Doctrinal Matters

courtesy of freeimages.com We had a rare moment with our son who was added to our family almost two years ago at the age of 8.  He sat at the restaurant table with me and my wife.  We were “eating out” to celebrate his birthday.  He wanted pancakes so we sat in the only restaurant in town that sold them.  He ordered the mini pancakes.  The pancakes were tiny.  When he said, “I will probably want more because this won’t fill me up” I knew better.  He is hardly ever hungry and almost never asks for more of anything.  Sure enough, when he had finished those few half dollar sized pancakes he didn’t want any more.  That probably is a result of lack of food in his early years.  He spent his first 8 years of life in an institution in Eastern Europe.  Because of his background he has some difficulty forming attachments.  As we ate, my wife began asking him about feelings, i.e. “Can you think of one time when you were happy?...

courtesy of freeimages.com A recent Fox news article ( read article here ) reported that physicist Stephen Hawking is worried about the development of artificial intelligence, or AI for short. [1]   Hawking is apparently worried that if advances in AI continue the human race could one day become extinct.  He is quoted as saying, "The development of full artificial intelligence (AI) could spell the end of the human race."    The article also quotes Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors.  Musk is said to have told an audience at MIT that we need to be "very careful" with artificial intelligence.  Fox reports that Musk "called for national and international oversight of the field". The idea of machines becoming more advanced than humans is great science fiction.  It is fun and somewhat scary to contemplate the ramifications of machines being able to think for themselves.  But will AI be the end of mankind?  Not if you believe Bib...

photo courtesy of freeimages.com In this post I would like to critique an article found on reasons.org, the online presence of the progressive creationist group Reasons to Believe (RTB).  RTB was founded by Hugh Ross, an outspoken advocate of progressive creationism; the idea that God progressively created over billions of years.  The article is entitled Biblical Evidence for an Old Earth: Old Earth, Biblical Evidence   [1] and can be accessed here .  The format of this post is as follows: First I present the RTB article's words in red , then I respond in black directly beneath the quote. When the Bible speaks to an issue it is the supreme authority. Thus, what the Bible has to say about the age of the Earth carries great significance. I appreciate the opening statement in this article.  The Bible is the absolute authority on every issue.  Unfortunately, Hugh Ross and his ministry, Reasons to Believe (RTB), don’t always practice ...

courtesy of www.freeimages.com Peter Enns is an author and seminary professor.  He believes in theistic evolution, i.e. that God used the process of evolution to "create" life on Earth.  Because he believes in human evolution, he is sure that the Apostle Paul got it wrong about Adam being the first human.  I have provided the transcript of the video below along with my comments. Video Transcription Dr. Enns' words are in red and my comments are in black . One approach that is helpful to me is that I think Paul certainly assumed that Adam was a person and the progenitor of the human race. I would expect nothing less from Paul, being a first century man. And again, God speaks in ways and uses categories that are available to human beings at that time.   I  don't expect Paul to have had a conversation with Francis Collins about the Genome Project and how common descent is essentially assured scientifically. I don't expect him to under...

photo courtesy of freeimages.com In this post, I respond to a video produced by BioLogos, a group that promotes theistic evolution (the idea that God used evolution to create.  You can watch the video below.  In this video, Pastor Daniel Harrell presents a compromise theory about the historical accuracy of Adam and Eve.  I have provided the transcript along with my comments.  Pastor Harrell's words are in red and my comments in black. I guess I appreciate how, for many conservative Christians, a historical Adam and Eve is very, very important. I think one of the things that have been discussed here is how, in Corinthians and Romans, Paul's referent back to Adam and Eve is almost necessary as a historical figure given the way that he is describing them. Pastor Harrell refers to Romans 5, a passage in which Paul tells us that sin and death entered the world through Adam.  Paul goes on to explain that Adam was a prototype of Jesus, i.e. they w...

In this post I critique a video interview done by Biologos (a theistic evolution group) entitled  The Danger of Preaching on Genesis.   You can watch the video below or it can be accessed  here .  I hesitate to drive any traffic to Biologos because it is a dangerous group that compromises God's word.  Please visit their website with caution. This is their interview with Dr. Joel Hunter, pastor of a very large church in Orlando, Florida.  I have provided the transcript to the video interview with Pastor Hunter's words in red and my commentary in black. Video Transcription It is a very big risk for pastors in conservative Evangelical churches to venture forth and say, "Look, let's be humble about this." But the other side of this is, we have probably, I would say, the vast majority of our people sitting in those pews who are very uncomfortable with, "Look, it was six 24-hour days, and if you think anything else, then you don't believe in scrip...

photo courtesy of  http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad69/MrThompsonGeo/TNvJohnScopesTrial.jpg Someone's monkeying with the Bible and it has had disastrous consequences.  Please watch the video below of the Scope's Monkey Trial and then read this article. The infamous Scopes Trial illustrates where the church has gone wrong in trying to compromise and incorporate millions of years into the creation account as recorded in Genesis 1.  The result of the debate between Darrow and Bryan during the trial was to make the Bible seem like myth and those who believe it seem like unthinking fanatics. Indeed that was the agnostic Darrow's intention all along. While Bryan, a Christian, tried to defend Scripture against Darrow's attacks, the battle was lost as soon as Bryan accepted the claim that the earth could be millions of years old. Darrow brilliantly exposed the double standard in Bryan's view of the Bible, i.e. that the biblical narrative of Jonah being ...

What a terrible thing to want to repent and not be allowed to.  Why would God withhold repentance from Esau who was obviously broken in spirit?  Unfortunately for Esau, that seems to be what Hebrews 12:17 is saying.  Here’s the verse in its immediate context: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.  Heb. 12:15-17 (KJV) You are probably familiar with the story from Genesis chapter 25.  Esau, the firstborn, returns from an exhausting day in the field and is hungry.  He asks for some of Jacob’s stew and Jacob offers to sell a bowl of stew to Esau in exchange for Esau’s birthrigh...

courtesy of www.freeimages.com This man cuts off the head of a hostage and is rightfully condemned as the epitome of wickedness.  We think of him as evil to the core. We call on the government to bring justice to this murderer.  We know that we cannot tolerate this kind of evil in the world.  He must be stopped and we will spare no expense to make sure that he doesn't kill again.  We call him "terrorist". courtesy of www.freeimages.com This man cuts off the heads of hundreds of unborn babies with no real condemnation.  Some think of him as a champion of women's rights.  Others choose to ignore him, pretending that he doesn't exist.  To some he is not really bad, just misguided. Perhaps he has the wrong priorities but is generally a decent person. We tolerate his decapitation of innocent babies and don't spend too much time or energy trying to stop him. We call him "doctor".

*"Isaiah (Bible Card)" by the Providence Lithograph Company There are a lot of Christians who believe that God still speaks today.  I am one of them.  I wholeheartedly concur that God still speaks to His people.  But I must make a qualification here when I say that God still speaks today.  What I mean when I say that God still speaks versus what someone else might mean can be very different.  For instance, some claim that God gives direct revelation to modern-day prophets apart from Scripture.  I reject this claim and find it unbiblical and dangerous.  Yet this idea of modern-day prophecy is extremely popular, not only within the Charismatic movement, but also in non-Charismatic churches. Examples of those who believe in modern prophecy are many.  One Charismatic, Mark Virkler, in an article entitled   4 Keys to Recognizing God's Voice (posted on charismamag.com, Aug. 20, 2014), says the following: "It's time for the church to...