Finally, authority is missing completely from the book’s account of religion. That’s a big mistake. It’s not simply that religious people have deeply held commitments to value or that they have certain reactions to beautiful scenery. They think that a proper, nongovernmental authority—God or the Bible—commands unflinching obedience. Dworkin quotes the Casey decision’s “right to define one’s own concept... Continue Reading

The Ten Commandments, of course. Each will require its own thoughts, but my contention is that Christians have hidden behind “legalism” and avoided God’s good moral law so long that we do not even recognize its use anymore. Apply his law in your home and lead your children in expressing love for God.   When it comes to talking... Continue Reading

What the Lynn School Committee has done, as has the Mayor of Salem, is to discriminate against the students of Gordon College based on their religion. Sadly, they are even doing so at the peril of their own students, who received no-cost, valuable service from capable, compassionate student-teachers. This decision does not serve the students... Continue Reading

“Paul was not trying to retell the story of Jesus in narrative form. He was writing personal letters to communities of people he could assume already knew those stories through the oral traditions that later became the gospel. Further, Paul DOES mention several of the events in the life of Jesus, most importantly, the very... Continue Reading

Christians live in a twofold regime. They support the visible church with tithes and offerings and they respect God’s servant Caesar (Rom 13) by paying taxes but in a Republic Christians have a right and even a duty to organize in private societies and to seek to influence civil polity and policy for the common good.... Continue Reading

One of the more famous and most discussed differences on chronology in the gospels deals with the timing of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion.[1] Here is a difference often trumpeted forth as a clear error between the Synoptics and John.  This is the very issue raised by Daniel Kirk in his contribution to Pete... Continue Reading

Retaining temporal promises in Canaan based on imperfect, meritorious obedience is not republication. The conditions and promises are fundamentally different. What Kline does is something altogether different than what even John Owen and others did. Readers should note that Klinean covenant theology is not really classical Reformed “republicationism.” Talk of historical precedent is not all... Continue Reading

There is almost a cottage industry of guys whose seeming job is to give everyone a lecture soon after any stretch of time when error gets publicly called out. Calling out the guys who call others out is a predictable (and absolutely ironic) part of the life cycle of any controversy in modern theological discourse,... Continue Reading

Our American culture today says “I’m okay; you’re okay.” Labeling something as “judging” can be a very quick way to silence almost any sort of disagreement or disapproval. But again, it is simply impossible to follow our culture’s logic consistently so that we refuse to morally disapprove of any sort of action. The fact is... Continue Reading

Follow your heart. That’s the worst advice you could ever give anyone. That assumes that our heart is the ultimate authority in our lives. That our heart won’t mislead us. That our heart knows what is best and right and true. But for believers in Jesus, we know, or eventually come to know, that our... Continue Reading