About “Socialism” and Christianity The word “socialism” is now being used, as it has been before, to scare people. During the recent U.S. election (November 2020), the Republican Party and its surrogates warned Hispanic Americans that electing Democrats would lead to socialism and a loss of freedom. This scare tactic was strong in Florida because many Floridians of Cuban descent equate socialism with Castro and his communist regime. But I saw the billboards in Spanish also in Texas. But that... Read more

Critical Race Theory Examined and Analyzed Several people have asked me to take up the subject of critical race theory here. I’m happy to do it. What is critical race theory? According to Ian Haney López, interviewed by The Center for Public Integrity (September 30, 2020) (“What Is Critical Race Theory?”),  “What critical race theory is saying is we need to take racism seriously. We’re all enmeshed in this system, and all of us have a capacity to change. All... Read more

A Look at Some Roots of the Political Paranoia Gripping America The internet is lit up with it. Facebook is full of it. Anyone who is paying attention right now, mid- to late-December, 2020, knows about it. There is a mounting cry from the far-right in America to overturn the election of Joe Biden as the next president of the United States and keep Donald Trump in office. This cry, of course, will ultimately fail to achieve its goal. In... Read more

Thank God for Science and Scientists, but… Last evening (Monday, December 14, 2020) I watched an hour long “television news magazine” program that focused on the race to create a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. Of course, it was a condensed “tour” of the process—from beginning to now (not the end)—and very interesting and enlightening. It didn’t change my mind about science but added to my profound appreciation of science and most of what scientists do. Like many conservative, evangelical... Read more

Waiting for Inspiration to Hit: Stay Tuned! Dear Blog Friends, Well, it’s that time of year and this is a very unusual year! I’m busy but also hesitant to go out and shop. I’m sure you feel my pain. What a year 2020 has been! For a whole year–the strangest one that I can remember. It’s still strange–what with the continuing pandemic and attempts by a lame duck president to manipulate the federal courts and who knows what else to... Read more

Can Anyone Know Reality Itself? More about Truth In my immediately preceding essay here I talked about the demise of what Francis Schaeffer called “True truth”—not subjective truth, not “my truth,” but universal truth, truth that is true for everyone. I affirm that kind of truth, but that raises many questions and some interlocutors here raised some of them. First, let me say that I assume, contrary to some forms of philosophical (especially German) idealism a difference between the orders... Read more

What Is Truth? “Truth” is a large granite stone by the side of Interstate 35 in southern Minnesota. Or it was. Years ago, if not today, there was such a large rock sign that simply said “Truth.” Then it disappeared. That was a metaphor for what is happening in American culture—the disappearance of truth. (Truth was the name of a business; they decided for some reason to remove that particular sign.) Near the end of Jesus’s life on earth, Roman... Read more

A Theology for the Twenty-first Century What am I reading now? A Theology for the Twenty-first Century by theologian Douglas F. Ottati (Eerdmans, 2020). It’s a new 770 page systematic theology described by the author (a Presbyterian theologian) as “Augustinian, Protestant, Liberal, and Humanist.” The volume consists of 70 propositions expounded and defended—using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral as method. (Yes, both the author and I “get” the irony of a Presbyterian using the “Wesleyan Quadrilateral,” but we both also know that... Read more

Why John Piper Says I Should Not Be a Calvinist! Did you think that John Piper wants every Christian to be a Calvinist? If so, you were wrong. Watch and listen to this Youtube presentation by John Piper (or a Russian imitating his voice!): Does God Predestine People to Hell // Ask Pastor John . I was joking about a Russian imitating Piper’s voice—of course. The only reason I suggested that, tongue in cheek, is because in this Youtube video-talk... Read more

The Great Reset Is Coming! There is much talk about a “great Reset” these days. If you don’t know what that is, look it up on the internet but be sure to read (or watch on Youtube) a reliable expositor of this proposal by members of the World Economic Forum. I am still researching the proposal. But this blog post is NOT about THAT. It’s about a basic Christian belief about the future. “The Great Reset” could be a term... Read more