McLaren, again?!
Well, I haven’t had the honor (if you can call it that) of reading Brian McLaren’s newest book (A New Kind of Christianity), though from what I’ve heard it’s essentially a vindication of everyone who believed(s?) McLaren to be teaching some very dangerous things (it might also cause some to reconsider the ‘heat’ they subjected D.A. Carson and others to). I recently came across a very good review of the book (and lengthy) from Kevin DeYoung, co-author of Why We’re Not Emergent. If you still aren’t sure about McLaren it’s definitely worth the read, he’s even assembled it into .pdf format.
You can find the review on Kevin DeYoung’s blog.… (Read more)
Increasingly Superficial Answers
A couple of days ago Brian McLaren was asked the following question on his blog, “… third, that you believe (based on some of your latest comments) that the god worshipped by Muslims is the same God that Christians worship. Are these assumptions true?” In typical fashion, McLaren has provided non-answers in the form of further questions. Those questions and the point they are trying to get across, however, are extremely superficial, especially considering the position McLaren is in (at least as I understand what McLaren is saying).
On your question about the God worshipped by Christians and Muslims, here’s what I would say:
1. Do all Christians hold exactly the same concept of God when they worship? For example, does the concept of God held by Prosperity Gospel Pentecostals differ greatly from that held by double-predestinarian Calvinists? Does the concept of God held by a pacifist Mennonite differ greatly from … (Read more)
Hosea 4:6 — Lack of knowledge is an understatement.
When I read the Old Testament two things strike me as immediately apparent. The first is that Israel was commanded to worship and keep the commandments of Yahweh and Yahweh only (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5, Numbers 33). The second is that by-and-large, they didn’t and as a result their nation was at first divided and then destroyed.
When Israel was on the verge of entering the Promised Land God laid down a few rules. We read in Exodus 34:12–14 (NASB):
12 Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst.
13 But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim
14 you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God
Now what happens … (Read more)
Hell: Why don’t Christians do more?
If those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are going to Hell, why don’t Christians do more?
Hell is not simply the natural consequences of rejecting God. Some people say this in order to reject the thought that God sends people there. They say that people send themselves there. That is true. People make choices that lead to hell. But it is not the whole truth. Jesus says these choices are really deserving of hell. “Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to [that is, guilty of, or deserving of] the hell of fire” (Matt 5:22). That is why he calls hell “punishment” (Matt. 25:45). It is not a mere self-imposed natural consequence (like cigarette smoking leading to lung cancer); it is the penalty of God’s wrath (like a judge sentencing a criminal to hard labor).1
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, … (Read more)
Recent Comments