19
Apr
2014
How Has the Church Responded to Theological Controversy?
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A few weeks ago, I mentioned a new little book written by Justin Holcomb, titled Know the Heretics (Zondervan, April 2014). At the same time that book was published, a companion volume titled Know the Creeds and Councils was also released. While the volume I mentioned in the earlier post focused on famous false teachers... Read More
17
Apr
2014
Divorcing the Person from the Work of Christ?
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Last week I read a curious piece that purported to identify the exact point at which Pilgrim was saved in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress: was it at the wicket gate, at the foot of the cross, or perhaps even at some other point? I confess a measure of confusion on the matter. Like many before... Read More
15
Apr
2014
The Battle with Death
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The Bible states that we have an enemy that plagues everyone—death. Though we may avoid this enemy for a time, we cannot escape it. Death is certain. No one can avoid death. And Death is cruel. At its heart, death is separation. Death separates our bodies from our souls. It separates us from this earth... Read More
9
Apr
2014
Life’s Like a Conveyor-Belt of Chocolates: 5 Reasons to Read What’s Best Next by Matt Perman
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(A Guest Post by David Doran, Jr.) Every mother, pastor, roofer, and sanitation engineer in the Western world has felt the wrath of life’s relentless assault of tasks-to-be-done. You’re probably calling them tasks-to-survive by now. Western culture is drunk on going faster and faster and doing more and more. It’s no surprise, then, to see... Read More
5
Apr
2014
Do You Know Any Heretics?
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Within American history the names of Benedict Arnold, Aaron Burr, and the Rosenbergs live on in infamy. These are people who rather notoriously tried to undermine the well-being of our nation for some kind of personal profit. We look back on such individuals with a mixture of interest and disdain. How could they do such... Read More
3
Apr
2014
Is Allah a God of Love?
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It is common today to hear people talk about a God of love, often connected with the idea that all religions teach about a God of love. In a recent panel Q&A, I was asked “Can we call Allah a God of love?” My brief answer was no, since he is not portrayed that way... Read More
1
Apr
2014
Evangelical Social Engagement: A Reprise
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Last week in this blog post, I suggested that if the current surge of evangelical social attentiveness shares identity with surges that preceded it (as Joel Carpenter has affirmed), then we should look to history to accurately predict the course and end of the current surge of evangelical social action. I am no prophet (I’m a... Read More
27
Mar
2014
Chapter Note: Joel Carpenter, “What’s New About the New Evangelical Social Engagement?”
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I just finished browsing through an engaging new title, The New Evangelical Social Engagement. No, it’s not an obscure book by a rock-ribbed fundamentalist who remains skeptical about the conservative resurgence in evangelical life (though it might cast a few of these skeptics in a more favorable light). It’s a carefully edited OUP title with... Read More
25
Mar
2014
Israel’s Hermeneutical Problem
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In 2 Cor 3:13 Paul says that “Moses put a veil over his face to prevent Israel from seeing the end of what was passing away.” What exactly was it that Israel couldn’t see? The answer: Israel had a hermeneutical problem. She couldn’t see the purpose of the Mosaic covenant. Here I’ll try to prove... Read More
22
Mar
2014
The Gospel, the Homosexual, and the Church: Recap and Reading List
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This past Wednesday, Peter Hubbard, author of Love into Light: The Gospel, the Homosexual, and the Church, delivered the annual William R. Rice lectures at DBTS. In his three lectures, Hubbard talked about how to understand and how to show biblical love to those who experience same-sex attraction (SSA). In his first lecture, Hubbard explained... Read More