Attitudes and behaviors are formed from ideas. And behind the gleeful celebration of the slaughter of pre-born babies is the idea that there is no God. The chief doctrine of secular humanism – embedded in the very expression – is that life does not originate as the creation of a personal and moral deity. The consequence of... Continue Reading

Thomas Nagel—one of my favorite philosophers, and also an atheist—openly admits that he simply doesn’t want theism to be true. Of course, this isn’t the only reason he has for being an atheist, but his preference will no doubt influence how he evaluates arguments for and against God. Something similar can be said about my... Continue Reading

Apart from the Gospel, no one can savingly know God. No one can gain eternal life. Yet by Christ’s assumption of humanity, God provided us with a full revelation of God. In Christ, we see God. We have the first insight into God through our union with Christ.    In Romans, Paul explains that people... Continue Reading

We love to honour our perceived ministry “aces.” We can so easily boast of church size and church growth, number of books written or sold, number of churches planted, or social media profile. But the result  of such adulation is that more modestly able pastors feel inadequate, push themselves too hard, or take unnecessary risks... Continue Reading

Gabler himself made it clear that he was no great fan of orthodox systematics, and his method proved popular and influential with others in the field of Biblical Studies who were uncomfortable with what they regarded as a Procustean bed of dogma.  In short, his approach essentially untethered analysis of the content of scripture from what he and his... Continue Reading

Traditionally, marriage civilized men by channeling their sexual desires into a loving relationship and parenthood.  And it channeled their aggressiveness into protecting their family and working hard to provide for them.  The fathers, in turn, taught their sons how to treat women and how to discipline themselves so they could grow up into effective adults.... Continue Reading

At the very outset, it should be noted that every label has a history and its own limitations. In the present case, some who don’t fully embrace the divinely created differences between men and women (egalitarians) still espouse some form of complementarity, recognizing biological and possibly other differences yet minimizing or denying biblical male authority,... Continue Reading

Jesus’ speech in Matt 18 addresses what the new covenant community of Christ-followers should look like. It speaks to such things as humility, compassion, initiative, conflict, restoration, and forgiveness. This speech particularly highlights how to handle the sin that will inevitably infect the community.   Perhaps you’ve heard that Jesus is specially present when two or... Continue Reading

Behind David’s words, Jeremiah’s call, and John the Baptist’s leap is this settled biblical conviction: life and personhood exist before birth. And since that’s the case, every child in the womb deserves the respect and dignity of being treated like a human being made in the image of God.   I was gutted this week... Continue Reading

The British philosopher C.E.M. Joad said, as he journeyed away from agnosticism, “It was because we rejected the doctrine of original sin that we on the Left were always being disillusioned by the behaviour of the peoples, nations, and politicians and by the recurring fact of war. Because I didn’t believe in original sin I... Continue Reading