Doubting Darwin

The sky is falling! Many interest groups and journalists raced to tell that to the public when a modest but important bill became law in Tennessee early in April.

 The law instructs teachers and administrators to "create an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that encourages students to explore scientific questions, learn about scientific evidence, develop critical thinking skills, and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about controversial issues." 

What's not to like? The law, similar to one in Louisiana, also protects teachers who help students (I'm quoting from the official legislative summary) "understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught. ..." Oh, here's the problem: Evolution is one of the theories that can now be analyzed and critiqued. 

The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, and many others have gone ape over the inclusion of evolution. They revere critical thinking and the freedom to explore, but not when it might produce irreverence toward their idol.   Continue at  Marvin Olasky

Dealing with the Doubting

I deal with many people doubting their faith. To be more specific, these are Christians going through some sort of faith crisis where they no longer believe with the simplicity that once characterized their belief. This is becoming more common in a world where sheltered or isolated beliefs are impractical and antiquated. However, most of us really don't know how to deal with doubt. We don't know how to deal with it when it comes to our own doubts, much less other people's.

At the risk of presenting a bit of a caricature, let me give some tongue-in-cheek ways that some different theological systems deal with Christians going through such a crisis of faith:

Baptists: They are still saved, no matter where their doubts take them. They just need renewed assurance.

Calvinists: They were never saved to begin with. They need to hear the gospel.

Charismatics: They are demon possessed. They need an exorcism.

Arminians: They are in the process of losing their salvation. They need to stop sinning or be argued back into the faith.  Continue at Michael Patton

The Sin of Insecurity

Barney struggles to raise his oversized purple head, weakened by the gradual loss of viewership in recent years. Once a formidable voice in children’s TV programming, he now grasps weakly at his friends, who stand quietly beside. He manages to seize a fistful of Elmo’s scruff and draws him close. “One thing you must never let a single child forget: ‘You are special.’” The falsetto-voiced monster puts a furry hand on Barney’s and turns to look at the others. All of them knew that a very important message had been entrusted to them. Of all moral lessons in children’s TV programming, this was to be foundational.

And if you notice, whenever kids shows step away from silly fun or situational problem solving and toward moral admonition, it is usually on this very topic: the importance of a positive self-image and the confidence that should result from it. And so, educational TV coaches us to think positively about everything from our hair color to our particular set of interests as the means of instilling confidence for living.

I am not advocating a low self image, of course. I am simply pointing out that insecurity seems to be the only thing appropriate for public correction. In fact, we could say that in the moral universe of children’s programming, insecurity is the chief sin. Why?

Before we attempt to answer that question, let me present another: I believe that God calls insecurity sin, too. But why?   Keep Reading...

Am I Really a Christian?

...some of the best books in the history of the church lean toward one ditch or the other. Jonathan Edwards’s Religious Affections (a book that I love!) is sometimes overly introspective. Yes, Edwards’s analysis of what distinguishes true Christian affections is profound. His application is probing. But even the best of Christians can feel shaken in their assurance when reading Edwards. On the other hand, some of Martin Luther’s statements border on dangerous presumption. Of course, Luther’s exuberant faith in the finished work of Christ is exhilarating, even intoxicating. But it does seem a bit much for him to tell Melanchthon, “Be a sinner and sin boldly” (Letter No. 99)–especially when the apostle John said, “These things I write unto you that you sin not” ()!

Well, in reading through Mike McKinley’s Am I Really a Christian?, I initially thought it leaned a little too far on the introspective side. The chapter titles themselves could give this impression. “You are Not a Christian,” declare the first seven chapters, “Just Because You Say that You Are,” “If You Haven’t Been Born Again,” “Just Because You Like Jesus,” “If You Enjoy Sin,” “If You Do Not Endure to the End,” “If You Don’t Love Other People,” or “If You Love Your Stuff.” The second chapter, in particular, sets out McKinley’s bottom-line criterion for answering the question “what does it mean to be a true Christian” with the doctrine of new birth. This becomes the rubric with which the majority of the book develops. “A Christian is someone who has received the new birth as a free gift from God” (p. 30). The main body of the work then focuses on five evidences of new birth – “Five Things All Christians Have”: Read it all HERE