I give thanks that “God exists and rewards those who seek him (Heb. 11:6). I give thanks that “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether (Ps 19:9). I give thanks to God for providing salvation and life everlasting, even for me, who am not worthy nor able to do the least to begin a new life in Christ. […]
You’re broke. You don’t have enough the pay the rent at the end of the month. If your car breaks down, you can’t afford to have it fixed. Your bank account is almost empty. You’re at the end of your rope. Then an old friend stops by, someone you knew in school who happens to be
While Aristotle talks about virtue, the Bible talks about righteousness but there are similarities in what they say. Both take an “agent-centered” approach rather than an “action-centered” approach. The way to virtue or righteousness is not via doing virtuous or righteous actions. That doesn’t make us virtuous or righteous. These are qualities, not quantities, as one
Acts 20:21 speaks of “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” This first step of the Christian life is God’s doing. God grants repentance and faith. So while people say, “I repented” and “I believed,” it is only by God’s grace that they did. This can be compared with an alarm clock going
Much discussion continues on the topic of “science and religion” but the concept of religion is vague or arbitrary so it is better to focus on “science and theology.” Christian theology in particular does have some relation to science. Historians have documented the role that Christianity played in the rise of modern science. For example,
There is a kind of complementarity between Catholics and Evangelicals today. Very briefly, accepting the authority of the Pope is the key to being a Catholic today. There seems to be little else that unites the bewildering variety of Catholics, from Latin mass hard-liners to Marxist liberation theologians and from the superstitious to the intellectuals. Accepting
The problem with evolutionary theology — theology that accepts universal evolution — is not that it denies the creation of the universe (it doesn’t) but that it minimizes the role of the creator. From the evolutionary position that’s exactly the point: explain as much as possible without reference to God, the supernatural, or the miraculous.
Augustine of Hippo wrote crede, ut intelligas, “believe so that you may understand” (Tract. Ev. Jo., 29.6), which contrasts with what many want to do, that is, understand so they may believe. Both of these have their place but the point of Christian faith is to trust that we may trust more. Christian faith is in the
Theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg made some good points in a short article on miracles; see excerpt below: In the modern history of the dispute between scientists or philosophers calling upon the authority of science on the one hand and Christian theologians on the other, the concept of miracle has become one of the more intricate problems,
There is one Gospel but four ways of understanding it. These correspond to the four “Gospels”, that is, the Gospel according to Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. They each emphasize different aspects of the good news of Jesus Christ. For example, see Characteristic Differences of the Four Gospels (which Kregel Publications calls “Four Views of
