[A]ll unbelief is foolishness, for it takes such wisdom as its own finite perception can attain, and, measuring infinity by that petty scale, concludes that what it cannot understand must be impossible. Unbelief is the result of incapacity engaged in argument. Men are sure that an event never happened, because they have made up their…
The Pharisees were a Jewish religious sect that was active during the ministry of Jesus and the beginnings of the early church but disappeared after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD. While speculations about the Pharisees abound, such speculations are often based on very little hard evidence. In reality, we do not…
Those educated in studying people have observed a phenomenon they describe as the “echo chamber.” You might not have heard the term but you probably know the symptoms. Your friend posts an article on Facebook explaining some conspiracy theory. No matter what evidence or arguments to the contrary are presented in the comments, your friend…
[T]he Bible as a whole document tells a story, and, properly used, that story can serve as a metanarrative that shapes our grasp of the entire Christian faith. In my view it is increasingly important to spell this out to Christians and to non-Christians alike—to Christians, to ground them in Scripture, and to non-Christians, as…
As I said last week, Wordsmithy is one of my favorite books. While I hope that many of you have already started reading it, it is not too late to jump in now! Our coffee-and-cookies book discussion will be held after the evening service on Sunday, December 11 and I look forward to seeing many…
The Challenge in Praying with Your Spouse “I would like to extend the thirty day challenge to you. Pray for your spouse, with your spouse for thirty days and just see if it doesn’t make you more tender toward each other and more positive about your marriage and your life together.” The Greatest Act of…
[T]here are many ways in which the faith of Christ may be marred and spoiled, without being positively denied. And here we venture to think is the very reason that so much religion called Christian, is not truly Evangelical. The Gospel in fact is a most curiously and delicately compounded medicine, and a medicine that…
The New Testament was not written in a vacuum. The good news of Jesus Christ was first spoken into a world that was already full of other movements and competing ideologies. This series of Unjargoned will deal with terms related to that historical background. Some of these terms, like Pharisee and Stoic, Centurion and Sadducee…
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their 250 stooges of reputation were up in arms. The text does not say exactly why, and, for the purposes of this article, it doesn’t really matter. In the course of their complaint they said to Moses and Aaron, Ye take too much upon you. The Hebrew this phrase translates is…
[T]he dangerous thing about pragmatism is that it does not necessarily reject the truth; it merely renders it subordinate to the desired end. To be precise, pragmatism evaluates means in terms of impact and results; and the implication of this is that even means that are intrinsically true can still be co-opted by pragmatism simply…
