I think it was back in 2009 that the Ship of Fools website reported on its poll to find the ‘worst’ (that is to say, the most unpopular) verses of the Bible.
For a supposedly satirical website, the SoF had a surprisingly po faced aim. They wanted, apparently, to rescue the Bible both from its enemies, who think that it’s a complete pile of rubbish, and some of its friends, who suppose that it’s a ‘textbook of infallible information and unbreakable laws’. …
God’s existence not only cannot be proved, it should not be attempted. (Os Guiness)
God is not for proof but proclamation; not for argument but acceptance. (Robert Horn)
One of the great needs of today is a profound conviction that God is. (W. Holloway Main)
At bottom God is nothing more than an exalted father. (Sigmund Freud)
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. (Voltaire)
The evidence for God lies primarily in inner personal experience. …
A major publishing event has recently taken place. A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life is a large-scale work by Joel Beeke and Mark Jones. In 60 chapters, it summarises Puritan teaching on Christian truth, from principles for Biblical interpretation to ‘theology in practice’.
Beeke and Jones were recently asked to highlight those aspects of Puritan teaching that might be most helpful for today’s church. They mentioned the following:-
According to a recent article on the BBC News Magazine website, about one fifth of the UK population would describe themselves as ‘spiritual, but not religious’.
Recent research by Prof Michael King from University College London suggests that this group may be more prone to mental health problems such as anxiety or depression, compared with the conventionally religious, or even compared with those who would describe themselves as agnostic or atheist.
‘Spiritual, but not religious’ describe, of course, a very broad church, ranging from neo-paganism to devotees of healing crystals, and much else besides. …
In any account that we might give of the Christian Church, we must honestly acknowledge its failures. There have been occasions – too many occasions – when it has accepted the world’s values and priorities, and accommodated itself to the prevailing culture, and rationalised its own unfaithfulness.
Among its most notable failings we must mention:-
‘I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.’ (Thomas Jefferson)
‘Truth is justice’s handmaid; freedom is its child, peace is its companion; safety walks in its steps; victory follows in its train; it is the brightest emanation from the gospel; it is an attribute of God.’ (Sydney Smith)
Injustice, suave, erect, and unconfined, Sweeps the wide earth, and tramples o’er mankind, While prayers to heal her wrongs move slow behind. Homer
‘By largely ignoring the central biblical teaching that God is on the side of the poor, our theology has been profoundly unorthodox.…
Back in September, Kent Shaffer published a list of ‘Top 200 Church Blogs’.
Although based on statistical popularity, questions have been asked about how the short list was drawn up (Shaffer just says that ‘several hundred’ were reviewed for ‘preliminary screening’ but doesn’t explain how these were identified. It is clear that the list contains many of the best-known blogs, but there is no way of telling how many equally popular blogs have been omitted.
It has been observed that the list features
‘Walking With Giants’ isn’t anywhere on the list, but then I’ve done very little to publicise this blog. …
Providence may be defined as
that continued exercise of the divine energy whereby the Creator preserves all his creatures, is operative in all that comes to pass in the world, and directs all things to their appointed end. (Berkhof)
The doctrines of creation and providence are inseparably connected: the same God who made all things continues to sustain them moment by moment.
God’s providence is all-encompassing, Psa 115:3; Mt 10:30; Eph 1:11. Natural events, such as the wind and the rain, are part of his ordering, even though these can sometimes lead to disaster, Lk 13:1-5.…
As everyone knows, it was Copernicus who made the epoch-making discovery that the earth revolves around the sun, and not vice-versa. The epoch that was ushered in by this discovery was the age of modern science. The earth was demoted from the centre of the universe to a speck of dust in a vast cosmos, and reason was enthroned as the all-conquering victor. The Christian church, so the story goes, tried it hardest to cling on to superstition and to frustrate the progress of science.…
It was J. Gresham Machen, in Christianity and Liberalism, who commented that thorough-going theological liberalism is actually a different religion from orthodox Christianity. It is, in fact, a different kind of religion.
This observation was borne out in a recent discussion on Premier Christian Radio’s Unbelievable? show between Ben Witherington III and Stephen Thornton. Ben is an evangelical biblical scholar, Stephen a retired URC minister of liberal persuasion.
The topic under consideration was the narratives of Jesus’ birth as recorded in Matthew and Luke. …
