A liberal Christian may be able to affirm that Jesus literally walked on the water or rose from the dead, yet he still retains the right as an individual to accept only that which supports his own experience of faith. Continue Reading »
What if it turns out that personal freedom, far from being opposed to authority, is simply another manifestation of authority? Continue Reading »
A properly functioning moral conscience is formed by a variety of authoritative influences, including parental upbringing, teachers, churches, workplaces, and peers. Continue Reading »
Dame Rebecca West had a theory that the history of civilization since Christ could be divided into three panels like a triptych. In the first panel, stretching roughly from the Crucifixion to the Middle Ages, the language of theology so dominated learned debate that all complaints were expressed in . . . . Continue Reading »
Apart from office, there is no obligation to obey another person. There is no natural right for one person to rule over someone else. Only office , and not the mere possession of power, can confer authority. Continue Reading »
Part of the responsibility of ministry leaders is having an awareness of influences that have guided the minds of our culture and, therefore, the church. No church exists in a vacuum and to varying degrees, everyone has had ideas and beliefs shaped by the world around them. So it is with great . . . . Continue Reading »
In A Theology for Christian Education, James Estep and Michael Anthony provide a core understanding of education in the church. Their point is summarized by a quote from the classic Creative Bible Teaching by Larry Richards:Education is based upon an assumption that what is learned in the . . . . Continue Reading »
I have been impressed by the thoughtful and respectful dialogue here on EVANGEL over the issue of the authority and reliability of the Scriptures. The inerrancy issue has been of particular concern in this conversation, and rightly so. Ironically, inerrant is not nearly as strong a word as . . . . Continue Reading »
During the final meeting of the semester in my introductory-level courses I always read aloud to my students Matthew 20:20-28, which tells of the outrageous request made by the mother of James and John to Jesus that he give her two sons the highest places of honour in his kingdom. This, of course, . . . . Continue Reading »
You may not immediately recognize the name, but you will likely recall the famous experiments he conducted at Yale half a century ago. In 1961, a junior professor in psychology, Stanley Milgram, placed an advertisement in a local New Haven newspaper soliciting participants in what was claimed to be . . . . Continue Reading »
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