Prothero does undress the situation for us on how little most Americans know even about the popular faith that they profess to follow. Here is a small sample of the astonishing condition he reports we are in: Only half of American adults can name even one of the four Gospels. Most Americans cannot name the... Continue Reading

Most courageous new chapter: Brothers, be Bible-oriented – not Entertainment oriented preachers (13) Here Piper bravely takes on the flippant, funny, feel-good entertainment-type preaching that can be found in so many churches. He says the main problem with this “is that it is out of sync with the subject matter of the Bible, and diminishes... Continue Reading

My advice, essentially, is to rip out the introduction (the fruitfulness stuff) and maybe chapter 10 (the “A” to “B” stuff) which sets up chapters 1 to 30 as the key to successful ministry, and read chapters 1 to 30 because most of them are really, really good.    I was recently on a conference... Continue Reading

What shocked me in both books were the examples, case after case, every one well-documented, wherein “tolerance” demands acceptance, and even promotion, of actual beliefs. Simply making allowance for people to hold those beliefs no longer qualifies as tolerance. Here my naiveté became apparent; I always thought “diversity” had to do with disabilities, different ethnicities,... Continue Reading

The nation’s falling fertility rate underlies many of our most difficult problems. Once a country’s fertility rate falls consistently below replacement, its age profile begins to shift. You get more old people than young people. And eventually, as the bloated cohort of old people dies off, population begins to contract. This dual problem—a population that... Continue Reading

Gamble’s book is a clarion call to reassess whether and how America is indeed exceptional. Does it have a special relationship to God and a divinely-appointed mission in the world? He faults Christians for both misapplying the city on a hill metaphor and failing to recognize America’s shortcomings and “lust for domination.” He correctly challenges... Continue Reading

However, Kathy Keller, wife to Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New York City, has moved from an egalitarian position to a complementarian one. Keller sought ordination in the PCUSA before questioning and then abandoning her egalitarian views. Interestingly, she is the only one of the three comfortable with being labeled a... Continue Reading

The fastest-growing areas for digital Bible reading are where access is restricted, said Troy Carl, national director of Faith Comes by Hearing. The ministry’s second-most popular audio Bible (after English) has become Arabic. On average, those in traditional Muslim countries listen three to four hours at a time—far more than the average three to four... Continue Reading

The author’s argument is straightforward: 1. Reformed theology, and not Enlightenment philosophy, was pervasive in the colonies, so 2. if Reformed political thought delivers the revolutionary and constitutional goods, we should look to it, and not to the Enlightenment, as the theoretical bedrock for the American founding, and 3. precisely because Reformed political thought does... Continue Reading

Fifty Shades of Grey is rife with incredibly potent, eroticized lies about sex and human nature, Clements said. The novels tell women that love is most exciting when it is dangerous or taboo, that relationships are most compelling when they’re about wielding power rather than exercising sacrificial love, and that “being used is a way... Continue Reading