Bible

When Teachers Contradict Christianity: What To Say To Your Child

Friday, May 17th, 2013

Friday Parent Focus

Last Friday I spoke on dealing with the schools when they undermine the faith. There’s one more person involved that I didn’t mention: your child. What do you tell your child when teachers contradict Christianity?

Suppose your child were in a classroom where the teacher said the Bible is a book of fables. Suppose also the teacher retracted that statement, strictly on the grounds that it’s illegally discriminatory for him to say that in class. Your child would still wonder whether …

Tagged As: Bible, Children

Your Preacher Isn’t Telling You the Truth (?)

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

Book Review: Raw Revelation: The Bible They Never Tell You About by Mark Roncace.

Your preacher is hiding the truth from you. (So says Mark Roncace.) You’ve probably never read the Bible. Neither has your preacher, probably. Nor (apparently; I’m reading in to his meaning here) have the writers of the commentaries, nor the seminary professors.

You’ve been served a “poached” version of Scripture, not the real thing, and you’ve swallowed it whole. But it’s not just your preacher’s fault. You’re unwilling …

Tagged As: Bible, Book Reviews

Jesus’ Final Words: John 21

Monday, April 1st, 2013

John is the gospel of glory. It speaks of the glory of the Father (John 7:18, 9:24, 11:4, 11:40, 12:28, 12:43, 13:32: 17:1). It tells the glory of the Son (John 1:14, 2:11, 5:41, 8:54, 12:41, 13:32, 17:1, 17:5, 17:22, 17:24). It tells of the glory imparted to believers in God through Christ (John 5:44, 12:43, 17:22).

The word glory is nearly archaic. In biblical usage it speaks of a weighty magnificence, greatness, splendor, dignity. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, one of the great defining documents …

Tagged As: Bible, Jesus Christ

Slavery and Freedom

Thursday, March 14th, 2013

Skeptics criticize the Bible for not condemning slavery, with some taking it to such an extreme level that they refuse to recognize the clear historic good that Christianity has done in freeing slaves. I think we need to think more deeply about slavery and freedom.

Freedom has classically been understood not as freedom-from, but as freedom-to. Freedom-from has to do with restrictions: freedom from interference, from want, from boundaries, and so on. Calls for freedom of this sort are typical of the …

Tagged As: Bible, Goodness, Slavery and Abolition

Jesus’ Final Words: Mark 16

Sunday, March 10th, 2013

We don’t know for sure what Jesus’ final words were in the Gospel of Mark. The closing verses of the book, Mark 16:9-20, are in doubt as to their authenticity. The Bible Knowledge Commentary tells us,

The external evidence includes the following: (1) The two earliest (fourth century) uncial manuscripts (Sinaiticus and Vaticanus) omit the verses though their respective scribes left some blank space after verse 8, suggesting that they knew of a longer ending but did not have it in the manuscript they were …

Tagged As: Bible, Jesus Christ, Skepticism

The Bible Among the Myths

Friday, March 8th, 2013

Book Review

The Bible among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature? by John N. Oswalt

Somehow we’ve been led to believe that the main apologetic issue in the first chapters of the Bible is whether they’re good science. John N. Oswalt has raised a more interesting question: Are they good myth?

He didn’t phrase it quite that way, but I don’t think he would object to my doing so.

What is Myth?

“Myth” has multiple meanings. Some writers conceive of …

Tagged As: Bible, Book Reviews, Myth

What Can We Learn From the Future About Our Mistakes Today?

Sunday, February 24th, 2013

What Can We Learn From the Future?

Christians in the past have believed and practiced things that embarrass us today. Keith has brought that up repeatedly in the thread on a “Gay Rights” assault on freedom of conscience. In context it seemed he wanted us to back off on our beliefs regarding gay “marriage.” He didn’t say that ought right, though, I asked him to follow his premise to a conclusion: given that Christians can make mistakes like that, and in view of …

Tagged As: Bible, Ethics

Jesus’ Final Words: Matthew 28

Saturday, February 16th, 2013

The Great Commission

And Jesus came and said to [his disciples], “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Churches and mission organizations (including the one in which I have spent …

Tagged As: Bible, Jesus Christ, Mission, Other Beliefs

Why Wearing Clothes of Mixed Fabrics (Lev. 19:19) Was Wrong

Thursday, January 24th, 2013

Unbelievers love to bring forth unreasonable commands from the Bible to prove it’s wrong. Leviticus 19:19 is one of their favorites:

“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

Now, that certainly seems odd, doesn’t it? But Jonathan Morrow explains it all clearly enough in Think Christianly. On page 166 …

Tagged As: Bible, Ethics, New Atheism

The Parents Pages
"Mom or Dad, why do we believe ... when my friends or my teachers say it's wrong?" Here's help for you with your children's tough questions.
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Have you ever wondered whether there's more to being a Christian on the job than what you've heard about in church?
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I want this blog to be a welcome home for atheists, skeptics, seekers, and others who wonder about Christianity. At the same time I want to challenge you with questions that are directly related to you in your position of questioning or unbelief. That's what these articles are for. Feel free to interact with them here or to participate in the main blog discussions.

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