Why C.S. Lewis is wrong on marriage...
Your blog post isn't "Christian"...
What the "prosperity gospel" does to the gospel...
A review of Rachel Held Evans' "A Year of Biblical Womanhood"...
Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Take a Moment...
The gospel and the gender wars...
Why C.S. Lewis is wrong on marriage...
Your blog post isn't "Christian"...
What the "prosperity gospel" does to the gospel...
A review of Rachel Held Evans' "A Year of Biblical Womanhood"...
Why C.S. Lewis is wrong on marriage...
Your blog post isn't "Christian"...
What the "prosperity gospel" does to the gospel...
A review of Rachel Held Evans' "A Year of Biblical Womanhood"...
Monday, September 24, 2012
Why Thinking Matters
**Note - The following is the beginning of a series I will be working on surrounding the importance of thinking and why we need Christian thinkers, authors, pastors, and scholars.**
Doctrine can seem archaic and mind-numbing.
In today’s world, pragmatism is emphasized (i.e., loving people, caring for the widow and orphan, etc.). And although we must love people; although we must care for the widow and orphan; my contention is that pragmatism ought to be an effect of our theological training (rather than what affects our theology).
Theology means the study of God. We would be hard pressed to find another subject matter so worthy of our attention and study. In fact, we are all theologians; and yet, our charge is to structure our theology around skilled biblical exegesis, rather than emotive pragmatism. We need to let our theology shape how we live, rather than let how we live shape our theology.
Formulating doctrine is a subset of studying theology. As we think through various theological topics we begin to form positions on certain aspects of theology. However, despite this massive opportunity and responsibility to study God, our culture has succumbed to banality.
[I]t doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that our entire culture is in trouble. We are staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, and we can no longer afford to act like it’s loaded with blanks…Our society has replaced heroes with celebrities, the quest for a well-informed character with the search for a flat stomach, substance and depth with image and personality.[1]
This quote from J.P. Moreland was written 15 years ago! How much more has our culture shifted into complacent triviality?
And to make matters worse, Christians have, within recent history, conceded the intellectual world to secular society. Most notably, this has been demonstrated through Fundamentalism.[2] What a tragedy! In fact, “[t]he average Christian does not realize that there is an intellectual struggle going on…”[3]
So, rather than Evangelical Christians leading the way in philosophy, business, politics, art, and science, we have, in general terms, surrendered those fields of study to secular society (e.g., Austin Dacey, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Jimi Hendrix, and Stephen Hawking).
To be sure, this is not simply a battle to be fought by scholars and pastoral professionals, “but also laypeople who need to be intellectually engaged if our culture is to be effectively reformed. Our churches are unfortunately overly-populated with people whose minds, as Christians, are going to waste.”[4]
Our responsibility as Evangelical Christians is to use our brains to glorify God; to not only toil at being a means of spiritual conversion, but intellectually as well. We ought to spend less time watching sports and more time reading apologetics. We ought to spend less time on Facebook and more time reading philosophy. We ought to spend less time watching reality TV and more time reading biblical theology.
This doesn’t mean that we will not act pragmatically on our knowledge, but my desire is that we would acquire knowledge that helps us to better interact with our families, friends, and co-workers for the glory of God and the joy of His people.
[1] James Porter Moreland and Dallas Willard, Love Your God With All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1997), 21.
[2] Merriam-Webster defines Fundamentalism as “a movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasizing the literally interpreted Bible as fundamental to Christian life and teaching.”
[3] James Porter Moreland and William Lane Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2003), 1.
[4] Ibid., 5.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
The Christian and Alcohol
Alcohol (and the consumption thereof) is a major point of division amongst Evangelical Christians.
Over the past few years, as I have deliberated about alcohol (and the consumption thereof), and as I have talked with Christian peers, I have noticed an interesting trend. Specifically, those raised in “Christian” families tend to express their “freedom in Christ” and their desire to “redeem” alcohol, whereas those raised in secular families seem to be more wary (of course, no specific quantitative study was completed for verification – rather, this is simply a general observation).
For instance, my parents and I disagree on alcohol (and the consumption thereof).
My parents, raised in what I will simply term “non-Evangelical families,” had the difficult task of not only working out their own salvation, but also pointing our family to King Jesus. Part of this task included the decision to be completely abstinent from alcohol (as opposed to their pre-conversion lifestyles); therefore, we did not have alcohol in our home, nor have I ever seen my parents consume alcohol. To be sure, I owe much to my parents for praying, struggling, guiding, and disciplining me throughout my upbringing. And yet, as I enter adulthood, as I attempt to “make my faith my own,” I have come to disagree with them on this point of Christian praxis.
Several years ago, my family was sitting around a campfire and the topic of alcohol came up. Sparing you the details, my mother indicated that the main problem with Christians consuming alcohol is that you do not want to be liable for causing a brother or sister in Christ to stumble.
I have heard this argument before. I am sure you have too.
In fact, this argument left me so uneasy that I decided to write my seminary capstone paper around this issue.
My conclusion?
Paul’s point in Romans 14 – 15 is that if you are less scrupulous you ought not persuade your more scrupulous brother into doing something outside of his faith context. Conversely, if you are more scrupulous you ought not judge the less scrupulous for being such.
In other words, if you believe you can drink alcohol to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31), please do not attempt to persuade your brother into also drinking alcohol if it is outside of his faith context. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Rom 14:23). Conversely, if drinking alcohol makes you operate outside of your faith context, then simply do not drink alcohol. However, remember that it is not your place to scornfully judge your brother (not least his Christian status) for the freedom he experiences. God is our judge, and we will all give an account before him (Rom 14:4, 12).
With that said, a few ruminations on alcohol:
First, alcohol (i.e., the substance) is not sinful.
Second, I am convinced that drinking alcohol is also not sinful. For clarity’s sake, “drinking” alcohol is quite different than being “drunk” on alcohol. This is a distinction that needs to be made.
Therefore, what can be sinful is the heart attitude behind this action (or inaction).
In short, do not persuade when you should not, and do not judge when you should not.
P.S. If you are interested in reading my paper in full, you can email me at danieljfick@gmail.com to request a copy.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Take a Moment...
Why is war so easy for American Christians?
A long (13 parts), but still worthy set of posts to read about the continued Adam, Eve, and Evolution discussion: Evolving Evangelicalism (I am simply supplying the first part - it's on you to find and read the rest!!)
Can homosexuals be Christians?
A short essay on Hell by Richard Bauckham...
New (and FREE) issue of Credo Magazine...
A long (13 parts), but still worthy set of posts to read about the continued Adam, Eve, and Evolution discussion: Evolving Evangelicalism (I am simply supplying the first part - it's on you to find and read the rest!!)
Can homosexuals be Christians?
A short essay on Hell by Richard Bauckham...
New (and FREE) issue of Credo Magazine...
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Take a Moment...
A little Christmas thinking: Was Jesus born at an inn? and Was Jesus a carpenter?
How to disagree the right way...
10 words we have to stop misspelling...
Michael Bird has a few great posts on Christianity and paganism: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three
10 ways to bring the gospel home this Christmas...
How to disagree the right way...
10 words we have to stop misspelling...
Michael Bird has a few great posts on Christianity and paganism: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three
10 ways to bring the gospel home this Christmas...
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
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