William K. Reilly was President George Bush’s (the first one) head of the EPA. Read more

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jerm. 17.9-10). In Biblical anthropology, the heart is the control center of the human personality, and if it is wicked, deceptive, darkened, then a person is in deep trouble. The verses cited above from Jeremiah makes perfectly clear that human fallenness was... Read more

I have done the review on this blog last year for the first season of the murder mystery set in Dorset entitled Broadchurch. As I noted then, there was an attempt to do a similar series over here called Gracepoint, which failed rather spectacularly to garner an audience. It’s just as well, because nothing could stack up to the brilliance of this show, which has now completed its second season. There is brilliant acting, brilliant drama, brilliant scenery, brilliant intrigue,... Read more

Kudos to the Tunedude for sending this along my way. It was in fact a card he was given on his birthday. BW3 Read more

If ministers are at all honest, the vast majority of them will have to confess that there were times when their behavior was out of line, and they nearly ruined their ministry. Indeed, history is littered with tales of ministers who did precisely that, and never recovered to do good work for the Lord thereafter. Sadly, I know too many of these tales, and it makes me enormously sad, especially since, I know my own shortcomings, and how close I’ve... Read more

What should a Christian do, when they sin? Well obviously, they need to repent, and if it involves others they need to seek forgiveness as well and offer heartfelt apologies. Obviously, since ever sin is against God, they need to make amends with the Almighty first and foremost, but that is by no means the end of the story. Protestants, historically, have turned a blind eye to such Biblical injunctions as ‘confess your sins to one another’ (notice it does... Read more

Here are two interviews with me about textbook, Invitation to the NT. See what you think…. (cut and paste the links into your browser) BW3 Your second interview with Bible Gateway is now live at https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2015/06/invitation-to-the-new-testament-an-interview-with-ben-witherington-iii/ (Your first interview is at https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2014/12/reading-understanding-the-bible-an-interview-with-ben-witherington-iii/) Read more

Whoever it was who dreamed up the saying ‘let your conscience be your guide’ didn’t really understand the concept of fallen humanity. The conscience of many a serial killer is no guide at all, having been anesthetized long before by sin. Another way of putting it would be to say his heart has been hardened. But what about the conscience of the Christian? Does it have a role to play in deciding how to behave? The answer actually yes. It... Read more

Obviously, all sin is serious, since any sin is a sin for which Jesus had to die. And the death of Jesus doesn’t make sins committed post Calvary less serious. If anything, it makes it more serious. Sin in a Christian’s life is a very serious matter indeed, especially if we are talking about sins of commission, but even sins of omission can be very serious. For example, if you fail to love your neighbor as your self, if you... Read more