Old Testament Books and Ancient Near East Texts
Are Ancient Near East texts always relevant to the study of the Old Testament?
It is common now in Old Testament studies for scholars to think that they are studying the Old Testament when they are in fact studying Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) parallels. I was reading a book on an OT book this morning (which will remain anonymous) that had some really excellent essays on the theology of... Continue Reading
Is Mental Illness Actually Biblical?
Treating mental illness as only (or even primarily) a spiritual problem is both profoundly unbiblical and incredibly hurtful to those who struggle with mental illness.
I would argue that if we truly believe in total depravity, then we must accept mental illness as a biblical category. If I believe that sin has affected every part of my body, including my brain, then it shouldn’t surprise me when my brain doesn’t work correctly. I’m not surprised when I get a cold; why should... Continue Reading
How Quiverfull Speech Can Crash Airplanes
If a husband trusts his wife, then a wife telling him the truth without mitigated speech should be viewed as a blessing, not an unfeminine quality that should be squashed.
In the realm of the Christian Patriarchy Movement, if a wife disagrees with her husband, or communicates too forcefully, she’s fundamentally dishonoring him. Is it any wonder that marriages, finances, careers, children, and churches crash and burn? No one can tell the Pilot when danger is approaching. And if the plane crashes…oh well, it must... Continue Reading
Are Congregations A Means To An End Or A Flock To Shepherd?
In God’s worldview, which is more important: people or programs?
Recently I had the opportunity to see three churches encourage their congregations to increase their volunteer efforts. The differences were striking. The three approaches illustrate that this debate over “saving individual souls or redeeming the cosmos” produces very different understandings of the role of church leadership and volunteers. In God’s worldview, which is more... Continue Reading
Texts Neo-Calvinists Won’t Preach?
Can anyone say with a straight face that cities are places known for men avoiding wealth, people restraining ambition, or residents sublimating pleasure?
And when it comes to the debate over continuity between this world and the world to come, how does a neo-Calvinist read Jesus’ words and continue to think that the life to come will be a lot like life in this world? If that were so, if the new heavens and earth will be similar... Continue Reading
A Testimony: Out of the Darkness of Sexual Abuse
I was drawn into a darkness that only the power of God’s light could dismantle
I went to church every single week and attended a Christian school. I tried to tell. I remember attempts in fifth grade, but either I wasn’t believed or the darkness was too great – no one responded. It wasn’t until I was almost a senior in high school that anyone listened or believed me. ... Continue Reading
Some Musings on Upper Middle Class Guilt Manipulating Pietism
Any attempt to equate “Christian service” with “abandoning our earthly careers” is a message hostile to the Christian faith as laid out in the Scriptures
Pointing out that God doesn’t NEED our careers to accomplish his ends is a worthless point; He doesn’t NEED heart surgery to heal a sick patient either but we don’t spend time bemoaning the evils of modern medicine. God has certainly planned to use our careers and good endeavors for His purposes, and to pietistically... Continue Reading
R.C. Sproul: Dispensationalism Brought Us The ‘Carnal Christian,’ The ‘Sinner’s Prayer, And More Antinomianism
Some outcomes of Dispensationalism for the Christian life
“….You had the circle with the chair, and you had the cross outside the circle, and ‘S’ the self, was on the chair, and that’s the picture of the unregenerate person, the pagan. But then you have the next stage of those who are regenerated, where now, Christ is inside the circle, but not on... Continue Reading
Review: ‘Is God Anti-Gay?’
Review: ‘Is God Anti-Gay?’
There is a difference between a gay lifestyle and same-sex attraction. “Gay Christian” is probably not the best term to use. For Allberry, it is an identity issue: he does not identify himself as a gay person; he identifies himself “in Christ;” he is a Christian who has to fight the sin of same-sex attraction... Continue Reading
The False Teachers: Norman Vincent Peale
Peale believed we live in a world that is mental more than physical and this allows our thoughts to be determinative
Norman Vincent Peale popularized what came to be known as positive thinking. He took existing ideas from Christian Science and other inspirations, gave them a biblical veneer, integrated them with psychology, and packaged them for the masses, spreading his message through The Power of Positive Thinking and his other works. His foremost contribution to the world was... Continue Reading