Joe Carter has a fantastic essay answering frequently asked questions about Obamacare’s contraception mandate. Christians, it is really important that you understand what this debate is about because this will affect you one way or the other. Obamacare imposes one of the severest restrictions on religious liberty that we’ve ever seen in this country. In many ways, it’s draconian and quite unprecedented. So when you get a chance, go read Carter’s FAQ’s. I’ll list the questions below. You’ll have to go the essay for the answers.
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Owen Strachan’s “Risky Gospel”
Owen Strachan has a new book out today that you need to check out. It’s titled Risky Gospel: Abandon Fear and Build Something Awesome. I just got my copy in the mail not long ago, and I am looking forward to reading it. Here are a few of the endorsements followed by the trailer from Thomas Nelson. Russell Moore: “Some Christians are paralyzed by fear or indecision or constant second-guessing or by the blur of activity in their lives. In this book Owen Strachan points out what’s immobilizing you right now, and to give you the gospel coaching to run the race again. Read this book to stir up courage…
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Hobby Lobby takes its case to the Supreme Court
The news just came out today that the Supreme Court has decided to hear Hobby Lobby’s case against Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate. I have written extensively on this site about the battle that Hobby Lobby has been engaged in for over a year now. In short, Hobby Lobby has been asking for relief from Obamacare’s requirement that they violate their religious beliefs. Obamacare’s mandate is one of the most egregious violation of religious liberty that I have ever seen. As a result of this law, the United States Government forces Christian business owners to pay for abortion inducing drugs in their employees’ insurance plans. It doesn’t matter that the law violates…
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Audio from the Evangelical Theological Society
After my two posts on last week’s ETS meeting, some readers have asked if there is any available audio from the sessions. Yes, there is audio, but unfortunately it’s not free. All of the presentations are available for download (over 620 of them!), but listed below are some of the sessions related to the conference theme—inerrancy. If you’re already planning to buy the Five Views book with Mohler and Enns, some of these papers will probably be superfluous. Nevertheless, the panel discussion with the direct interaction between Mohler and Enns is very interesting. See below.
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ETS inerrancy debate featured in “The Economist”
The most recent print edition of The Economist features an article on the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) and the controversy about inerrancy at its meeting last week. Among other things, the article portrays the ETS discussions as an intramural debate among a dying breed of Christians—a discussion that has no relevance to the modern world, much less to the droves of young people who are leaving the evangelical faith of their parents.
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Understanding the Minister’s Housing Allowance
You may have heard the news over the weekend that a federal judge has ruled that an IRS exemption giving clergy tax-free housing allowances is unconstitutional. In the wake of this ruling, a lot of people have been asking why this exemption exists in the first place. Joe Carter has the best analysis that I’ve seen on the history and the rationale for the ministerial housing allowance. He notes that clergy are not the only ones who have received such exemptions.
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Jesus and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate
Andrew Walker has a very helpful article over at The Federalist titled “Jesus and the Same-sex Marriage Debate.” In it he argues that the sexual revolutionaries have been trying to get Jesus on the side of gay marriage by reinterpreting the biblical text. He writes, Perhaps the most common argument issues from silence: Jesus never mentions homosexuality or same-sex marriage; therefore, he must be for it. But this argument from silence presents another set of troubling conclusions. Namely, that whatever Jesus didn’t specifically address, he must endorse. If we accept this contorted logic, Jesus must also support human trafficking because he never spoke out against it. Failing to withstand even…
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Some reflections on the 65th annual meeting of ETS
Yesterday wrapped up the 65th annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) in Baltimore, Maryland. For those of you who don’t know, ETS is a society of theologians and biblical scholars who are dedicated to biblical inerrancy and a belief in the Trinity. At the annual meeting, members come together to present academic papers, meet with publishers, and catch up with old friends. What follows are some random reflections about this year’s meeting. 1. It’s been about five years now since Pete Enns left Westminster Theological Seminary because of a conflict about his views on scripture. Upon his departure, he and WTS issued a joint statement saying that “his…
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Albert Mohler on JFK, C. S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley
As many of you know, today is the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. You may also know that on this very same day 50 years ago, both C. S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley died as well. Three very significant but very different lives ended at nearly the same moment, and we are still living with their enormous legacies today. Albert Mohler has a fascinating discussion of all three of them, explaining that President Kennedy was a “cultural humanist,” Aldous Huxley an “ideological humanist,” and C. S. Lewis a “Christian thinker.” The discussion is wide-ranging, and I commend it to you. Download it here, or listen…
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Ted Turner says he does not want to go to hell
CNN has a fascinating and wide-ranging feature on Ted Turner today. Among other things, it says that Turner has grown more reflective about his mortality in his later years. Turner even confesses that he doesn’t want to go to hell. It’s a provocative piece in many ways. Here’s an excerpt: Even though he is a son of the Bible Belt, Ted Turner and God haven’t been on the best of terms. Despite his strong stance against religion in the past, he’s not an atheist. He’s an agnostic, trying to make sense of it all — his way. He revised the Ten Commandments, which he considered outdated, coming up instead with…