“We are spending billions of dollars trying to send students to college and maintain them there when, on average, they read at about the grade 6 or 7 level, according to Renaissance Learning’s latest report on what American students in grades 9-12 read, whether assigned or chosen.”   The average U.S. college freshman reads at... Continue Reading

“We believe ourselves exempt from the lessons of Jesus’ scathing attacks on religious phonies because we view our faith through a self-righteous lens. Jesus’ insight on the subject applies to others but not us, we tell ourselves. Our faith is beyond reproach. Such dismissive treatment of Jesus’ words, however, proves how much we resemble the... Continue Reading

“Keswick theology is pervasive because countless people have propagated it in so many ways, especially in sermons and devotional writings. It is appealing because Christians struggle with sin and want to be victorious in that struggle now. Keswick theology offers a quick fix, and its shortcut to instant victory appeals to genuine longings for holiness.”  ... Continue Reading

“The results suggest that altruistic behaviour may be governed more by relationships, even brief ones, than instincts. ‘I think the findings will stir up some controversy, but in a good way,’ Dweck said. ‘People often call something ‘innate’ because they don’t understand the kinds of subtle experiences that can make something, like altruism, flourish.”  ... Continue Reading

“Jimmy Fallon made good on his promise have the Reformed Christian rapper back on the program, a few months after Lecrae sat in with Fallon’s house band, The Roots. This time, he took the stage with DJ Promote (who has collaborated with Christian rappers and worship bands alike) to perform “Welcome to America,” remixed to... Continue Reading

“In Anglicanism, Scripture alone is supreme as the saving Word of God. Reason and tradition play an auxiliary role. This was the view of divines like Thomas Cranmer and Richard Hooker. There is a popular myth that Anglicanism views reason, tradition, and Scripture as a three-legged stool of authorities, but it is quite false.”  ... Continue Reading

“Millions of dollars spent on property lawsuits look increasingly like money badly spent, and still the coffers fill up with millions of dollars from terminally ignorant Episcopalians still bent on pouring their hard earned money into the institution.”   The Episcopal Church can now rightly claim that it has consecrated to the sacred order of... Continue Reading

“The numbers that show that children raised by their two biological (or adoptive) parents do substantially better in every respect in life than those who are not. They do better in school and in higher education, they do better at jobs and economically, they develop more stable and lasting relationships personally.”   How big a... Continue Reading

“A man who is “willing” to save sex is a man whose choice to abstain from nonmarital sex likely isn’t underlain by much other than the absence of my consent. He’d be as content—or more—dating a woman who doesn’t practice chastity. But I don’t want to marry a man who settled for a chaste woman. I want a... Continue Reading

“It’s unlikely that the New Atheists are responsible for the growing statistical prominence of “nones” as Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins hit the bestseller lists a good 10-15 years after the uptick in “nones” back in the 1990s. It’s important to recall, however, that the presence of Americans who find Saturday- or Sunday-morning solace in nature or... Continue Reading