I have been troubled for a long time by the Lone Ranger Christian mentality of so many in the Evangelical community. This is the attitude that “All I need is Jesus and the Bible, and since the church is so full of problems and hypocrites, I am perfectly fine without it. I can take my Bible to the top of the local mountain on Sunday morning, have my evangelical Quiet Time, and be fully equipped for the work of the... Read more

I remember, as a Catholic boy, thinking that Protestants were not true Christians. Then, when I became an evangelical Protestant, some fellow evangelicals told me that Catholics could not be Christians if they believed everything that Rome taught. But things are more insidious now. Some conservative Protestants believe that Middle Eastern Christians who are being murdered for their faith might not be real Christians. http://philosproject.org/persecuted-christians-middle-east-really-christians/ Read more

. . . even more were being massacred in northern Nigeria. Boko Haram was systematically murdering all those who could not flee in and around Baga, which means women and children and the elderly. Not scores but several thousand were murdered just last week in this attack on a northeastern region of Nigeria.  Boko Haram, every bit as cruel as ISIS, has captured territory as large as the state of Belgium. Nigerian Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama says the West has expressed... Read more

All is not well in American colleges and universities. No doubt you already know this.  Tuition rises at a far higher rate than the cost of living.  Students are taught more about racism, sexism, imperialism, and now so-called homophobia than about the classics of civilization. Administrators and their staffs multiply faster than teachers.  Professors like me teach less and adjuncts (part-timers at low wages and usually without benefits) teach more. (more…) Read more

No one wants pain. But the debate about assisted suicide is not just about those who are terminally ill and in pain. It is about all of us. By voting for assisted suicide, we are implicated in an intrinsically immoral act. http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2015/01/14270/     Read more

Rhys S. Bezzant thinks so. Bezzant is an Anglican priest and scholar whose recent book Jonathan Edwards and the Church (Oxford University Press) is a superb analysis of Edwards’s eccesiology. (more…) Read more

“Our Prophet,” Malik said, “would have been crystal clear and unequivocal in condemning [the Charlie Hebdo massacre]. But his statement points out why there is a problem. Malik was — quite innocently, I am sure — completely wrong. Muhammad did the same thing – many, many times. http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5024/raif-badawi-flogging   Read more

After the Paris attacks, what are we to think? Is all Islam evil? Do all Muslims want to kill us? Should we take drastic measures to fight this world-wide militancy? (more…) Read more

As a former child transgender, my heart goes out to parents whose boy says, “I’m a girl” or whose girl who says, “I’m a boy.” http://thefederalist.com/2015/01/09/heres-what-parents-of-transgender-kids-need-to-know/ Read more

The Arameans say they came to the Holy Land before the Arabs, and that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where they will have freedom.   www.thetower.org/article/christians-in-the-holy-land-dont-call-us-arabs/ Read more