Check this out; “10 Reasons to Return to Rome”…
3 February 2010
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Check this out from the “Museum of Idolatry“, aptly named website for the content of the video…
Truth Crossing
Reformed Sermon Jams and Random Musings from Josh Gunter
Modern Reformation “Biblical Illiteracy”…
19 January 2010
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The Problem of Evangelical
Biblical Illiteracy
A View from the Classroom
For well over twenty years now, Christian leaders have been lamenting the loss of general biblical literacy in America. No doubt you have read some of the same dire statistics that I have. Study after study demonstrates how nearly everyone in our land owns a Bible (more than one, in fact) but few ever take the time to read it, much less study it closely. Indeed, while the Exploring Religious America Survey of 2002 reports that over 84 percent of Americans consider the Bible to be “very” or “somewhat important” in helping them make decisions in life, recent Gallup polls tell us that only half can name even one of the four Gospels, only a third are able to identify the individual who delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and most aren’t even able to identify Genesis as the Bible’s opening text.
Upon hearing these figures (and many more are readily available), some among us may be tempted to seek odd solace in the recognition that our culture is increasingly post-Christian. Perhaps these general population studies are misplaced in holding secular people to Christian standards. Much to our embarrassment, however, it has become increasingly clear that the situation is really no better among confessing Christians, even those who claim to hold the Bible in high regard. Again, numerous studies are available for those seeking further reason to be depressed. In a 2004 Gallup study of over one thousand American teens, nearly 60 percent of those who self-identified as evangelical were not able to correctly identify Cain as the one who said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” and over half could not identify either “Blessed are the poor in spirit” as a quote from the Sermon on the Mount or “the road to Damascus” as the place where Saul/Paul’s blinding vision occurred. In each of these questions, evangelical teens fared only slightly better than their non-evangelical counterparts.
Dropping Word’s…
13 July 2009
Men take the words they find in use amongst their neighbours; and, that they may not seem ignorant in what they stand for, use them confidently, without much troubling their heads about a certain fixed meaning; whereby, besides the ease of it, they obtain this advantage: That, as in such discourses they are seldom in the right, so are they as seldom to be convinced that they are in the wrong; it being all one to go about to draw those men out of their mistakes who have no settled notions, as to dispossess a vagrant of his habitation who has no settled abode. – John Locke
I freely admit that I have an unusual appreciation for excellent quotes. Great thoughts stated briefly and with clarity are a particular pleasure for me. The above quote, one of my personal favorites, is only brief and clear to those who are used to reading puritans so I thought I would offer a brief explanation.
Locke says that some people like to take terms, and I think he has in mind theological or doctrinal terms, and use them with equal parts bold confidence and ignorance. These people speak of spiritual gifts, Lordship Salvation, and Calvinistic doctrine without having done the Bible study, prayer, and research necessary to understand their full meaning.
Ironically, Locke points out, their ignorance becomes their advantage. For the dedicated student that has spent many hours wrestling with the Scriptures, poring over the Church fathers, and examining application in his own life, these subjects are very near and dear. An ignorant “word-dropper” can come along and pick a fight. The student then takes up his defense and applies the fruits of his study by attempting to enlighten the ignorant word-dropper.
In the end, it is to no avail. What the student doesn’t understand is that the word-dropper is not like him. The word-dropper has done no study and no research. He has spent no time, sweat, or tear. He has merely picked up enough to cause trouble where he likes. The student can craft an argument that is logical, clear, indeed – irrefutable, to no avail.
The word-dropper cannot be pulled from his shell, he cannot be convinced he is wrong, he cannot be drawn from his position. He has no position. He is a vagrant. He is homeless. He owns no truths and no truths own him. He has come to start an argument. He can worm his way out of a fight he just started with terms like “I haven’t come to my own conclusions on this,” or “I’m not arguing for either side,” or “I should study this more,” or “I don’t think its worth arguing over.”
His work is done, and he moves on to the next bridge, under which he will set up camp with a term like “limited atonement” and when things get hot, he will move on, excusing himself politely and congratulating himself on his open-mindedness.
Integrating Psychology
17 March 2009
The Question
Does the psychological community, in particular those who profess Christ and seek to integrate secular psychology with Christianity, have a basis in saying that secular psychology should be considered authoritative as a form of General Revelation? In this paper I seek to give a definition for General Revelation and Psychology; then I hope to draw a conclusion as to whether integration is possible between the two, based upon their distinctions.
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