David Mills has a great piece about so-called “mere Christianity” over at the First Things blog. He tweaks C. S. Lewis’ metaphor of the house with many rooms, and I think it’s insightful. Mills is a committed Roman Catholic, and he doesn’t mind honest disagreement among friends. In short, he argues that there’s a real and substantial difference between Protestants and Catholics—a difference that can’t be papered over by an appeal to “mere Christianity.”
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An Egalitarian Gets Biblical
Rachel Held Evans is an egalitarian, and she wants to live according to the Bible for one year… just to see what it’s like. Her aim is to follow all the commands that are directed to women. Among other things, this project will include “submitting” to her husband as Colossians 3:18 teaches. She invites everyone to follow along on her blog to track her progress. Thomas Nelson has agreed to publish a book in 2012 describing her year of living obediently. There is an irony here. She says that she is going to obey the Bible’s commands as “literally” as possible. She seems to be admitting that the “literal” interpretation…
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The Oasis of God
You don’t get to hear preaching like this very often, and you need to hear this one. This is Dr. Robert Smith’s message from today’s chapel service at Southern Seminary. Watch above, listen below, or download here. [audio:http://www.sbts.edu/media/audio/fall2010/20101013smith.mp3]
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The Evangelical Divide on Gay Rights
In the video linked at right, Sarah Posner of Religion Dispatches and Robert Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute discuss changing public opinion on gay rights. Several things are interesting here. 1. Assumption – There is an underlying assumption that skews this conversation. Posner and Jones virtually equate “gay rights” with the right to “homosexual marriage.” The assumption seems to be that support for gay marriage indicates support for the basic human rights of homosexual persons and that opposition to gay marriage indicates opposition to the basic human rights of homosexual persons. I think, however, that this equation is a mistake.
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Strachan at TGC
Boyce College professor Owen Strachan appears with Justin Taylor and Collin Hansen in this video roundtable conversation for The Gospel Coalition. They discuss issues related to strains of evangelicalism, the need for self-examination, and the problem of self-promotion. (HT: Justin Taylor)
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Yoga Dust-up
Last month, Albert Mohler wrote an article on the Yoga’s incompatibility with Christian faith. The Associated Press has a report on Mohler’s argument, and today Yahoo put the story on its front page. Mohler has posted a response to the AP article, and it is not short on irony: “The first lesson — count the cost when you talk about yoga. These people get bent out of shape fast.” Read the rest here.
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Homosexuality and the Gospel
Last Monday night, I addressed the students of Boyce College about Billy Lucas, a high school student in Greensburg, Indiana who took his own life after suffering an extended period of bullying and abuse from his classmates.
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Gay Student Suicide
Albert Mohler’s commentary on the gay Rutgers student who took his own life is worth your attention. In short, Christian churces have a special obligation to be a safe place for people like this student. Download here or listen below. [audio:http://albertmohler.com/media/audio/totl/Podcast/The_Briefing_October_1_2010.mp3]
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Interview with Wayne Grudem
The Alliance Defense Fund has an interview with Wayne Grudem about his new book Politics – According to the Bible (see below). In the interview, Grudem explains the genesis of the book and why he wrote it. Grudem also explains in the book itself why he wrote it. He writes: “I wrote this book because I was convinced that God intended the Bible to give guidance to every area of life—including how governments should function!
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Keller and McLaren on Inerrancy
Tim Keller, Brian McLaren and Alistair McGrath recently sat together for a panel discussion about the Bible. I listened to the whole conversation last week and thought it would be worth passing on to you. On the topic of inerrancy, Keller expressed his clear support for the doctrine while McLaren voiced opposition. Alistair McGrath said he thought the term “inerrancy” was unhelpful. I can hardly improve upon Kevin DeYoung’s commentary about this video. You can read it here. Nevertheless, I would like to offer a couple reflections of my own.