Some (too many) Christians advocate a form of factual neutrality, under which some subjects—science, geography, politics, mathematics—can be taught without regard to religion, since “facts speak for themselves.” This is most evident in education, where a self-conscious sacred-secular divide is maintained and supported by Christians. Ninety percent of Christian parents send their children to govern [...]
According to a radio editorial some years ago, “a man’s religion and the strength of his conviction are his own personal matter” and therefore “religion should not interfere with politics.”[1] Regrettably, many churches during Hitler’s rise to power accepted the argument that religion and morality should be separated from politics based on the neutrality claim. “Religion was a private matter,” his [...]
What are some of the worldview concepts that Christians have failed to beat, and what steps must be taken to beat them and offer alternatives? 1. Failure to Identify and Challenge an Opponent’s Presuppositions and Their Intended or Unintended Consequences. “What’s it going to cost?” is the first thing a savvy shopper asks when purchasing an item, not only in the purchase price of a car or a house, [...]
Please consider a year-end donation to American Vision to keep us going strong in 2026! The late Otto Scott, a former journalist, editor, historian, and author of ten books and numerous articles, was attracted to the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life because they didn’t agree on every point. Scott recounts how he became a Christian after reading the gospels and their differences: Well, my wife was Ch [...]
Listen to Gary’s year-end podcast for 2025 Please consider a year-end donation to American Vision to keep us going strong in 2026! In 2023, the infamous Three Questions Letter controversy became a significant factor in my life and American Vision’s ministry work. I refused to answer questions because they did not include attached Scripture passages. Because of my refusal, Andrew Sandlin post [...]
On Christmas Eve of 2024, outdoorsman Bear Grylls stated on his X account that Mary was a “Palestinian” and that she and Joseph were “refugees” when they traveled to Bethlehem. Today, we are “celebrating the birth of a Middle Eastern refugee” who “changed the course of the world forever.” I suppose this means that any Middle Eastern refugee can change our world today. (Source) Every Christmas, Lef [...]
Many people get bent out of shape when they see ‘Xmas’ or ‘X-Mas.’ (Don’t get me started on “ ‘Christmas’ Trees”). Critics think it’s a way of removing Jesus Christ from Christmas. Removing Christ from Christmas happens in many direct ways, but X-Mas is not one of them. “Every year you see the signs and the bumper stickers saying, ‘Put Christ back into Christmas’ as a response to this substitution [...]
Every Christmas, there is the inevitable talk about a “war on Christmas.” Not all opposition comes from secularists, atheists, and Muslims (see here and here). Some Christians believe the Bible does not set aside the birth of Jesus as a special calendar day to honor His birth because such a celebration violates the “regulative principle of worship.” Acknowledging the birth of Jesus is biblical. Ch [...]
What Bible verses did the bishops who constructed the Nicene Creed use for “and [He] will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead”? All creeds should confess what Scripture says. To borrow from N.T. Wright, used in a different context, Christian theology should not try to “make theological bricks without the biblical straw.”[1] The language and the meaning of a text should come from [...]
Is it a crime to steal from your neighbor? It is. Is it a crime for a group of neighbors to steal from another group of neighbors for a “worthy cause”? It is. Is it a crime to elect some of your neighbors to a political position so they can take money from other neighbors to benefit other neighbors? No, but it should be! No one’s income should be taxed. Many people will ask, “How will we pay for e [...]
The usual dissenters come out of the woodwork every October to denounce Christopher Columbus and every November to attack Thanksgiving. Here’s one from 2020: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is being called “a racist piece of trash” and a “white supremacist” after defending the legacy of the Mayflower Compact and criticizing an article in the New York Times that called the story of the Pilgrims a “myth” a [...]
Thomas Ice and H. Wayne House (just two among many) maintain false divisions regarding the law. They want to make a radical distinction between the “law of God” and the “law of Christ” as if two law systems are operating in the Bible. Currently, God has made a new covenant with his people—the church—and we live under the “law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).[1] Indeed, there is a “new covenant” with si [...]
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27–28) There is a translation issue in Hebrews 9:28. The Greek word “time” is not used. Literally, it’s “out of the second” (ἐκ δευτέρου). [...]
This week marks the 405th anniversary of when the Pilgrims and other settlers agreed to the principles known as the Mayflower Compact. “The Mayflower Compact was important because it was the first document to establish self-government in the New World. It remained active until 1691 when Plymouth Colony became part of Massachusetts Bay Colony,” explained History.com. I suspect that if the Scofield [...]
“The welfare state is the oldest con game in the world. First you take people’s money away quietly, and then you give some of it back to them flamboyantly.” — Thomas Sowell There are 42 million Americans enrolled in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). That’s 1 out of 7 Americans. We don’t know how many of them are not citizens. The multi-generational effects have been devastating. We [...]
One of the frustrating aspects of debating eschatology with the Three Questions Letter signers is their shifting interpretations and inconsistencies among them. As to their inconsistencies, Doug dismissed them as irrelevant to the topic because not all full preterists agree. I suspect that on the big issues, they do agree. We all make adjustments over time as we study more. I certainly have. I not [...]
During our discussion about eschatology, the topic of animal death and resurrection came up. Doug Wilson believes there was “entropy” before the fall. This would include death. He stated the following in his article “Full Preterism and the Death Problem.” What was the nature of perfection in the Garden of Eden? What did an unfallen world look like? Too many Christians have the idea that a world wi [...]
Penn Jillette and Raymond Teller are stage magicians. Their act is a mix of comedy, irreverence, and skill. They are also known for exposing quacks, frauds, paranormal beliefs, and claims of the supernatural in the tradition of Harry Houdini and James Randi in their show Penn & Teller: Bulls***t! They ventured into the realm of politics by taking on global warming, gun control, PETA, the War o [...]
Popular culture is one way to track shifting opinions about paranormal and occult experiences. Before television’s debut, soon after the Second World War, music, literature, and film were expressions of popular culture for the masses. Film brought literary works to life that many people talked about but rarely read. Abraham “Bram” Stoker’s Dracula(1897) was the first novel of its type to make it t [...]
P. Andrew Sandlin posted the following on Facebook: “Greg Bahnsen’s name has been invoked in the defense of the hyper-preterist heresy.” He doesn’t say who. For those of you who do not know, Greg Bahnsen was a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in the 1970s when I was a student there. He taught apologetics, ethics, and a course on eschatology. His article “The Prima Facie Acceptability of [...]
