It’s Easter season. Perhaps this creates opportunity to give some thought to religion. And one concept even non-religious people ought to think about is the faulty idea that all religions are equally valid. There are a number of ways to approach the notion that “all religions are equally valid.” For instance, we could appeal to…
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Following Jesus should never become a business deal. “Jesus, if I follow you, what will you do for me?” It is, however, difficult to avoid the conclusion that there are real benefits to biblical Christianity. I’m working my way through Rebecca McLaughlin’s new book Confronting Christianity. In it she takes up this topic. If you aren’t a passionate follower of…
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Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Judaism… there are so many options. Which one shall I choose? In college I took a comparative religions course from a self-professing atheist. I really appreciated his style and the class he taught. He was exceedingly objective – probably because he had no attachments to any of them. After poring over…
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The Ten Commandments have received a bad rap in modern culture. Frankly, they’ve been mistreated by a wide-array of worldview persuasions. So I’d like to offer just two brief reasons we ought to hold The Ten Commandments in high regard. First, they tell us what matters to God. God didn’t play a game the day he…
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The created things of this world typically fall into one of three categories, according to Steve Hoppe. They are: god, garbage, or gift. Here’s the deal: God created us in a such a way that we are shaped by what we worship and serve as ‘god’. For example, if we say “Aaron’s ‘god’ is sports.” What…
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“I can catch the sermon online.” “My church streams their worship services online so I don’t have to physically attend.” “I’m a Christian already. Church is just a ‘bonus.’” I am concerned for the souls of those professing Christians who do not prioritize church attendance at gospel-preaching churches. I have often wondered, if Jesus was…
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I’m all in favor of communicating the Christian gospel as intelligibly as possible in cultures where the gospel may appear exceedingly foreign. We certainly do not want the gospel to come across that way at the cultural level. However, the rush and push to be “relevant” may possess a counter-productive force to it we’re overlooking….
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We tend to think insightful people have all the answers. They have the “tweet-able” quotes, the sticky one-liners, and penetrating analysis. But the more conversations I have, the more people I talk to, there is one interesting attribute characteristic of the most insightful people I’ve known: they ask questions. The best thinkers among us like to…
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These days I’m itching quite a bit. I’ve battled eczema for 30+ years and winter is particularly troublesome. Even though scratching ceaselessly is terrible for my skin, scratching the itch is satisfying. It feels good. C.S. Lewis uses this imagery to describe pride. He writes: “The pleasure of pride is like the pleasure of scratching….
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Did you know magazine ads and press releases once celebrated the health and lifestyle benefits of building with asbestos and smoking? Decades later we look back on that and think, “How silly!” But at the time, people who smoked or handled asbestos had no idea what they were dealing with. This was a significant cultural…
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