A Step in the Right Direction: A Public Policy Statement about Capital Punishment in America The Constitution Project (TCP) is a highly regarded, influential “think tank” headquartered in Washington, D.C. It supports non-partisan research into public policies and practices and issues occasional policy recommendations aimed at government entities (as well as the public in general). Probably because of my outspoken opposition to capital punishment, I was invited to participate in a round table discussion of the subject hosted by TCP... Read more

At the very front of my immediately preceding post I announced an end to the discussion thread about naturalism. The reason is simply lack of time to read and respond to every post–many of which were very long and had many parts. Occasionally a discussion thread simply has to die because keeping up with it requires me to spend more time on the blog than I have. I need to get other work done. I apologize to those of you... Read more

I am closing the discussion thread about naturalism with this post. Some have objected that my arguments against naturalism are rooted in fundamentalism. Nothing could be more wrong. 20th century social philosopher Max Horkheimer was not noted for being particularly religious. However, he saw the same flaw in naturalism (which he termed “positivism”) as I see. And as Catholic theologian (whatever the Vatican may call him) Hans Kueng sees. Here is Hans Kueng quoting Max Horkheimer. The Horkheimer quote wrapped... Read more

I admit to being amazed and bemused by how many naturalists (or defenders of naturalists) have once again missed the point (of my immediately preceding posts). To them I say: You are missing the point which is logic. There is no logical reason that can be given, on naturalistic beliefs alone, why a person who enjoys being a hedonist should not be so long as his hedonism does not interfere with survival, reproduction, and happiness. And since happiness is subjective,... Read more

My apologies to Tony Campolo and Brian McLaren for ripping off their excellent book title. Just to be fair, I’ll put in a plug here for their book Adventures in Missing the Point. The title fits perfectly how I feel about my naturalistic interlocutors here. They simply keep missing (I am tempted to say intentionally avoiding) the point. So let me put it this way. I’m not a naturalist, but here I will adopt the “voice” of one: I am... Read more

Recently I posted a three part series about the Christian worldview. I asserted that it is a much neglected worldview–both among Christians and non-Christians. I also said that public schools in America tend to secularize students by allowing many other worldviews, quasi-religious as they are, privileged status over against the Christian worldview. I argued that many Christians in the natural sciences live by two worldviews that are incommensurable with each other: the Christian one and a naturalistic one. I did... Read more

Do Arminians and Calvinists Worship the Same God? This question never dies. While most Christians on both sides of the divide say yes, some on both sides say no. Because I have openly admitted here that consistent Calvinism turns God into a monster and makes it difficult to tell the difference between God and the devil, some have assumed I believe the answer must be no. However, I have never said that Arminians and Calvinists worship different Gods. I have... Read more

A Shocking Conclusion about American Christianity I’m not an expert in or scholar of “youth ministry,” but many of my students are either doing youth ministry or plan to. For some time now I’ve been hearing a lot about something called “Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism” (MTD for short). From 2003 to 2005 sociologist of religion Christian Smith and his colleague Melinda Denton carried out a massive study of youth religion in the United States. It was called the “National Study of... Read more

Review of The Journey of Modern Theology by Roger E. Olson by Bev Mitchell This book is written to grab you (gently) and introduce you to some of the most interesting people of the last four hundred years. Yes, most of them were philosophers and theologians, but they were people first and always people. Roger Olson knows these people, some personally, but mainly through careful, sympathetic reading of much of their work over a long career. The characters march across... Read more

What Is “Integration of Faith and Learning?” Follow Up (Part 3) to Series on “The Christian Worldview” In a way, the two part series “Is There a ‘The Christian Worldview’?” is simply a preamble to this post/essay. At least in Christian higher education circles, one of the main functions of developing a “the Christian worldview” has been to use it as a tool for encouraging, sometimes requiring, “integration of faith and learning.” A main reason for the existence of Christian... Read more