Talking to a friend the other night, it occurred to me that there are basically two big questions that I’ve wrestled with for years in regards to Christianity. One is, “What is the core of Christianity?” or “What are the essential elements without which you don’t have Christianity?” The second question is, “What is the
Category: Theology
Experience as Proof?
I heard a guy speak recently. He asked people to describe the Christian life. Somewhat to my surprise, people used words such as struggle, tough, and battle. I thought these adjectives were going in the right direction. I think about stories considered Christian classics, such as Pilgrims Progress and Hind’s Feet on High Places, also
Death Penalty? (Part 2)
In my previous article, I began to discuss the question which was posed to me, “Is it wrong that we’re happy that Saddam was killed?” In that article I discussed whether the “we” in the question referred to us as Christians or citizens of the U.S. and if that makes a difference. Now I will
On Evolution vs. Creation
I recently sat in on a couple of lectures / discussions on creation (and/or intelligent design) verses evolution. While I felt that this is a rather old debate, it’s one which obviously hasn’t gone away. For that reason I decided to post a few thoughts on the matter. I feel it is one of those
Good News?
“If you had to sum up Jesus’ ‘Good News’ what would it be in a nutshell?” This is something I’ve definitely been trying to figure out. One of the main motivations is that I didn’t feel like I had any particularly good news to share with someone who wasn’t a Christian. I felt that a
Why Don’t Intelligent People Believe in Christianity?
In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul tells them, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” (1:18) It’s true, if you take a step back and look at it, it is crazy—claiming to follow an executed criminal, and saying that he’s not actually dead. And that’s just
Book Review: The Quest of the Historical Jesus
This book presents a scholarly investigation into the historical Jesus, diverging from church interpretations. It reviews significant biblical scholarship evolution from the Enlightenment through the 20th century. Schweitzer challenges prevailing notions, positing Jesus held core apocalyptic beliefs. His arguments represent a pivotal moment in historical Jesus studies, influencing academic perspectives for decades.
What is the Nature of the Supernatural? Of God?
I believe in the “supernatural”. I put “supernatural” in quotes because what I believe in in terms of the supernatural is something beyond our current understanding of the universe. There are certain things in science which we haven’t yet figured out, such as how to unify the theories of general and special relativity (roughly gravity
Is God Behind Sickness and Suffering?
A common belief about God (aka theology) is that God is in control. Everything which happens in the world is either directly done by God or is at least allowed by God. Many take this as a comfort because they believe in a good God and find it encouraging to think that everything which happens
Sex in Conservative Evangelical Christianity
Here’s a deep thought to ponder: Jesus said there will not be marriage at the resurrection, but the Bible never says there won’t be sex in “heaven”. I imagine this thought may tweak a lot of evangelical minds. In evangelical thought, sex is so tied to marriage that I expect many might struggle to consider