This continues our series on the Shema (Dt 6:4-9), the constitution of the Old Testament. The next verse (8) is about our daily work and thinking. Uk’shar’tam l’ot al yadekha v’hayu l’totafot bein einekha. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. The first part of this command tells us to take the words of Scripture and put them on our hands.  You have no doubt seen (more…) Read more

According to Richard Mouw, retired president of Fuller Seminary, they are. In an article in this May’s issue of First Things, he points to two lines of evidence for this. The first is that leaders of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) seem to be “signaling a decision to downplay” the doctrine that God was once a man. Mouw refers to the couplet by early LDS President Lorenzo Smith, “As man now is, God once was; As God now is, man may be.” He... Read more

God is not interested in just us.  He wants our kids to come into relationship with Him too. And he tells us how to enhance the possibility that that will happen.  The prescription for them is the same as the prescription He gave us for coming to love Him, and to grow in love for Him.  For all of us, the key is getting His words into us. (more…) Read more

If you read my post yesterday, you know the gist of God’s command  to his human creatures–to commit ourselves to Him in all of our thinking, be willing to die for Him, and to give over all of our money and material goods to Him. It appears impossible.  And it is,  apart from the work of God’s Spirit in us. Yet we are told in the rest of Scripture that we are to grow in this love, on a regular basis.... Read more

Yesterday we saw that in the Constitution of the Old Testament (Dt 6.4-9), the God of Israel told his people that he–YhVh, the God who called Abraham and saved Moses and his followers out of slavery–is their God, and that they were to follow no other god on offer in the Ancient Near East. Today we will look at the precise instructions God gave his people for how they were to relate to him.  These instructions are in verse 4: V’ahav’ta eit... Read more

Some of the rabbis used to say that the Schema is the constitution of the Tanach, which is what Christians call the Old Testament. The Schema is the passage in Deut. 6.4-9, which pious Jews recite three times every day.  (No wonder it is called the OT constitution!) It is a rich passage that demands study by Christians.  In it are worlds upon worlds of revelation from God. (more…) Read more

A newly-released sociological study, about to be celebrated in the media, supposedly says Yes. But the keen sociologist Mark Regnerus, looking more closely at this study, says No. Here is a sample of Regnerus’ analysis: (more…) Read more

Ross Douthat, the brilliant conservative columnist at the New York Times, has an intriguing take on the pope’s new encyclical. Douthat says it represents a truce between Catholic liberals and Catholic conservatives. (more…) Read more

You’ve probably heard all the stir it’s been raising. The Wall Street Journal says the new encyclical (Amoris Laetitia — “The Joy of Love”) opens the door to a local priest letting a divorced and remarried couple take communion.  This would not have been possible in most parishes until this encyclical. (more…) Read more

According to Walt Heyer, it does.  He lived the transgender life and came out of it, thanks to reparative therapy. Here are some excerpts from a fascinating new article by Heyer. (more…) Read more