A gracEmail subscriber asks: "Can someone who believes in God and accepts the Bible as his word also believe in evolution as the process by which God brought into being the diversity of animal life on earth, including human beings?" * * * Let me begin by saying that I have not the slightest sympathy for the theory of evolution and I cannot imagine ever believing that it is so. From first grade through my first graduate degree I attended conservative religious schools that opposed the teaching of evolution. To this day, I have never attended a single class in which evolution was taught. … [Read more...]
SCIENCE & FAITH
A gracEmail subscriber bemoans the fact that many scientists today are hostile to biblical faith, and that many Christians concede too much to science. * * * The English word "science" comes from the Latin word meaning "to know." Since empirical knowledge comes through the senses, the proper task of science is to observe repeatable natural phenomena and to draw inductive conclusions concerning the processes observed. Some, in the name of science, have gone far beyond that to make pronouncements concerning ultimate origins which no human being observed. That is not science … [Read more...]
THE WORLD VILLAGE
The following details gathered from a variety of supposedly reliable sources help put our own life situations in world perspective. * * * If the world's population were shrunk to a village containing 100 people with present human ratios remaining as now, the human village would contain 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 people from the Americas (North, Central and South) and 8 Africans. Of the 100 villagers, 70 would be non-white. Sixty-six would be non-Christian (22 Muslims, 15 Hindus, 14 non-religious, 6 Buddhists, 9 other) while 34 would profess Christianity (18 Roman … [Read more...]
GOD’S HANDIWORK
This past Christmas eight related households in five states each received an exquisite piece of counted cross stitch artwork. These gifts of love represented hundreds if not thousands of hours of meticulous, painstaking craftsmanship by my mother, who recently celebrated her 85th birthday, and who selected each work to complement the household colors and decor of each of her six birth children and two stepchildren scattered throughout the USA. Sara Faye and I opened ours at Mom's birthday party in January -- a portrait-quality portrayal of a cottage yard aflame with brilliant flowers, … [Read more...]
IDEOLOGY MATTERS
Newspapers across the United States featured a religion article this weekend titled "Ideology Matters: What is the most dangerous idea in religion today?" Answering that question were Harold Kushner, Deepak Chopra, Richard Land, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im and Wayne Dyer. At first glance this roster appears to represent a wide diversity of opinion, including Jewish (Kushner), Christian (Land), Muslim (An-Na'im), Eastern mysticism (Chopra) and secular (Dyer). In actual fact, three of the five reflect no diversity at all. The most dangerous idea in religion today, say Kushner, Chopra and Dyer, is … [Read more...]
Don’t ask this columnist about critical thinking
A special gracEmail essay Don’t ask this columnist about critical thinking A widely-syndicated opinion piece by Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. published on March 16, 2007 provides opportunity for a useful exercise in critical thinking. Under the title "Don’t ask this general about morality," Mr. Pitts takes to task Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, who four days earlier expressed publicly his personal conviction that "homosexual acts" are "immoral." The general made his comments during an interview with the Chicago Tribune in which he … [Read more...]
PHILOSOPHY AND FAITH
A gracEmail reader writes: "I have recently been involved in conversations with a philosophy student who has lost his faith. Several issues in the Bible trouble him, in the areas of original sin, predestination, and the nature of the resurrection. Can you point me to Scriptures or to other reading materials that might help?" * * * Philosophy students tend to think of Christianity in terms of an intellectual puzzle to be solved -- and to suppose that they cannot believe until they have all the answers. Unfortunately, that will never happen. Christianity is not primarily … [Read more...]
SPECIAL GRACEMAIL ESSAY
Robertson's comment on Haiti earthquake reveals bad manners, embellished history and poor theology The ground had hardly stopped shaking in Haiti when Pat Robertson, the affable but loose-lipped founder of Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and President of Regent University, started a rumble of his own by saying that the stricken nation was "cursed" because of a 200-year-old "pact with the devil" supposedly made by rebellious slaves to obtain freedom from their occupying French masters. Robertson's off-the-cuff remarks, easily accessible in a video clip now gone viral on internet's … [Read more...]
PREACHER’S AGONY
A young preacher who has just accepted a new position writes that when he first interviewed at the non-creedal church, he expressed his honest beliefs about the work of the Holy Spirit and concerning the role of women in the church which he knew were different from the church's traditional views. About half the church agrees with the preacher and half hold to the traditional understanding. The preacher puts a high priority on loving God and loving people. However, some members stated at a recent congregational meeting that "we believe [our traditional church] doctrine and if that doesn't work … [Read more...]
WOMEN ‘BE SILENT’ IN THE CHURCH (2)
A gracEmail subscriber asks, "What does Paul mean in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 when he says that women are to keep silent in the church?" * * * Even if this text did not have a context (which it does), and if it were intended to say women cannot speak at all "in church" (which it was not), its most literalistic interpretation would still not prevent women as well as men from acting as ushers, serving the Lord's Supper or taking up the offering, to name just a few silent areas where women often are not permitted to serve. In fact, the larger context shows that both women and men exercised … [Read more...]
