Yearly Archives: 2023

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/christ-and-the-conflagration-of-canaan#When:05:01:00Z MARCH 24, 2015 A New York Times article recently described the Islamic State’s persecution of Christians in Iraq and Syria as “a slow-motion genocide.” Atrocities such as beheadings, burnings, crucifixions, and mass burials (sometime of live victims) defy human comprehension. Islamic mujihedeen (holy warriors) smile at the camera, waving flags and holding up AK-47s, proud of their brutal accomplishments. One does not have to be a Christian to be sickened by such horrors. In this cultural moment, with daily reports of genocide throughout the world, the question of Canaan’s destruction under the ministry of Joshua occasionally enters the conversation: “How could the God of Scripture command the violent slaughter of an entire society?” In other words, doesn’t the Old Testament practice…

  JUNE 10, 2020  | RUSSELL PULLIAM https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/think-christianly/ © Historian Mark Noll once famously worried about the scandal of the evangelical mind, contending that Christians had turned their backs on the academic world. Decades before Noll’s concern, a small group of leaders were laying the groundwork for developing the Christian mind in the church’s pews. The quest accelerated after World War II, thanks to writers and thinkers such as C. S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, and Carl Henry. Blending theology, philosophy, and other academic tools for popular evangelical audiences, they wanted Christians to use their minds, as well as their hearts, in the full service of Christ. To Think Christianly: A History of L'Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement CHARLES COTHERMAN In this compelling…

 FEBRUARY 1, 2021 BY GRAYSON GILBERT https://www.patheos.com/blogs/chorusinthechaos/the-danger-of-emphasizing-the-exciting-testimony/?fbclid=IwAR2mxofbgkePNKpBdNTcTuVwdeRRUuqorIa7aGWcVGTotqkTgroNdIpOLZc On August 28, 2008, the Lord put to death a man who was an atheistic, drug-addled dealer, womanizer, drunkard, liar, thief, idolater, and suffice it to say: the fool of fools; the laziest of sluggards; the chief of sinners. I have the “exciting” testimony that many within the church are eager to lift up as an example of God’s grace and faithfulness. I came to Christ in a rather uproarious manner. Not only was I arrogant enough to think out of thousands of years and millions of people that I’d be the one who could sufficiently dismantle the historic faith, I had a life that boasted of doing things my way. I did what was right…

(From a survey conducted by the Barna Research Group, and article written by Tim Ellsworth in 2002. If you understand the implications of the survey, you can understand how US Christianity has spiraled down to where it is today.) Only 41 percent of adults in Americas twelve largest denominations could be classified as "born again," according to a recent study released by the Barna Research Group. As reported by the Florida Baptist Witness, the study’s findings identify an alarmingly high number of church members whose beliefs fall far short of orthodox Christianity. For example, only 41 percent of all adults surveyed believed in the total accuracy of the Bible. Catholics had the lowest percentage (23 percent) who believed the Bible to be…

by Cameron Hilditch https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/04/the-christian-invention-of-the-human-person/ We shouldn't forget where the idea that we are all equal, unique personalities, each possessed of unfathomable dignity and inviolable rights, came from. The most important lesson that the study of history teaches us is contingency. Things did not have to turn out the way they did. Take, for instance, the answer that our civilization has historically given to the most important question of all: “What does it mean to be a human being?” Ever since the Enlightenment, many people in the West have had the impression that answering this question is easy, that it’s just a matter of observing human behavior empirically across time and space and then abstracting a few universal maxims from the data. This is…

OCTOBER 28, 2019  |  Gavin Ortlund https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/evangelicals-theological-retrieval/ This article is adapted from Gavin Ortlund’s new book, Theological Retrieval For Evangelicals: Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future (Crossway). When “Bible answer man” Hank Hanegraaff converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in 2017, Rod Dreher (an Orthodox believer himself) invited others evangelicals to follow his lead: Many evangelicals seek the early church; well here it is, in Orthodoxy. I am sure some will be scandalized by Hanegraaff’s conversion but I hope at least some will wonder how someone as knowledgeable about the Bible as Hank could convert to Orthodoxy, and go to a Divine Liturgy to taste and see what it’s like. Many evangelicals, especially among the younger generation, seem to feel the allure of…

Feb.20, 2013 by Michael Horton in General Emotionally, I am an atheist.  I don’t have the evidence to prove that God doesn’t exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn’t that I don’t want to waste my time.” ~ Isaac Asimov “Emotionally, I am a (believer).  I don’t have the evidence to prove that God (does) exist, but I so strongly suspect that he (does) that I don’t want to waste my time.” ~ Christian It’s a familiar story, but a recent Huffington Post article caught my attention.  The author, a non-Christian physicist, expresses shock after posting an article on the age of the earth.  Expecting a torrent of abuse from religious conservatives, he was surprised that it was the atheistic fundamentalists who piled on. One of the…

In a surprising news release, the leaders of what many are saying is the most effective church in the history of Christianity, gave incredible insight into the success of the church. A report was released that documented the priorities of the church, as well as the way the leaders approached day-to-day operations. Instead of the usual “professional staff report,” this document was slanted toward revealing the practices of the leadership from a layman’s perspective. The report was actually written by a layman – a physician who was closely linked to the key leaders. The church, comprised of nearly 4,000 active attendees, was actually a recent church plant at the time of the report. Somehow the leaders, most of them young and none…

http://www.paulcopan.com/articles/pdf/presumptuousness-of-atheism.pdf Atheist Antony Flew has said that the "onus of proof must lie upon the theist." Unless compelling reasons for God’s existence can be given, there is the "presumption of atheism." Another atheist, Michael Scriven, considers the lack of evidence for God’s existence and the lack of evidence for Santa Claus on the same level.2 However, the presumption of atheism actually turns out to be presumptuousness. The Christian must remember that the atheist also shares the burden of proof, which I will attempt to demonstrate below. First, even if the theist could not muster good arguments for God’s existence, atheism still would not be shown to be true.3 The outspoken atheist Kai Nielsen recognizes this: "To show that an argument is invalid…