RSS FeedTHE CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGE
In reading about the work of Emil Brunner (1899-1966) when he was faced with the rise of Communism, Fascism and Hitler I am impressed by how he understood the role of Christian preaching, teaching and writing. He wrote that the church could not ignore the fact that it...
WHO IS THE REAL SATAN?
The Ayatollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 called the USA the “Great Satan”. He also called Israel the “Little Satan.” St. Paul looked deeper for the source of evil in the world. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but...
ECCLESIASTES 10 – THE FOLLY OF SUPPRESSING THE TRUTH
When is experiencing evil either a reason for believing in God, or an argument against the existence of God? C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, says that his argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But then he asked himself where he got...
ECCLESIASTES 9 – THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
“This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead…. The race is not to the swift or the...
ECCLESIASTES 8 – KNOWING THE FUTURE
On the evening of September 5, 2004, my wife and I were watching the progress of Hurricane Frances on the television in our home when the power failed. Left in the darkness we listened to the wind roaring over us, the trees thudding against the roof, and the crack of...
THE ETHICS OF WAR
Nigel Biggar was Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, and Director of the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life at the University of Oxford. Here are some of his thoughts from his 2013 book, In Defence of War. “This is the dilemma: on the...
THE QUESTION OF SUFFERING
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:18,19) “This paragraph, from verse 18 to verse 25, is the classic...
ECCLESIASTES 7 – DEATH
"A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than...
HUMAN ORIGINS
In my book, JOHN STOTT: A Summary of his Teaching, I condense my mentor’s conclusions on the vexed question of human origins as written in Genesis. How to reconcile the historicity of Adam and Eve with the scientific theory of evolution? This is a subject of much...
SELF-EXAMINATION
The season of Lent is meant to include self-examination. I have found the Southwell Litany to be an excellent help in doing so. I include it as a resource that can be used at any time. It is an antidote to the kind of self-righteousness that accuses others for our...
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