The Wartburg Watch

The Wartburg Watch is a Christian blog that critiques trends towards authoritarianism within Evangelical Christianity that have been increasingly promoted by well-organized conservative parachurch organizations. These include cult-like congregational discipline and gender complementarianism that goes so far as to distort the Trinity.

The Watch is written by female bloggers Dee Parsons and Wanda Martin. They primarily oppose Calvinist groups like 9Marks and the Gospel Coalition, characterizing their teachings on congregational discipline as abusive and legalistic.

The Watch reminds us that although fundamentalist Evangelicals like to position themselves as offering a "personal relationship with God" as opposed to a "religion" that follows the "teachings of a man", their churches are increasingly becoming authoritarian to the extent that members who are under church discipline may be barred from leaving. Sola Scriptura is no longer there to allow members freedom of belief and conscience; it is there to allow the religion's leaders to act as "mini popes" who have the authority to interpret scripture their own way detached from Christian history, excommunicating those who "cause division" or are "insubordinate". It is in this context of valuing authority over truth that Evangelicalism changed from the religion of civil rights to the religion of political extremism and creationist pseudoscience.