Tag: Christianity
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Let’s stop calling the ESV a literal translation
The Bible is the most important text in Christianity and people grow attached to whatever version they do use. I most often use the ESV Bible (though not really on this blog which tends towards NRSV) because it is the Bible I find at once most accessible, somewhat familiar, and used by those around me.…
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Race and the Gospel
In this last month, a formerly quiet community has taken the headlines after the shooting of Michael Brown. While the largest of racial unrests in America in years has largely died down to normal protesting, I still would like to explore a bit about how I think Ferguson relates to the gospel for us as…
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University and the Centrality of Faith
“Wisdom and Knowledge shall be the stability of thy times.” Taken from Isaiah 33.6, this small statement is the motto of my university and is supposed to be a reason for me, as a student in university, to learn about the world around me: of science and of humanities. However, this belies one important thing…
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Worship, music, and doubt
There are few things that touch the heart as much as music and in churches we use music to worship God as the church has done since its inception. However, I must admit, there are times that I can’t bring myself to sing the words to the songs that so often fill evangelical churches. These…
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Driscoll and a Broken Church
Mark Driscoll has been an Evangelical Superstar for the last several years with his polarizing take on human sexuality and specifically manhood. And while I don’t agree with much of what he says, the current struggles of the leadership of Mars Hill Churches in Seattle have reached national prominence with coverage in major papers like…
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Holiness is not Everything, God Really IS Love
Christians who have tried to hold true to the character of God cringe when it is commonly said that “God is love” as if positive feelings were the sum of what it means to be Christian. And this is a valid concern because for many people, Christianity is merely a means to feel loved and…
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The Evangelical Church’s Response to Gungor & Iraq and Why Both Are Connected
This past month conservative protestants have been strongly criticizing Gungor, but on the other hand Christians including Evangelicals, ave been clamouring for solidarity with those who are being driven out before the Islamic State (previously called ISIS). Criticism is nothing new, and neither is a desire to stand in solidarity with suffering Christians. However, the responses…
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5 things we look for in new churches
Many of us have at one point had the opportunity to look for a church to attend and from the many churches it is difficult to choose one to attend. So considering the difficulty, how can we tell which church is the church that we should commit ourselves to? Here are five things that Christians commonly…
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Science and Evangelicalism
I am an Evangelical, and I am ashamed of Evangelicalism, specifically the American brand of conservative Christianity, and its approach to science as something to be feared. Whether its evolution, or global warming, or psychology, a large number of evangelicals approach science with needless credulity, undermining the scientific process, harming children, and fostering a faith…
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Sanctification and light
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1.8 I think that complacency, a satisfaction with how we are today, is one of the things that is most antithetical to the gospel. Why? Because if the gospel is the message by which we…
Defined Faith 