The apostle Paul resolved to know nothing but Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 1: 22-24). I grew up in a tradition that interpreted this as requiring a simple gospel message every Sunday. So every seven days, the faithful saints gathered, and heard a message explaining to them how they could become Christians. And then …
More Than Just Forgiveness
“John’s vision not only says that Christ’s blood is available to forgive all sinners from every part of the human race, but he also says that these individuals are more than forgiven — they are made kings and priests, and they shall reign on the earth. Enslaved blacks in the ante-bellum South who came to …
Creative Exegesis
“Clearly, women may not be elders or ministers of the word. No matter how much modern exegetes huff and puff, they cannot blow the verse down [1 Tim. 2: 11-15]” (Federal Husband, p. 64).
Prejudice Is A Two-Way Street
I submitted the piece below to the Daily News as a response to a Town Crier column that ran last night. In his Town Crier piece last Wednesday, Clifton Anderson granted that “in America, Wilson has the right to his own opinions, of course.” And precisely because this is an op-ed page in America, I …
Marriage As Manifest Glory XXXI
INTRODUCTION: We now come to look at what submission actually is. We have been careful to avoid distortions of this teaching because in our generation it is both embraced and rejected wrongly. THE TEXT: “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but …
Bad Science and Bad Manners
While rescue efforts in New Orleans are still ongoing, various liberals are starting to emerge with “gotcha!” observations on the source of the disaster — global warming, the U.S. backing out of the Kyoto treaty, and so on. Even if they had a point (instead of being dramatically wrong), they ought to have a better …
Women and Hierarchy
“In the hierarchical and biblical view, the relationship of women to men is first familial, and then as a consequence, a larger (and very complex) cultural and societal relationship between the sexes emerges. This means that wives are to submit to, and provide help to, their own husbands (and no one else). As a result …
Tigers Into Butter
“Because Ann Arbor was a liberalism-on-steroids kind of place, it was soon decided that our high school needed to have a town meeting of some sort, with students of representative races meeting on a panel, and we could all talk our way into racial harmony. For some reason, I was selected to be a white …
A Slow Burn
It takes wisdom to understand the origins of strife. The Scriptures tell us that one source of strife is anger. “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife” (Prov. 15:18). But often this is missed because the one who vents his anger succeeds in browbeating people into a …
There Is No Better Christ
When the Lord walked with the two unnamed disciples on the road to Emmaus, the conclusion of the affair, as they narrated it, was that the Lord was known by them “in the breaking of the bread” (v. 35). The breaking of the bread in this scriptural usage clearly refers to the sacrament, and means …