I just read the sad news that Dr. Catherine Clark Kroeger passed away on Monday. Dr. Kroeger was a noted egalitarian scholar and author who founded the organization Christians for Biblical Equality. She is preceded in death by her husband Richard Clark Kroeger, and she is survived by her five children and ten grandchildren. Memorials have already appeared at several places online: The Boston Globe, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Mimi Haddad (for CBE). RIP.
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Grammy Malaise
I have a confession to make. I watched the Grammys last night. I don’t know how many years it’s been since I’ve seen the Grammys, but I decided this year to break my long streak of paying no attention to them at all. As I watched last night, I remembered why it was that I haven’t given heed to these awards. As a cultural moment, the Grammys are supremely and exquisitely vacuous. In fact, I would say that they are quite depressing. As far as the decline of civilizations is concerned, the Grammys are right up there with gladiatorial games and barbarian invasions.
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Fetal Surgery and Abortion
A moral schizophrenia afflicts our culture on the issue of abortion. There are inconsistencies both in our nation’s laws and in people’s attitudes about the moral status of the unborn. Nevertheless, too many people still seem unable to see the contradictions. A case in point appears in today’s New York Times. Pam Belluck reports on a new study appearing in the The New England Journal of Medicine. A rigorous clinical trial has shown that fetal surgery can help babies with spina bifida to walk and experience fewer neurological problems if operated on before being born rather than afterward. Here’s a summary of the study’s findings:
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Lose My Soul
I love this song, and I love this video. It’s a riff on Matthew 16:26, “For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” This text is often mistaken as a verse for greedy rich people. This is a distortion. This text is for everyone. It is for every person who tends to fixate on his idols in place of Christ. It is for all of us—rich or poor, young or old, everyone. We all have hearts that are prone to wander, and this text calls us back to recognize what…
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“Son of God” an Offense to Muslims?
Collin Hansen has an important article in CT on the translation of the phrase “Son of God” in Arabic Bibles. He reports that many Muslims have come to faith in Christ as a result of Arabic Bible translations that avoid the phrase “Son of God.” He also reports that a number of evangelical scholars and missionaries disagree with the aversion towards the ancient Trinitarian moniker (e.g., Jack Collins, Darrell Bock, Vern Poyrthress, and Scott Horrell). I think Robert Yarbrough, however, underscores what is the fundamental difference between Christianity and Islam and on this point. He says,
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Pickett Speaks Out Against Internet Porn
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Russell Moore in WSJ
Russell Moore has an excellent OP-ED in tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal about the decline of denominations among American Christians. He writes: “More and more Christians choose a church not on the basis of its denomination, but on the basis of more practical matters. Is the nursery easy to find? Do I like the music? Are there support groups for those grappling with addiction? “This trend is a natural extension of the American evangelical experiment. After all, evangelicalism is about the fundamental message of Christianity—the evangel, the gospel, literally the ‘good news’ of God’s kingdom arriving in Jesus Christ—not about denomination building.”
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President Obama Defends His Faith at Prayer Breakfast
Elizabeth Tenety has the full report, but here’s the relevant excerpt in which the President defends his faith against critics who doubt his sincerity. “These past two years they have deepened my faith. My Christian faith then has been a sustaining force for me over these last few years, all the more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time. We are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us, but whether we’re being true to our conscience and true to our God.” Read the rest of Tenety’s coverage here.
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Does the Church Know Her Commission?
I have a short article in the latest issue of Tabletalk Magazine. It’s titled “Does the Church Know Her Commission?.” I argue that the Great Commission, “summons us to invite the nations to treasure Christ in such a way that even if they lose everything — even their lives — it is okay so long as they have Him [Matthew 13:44]. That is why making disciples involves not just the entry-level rite of baptism but also the obligation of ‘teaching them to obey all that I commanded you.’ Where this framework is missing, so is the Great Commission.” Do our churches understand that the task of evangelism is the task of…
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A News Report or Abortion Propaganda?
I saw a headline in the Associated Press that caught my eye: “Abortion doesn’t trigger mental distress, says study: Postpartum depression much more of a factor, according to Danish research.” The article attempts to summarize the findings of a study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. I have read enough articles like this one to know that you often cannot take these reports at face value. I have now looked at the actual findings from the New England Journal of Medicine. Despite the cheerleading for abortion, it is clear that the AP has gotten this one wrong.