season last year. The confession came shortly after Bell appeared at a Moscow community event Aug. 8 at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center, where he and others spoke about the impact of Wilson’s teachings. The podcast producers scheduled their first Moscow visit to coincide with Grace Agenda, a weekend conference hosted by Wilson’s Christ Church that serves as a major recruiting event for the church. (Julie Roys 9/4/25) READMORE>>>>>
==john benefiel======
Dr. John Benefiel is the founder and Senior Pastor of Church on the Rock, Oklahoma City. He also founded and leads the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network (HAPN) and the Global Apostolic Prayer Network (GAPN), with a leader and a network in each of the 50 states and 112 nations. The purpose of the networks is to impact the seven mountains of culture - Religion, Family, Education, Government, Media / Arts & Entertainment, Protect & Serve, and Economy - for God's Kingdom through our prayers and influence.
Pennsylvania’s Prayer Warrior: Abby Abildness And Her Dominionist Crusade In The Commonwealth
Apostle Abby Abildness is on a quest to claim the Keystone state for God. She’s a Pennsylvania-based leader in a worldwide network of neo-charismatic Christian leaders called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), which promotes dominionism, the belief that Christians have a mandate from God to control all aspects of government and culture. NAR leaders advance a supposedly divine strategy for achieving dominion called the “Seven Mountains Mandate,” which divides society into seven categories, or “mountains”, and encourages Christians to pick a mountain and then head into their community to conquer it for God. In The Commonwealth We initially reported on the NAR in August last year. As stated in that report, some of the NAR’s most prominent leaders include: Cindy Jacobs , John Benefiel, Lance Wallnau, Abby Abildness, Dutch Sheets, Chuck Pierce, Ché Ahn, Lou Engle, Jim Garlow, Steve Strang (Charisma News), Steve Shultz (Elijah List).
(Heather Hahn/United Methodist Church 11/7/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
Apostle Abby Abildness is on a quest to claim the Keystone state for God. She’s a Pennsylvania-based leader in a worldwide network of neo-charismatic Christian leaders called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), which promotes dominionism, the belief that Christians have a mandate from God to control all aspects of government and culture. NAR leaders advance a supposedly divine strategy for achieving dominion called the “Seven Mountains Mandate,” which divides society into seven categories, or “mountains”, and encourages Christians to pick a mountain and then head into their community to conquer it for God. In The Commonwealth We initially reported on the NAR in August last year. As stated in that report, some of the NAR’s most prominent leaders include: Cindy Jacobs , John Benefiel, Lance Wallnau, Abby Abildness, Dutch Sheets, Chuck Pierce, Ché Ahn, Lou Engle, Jim Garlow, Steve Strang (Charisma News), Steve Shultz (Elijah List).
(Heather Hahn/United Methodist Church 11/7/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
==David & Jason Benham======
“In the Ten Commandments, we were told to honor our father and mother. The difference between obedience and honor is that obedience needs a command. Obedience is doing what we’re commanded to do. Honor does what we’re supposed to do even without being commanded. David was known as a man after God’s own heart. Do you know one of the reasons why? Because he had it in his heart to build a temple for God. And God never commanded him to do that. God commanded Moses to erect the tabernacle. God never commanded David to do it. It came out of his heart. And God says, ‘That’s the kind of heart I like.” --Jason Benham; National Bible Bee; Dec 2023
