The storming of the Bastille was a catalyst for what became known as the Reign of Terror. “French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from left-wing political groups and the masses on the streets.” How bad was it? Internally, popular sentiments radicalized the Revolution significantly, culminating in the ris [...]
Oliver Thomas, a retired Baptist minister, has written, “American churches must reject literalism and admit we got it wrong on gay people.” It appears in USA Today where he is a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors. There’s nothing new in churchmen rejecting God’s Word for the world’s word. False teachers inside the church were a problem in the first century. Paul describe [...]
California Congressman and 2020 Democratic hopeful Eric Swalwell took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Here’s the oath: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose [...]
Evangelicals are trying to wrap their heads around why a young man from a Bible-believing Christian family that belongs to a Bible-believing denomination could think that it was his moral duty to kill Jews. There’s a Bible precedent for it. Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the [...]
The films Get Out (2017) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968) are disturbing but not as disturbing as today’s government schools. Public schools are corrupting the minds of the next generation of voters and leaders and it seems that a majority of Christians don’t care. They continue to send their children to the schools of their enemies. Then there’s this: The state of California is poised to adopt a [...]
Near the mid-point of the 20th century, writing in the Introduction to Carl Henry’s The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism, Harold J. Ockenga wrote the following: “A Christian world- and life-view embracing world questions, societal needs, personal education ought to arise out of Matt. 28:18–20 as much as evangelism does. Culture depends on such a view, and Fundamentalism is prodigally dis [...]
The following is from a two-minute video clip “Should Christians be Focused on ‘Taking Back the Culture’?” by Pastor John MacArthur (see my video response below): I really couldn’t care less about the culture war. I wouldn’t give ten seconds to worrying. What are you talking about? Two temporal opposing moral philosophies? What is culture? Henry Van Til described culture as “religion externalized. [...]
The following article was written in 2016. The debate continues on how houses of worship should defend themselves. Does the Bible offer any help? Good Christian? Bad Christian? It all depends on who’s doing the evaluating. The reaction to Jerry Falwell Jr.’s comments on encouraging students at Liberty University to be armed in case there is an ISIS attack at the school has led to a great deal of t [...]
“One of the first duties of a man is not to be duped.” — Carl Becker The winners of any contest, whether intellectual, political, or military, work very hard to formulate the history of the conflict so their side of the story is told in the best possible light. As one might expect, there is a great deal of bias in the way history is reported. In order to put the historical accounting in the best p [...]
When I was 13 or 14 years old, I would take the bus and streetcar to downtown Pittsburgh in the early 1960s. I would look for the man selling large salted German pretzels and browse the used bookstores looking for paperback science fiction novels. I still have two of them in my collection, Wilson Tucker’s Man From Tomorrow, originally titled Wild Talent and Charles Eric Maine’s He Owne [...]
Jesus began with 12 apostles (Matt. 10:1-6), expanded to 70 disciples (Luke 10:1), and around 120 at Pentecost (Acts 1:15). Before long, the gospel has been preached to the then-known world (Matt. 24:14; Rom. 1:8; Col. 1:6, 23; 1 Tim 3:16). Today, there are tens of millions of Christians worldwide, and yet, our effect on the world seems to be diminishing. So while church attendance among Bible-bel [...]
This is the third installment in the series on “Eschatology and Biblical Apologetics.” To complete the series go to Part 1 and Part 2. Be sure to check out the videos at the end of each article. It’s obvious that the author of “Jesus’ Failed Prophecy About His Return” is not familiar with biblical decreation language even though it’s typical of the Bible. If you want to understand Shak [...]
The following is Part 2 of my response to “Jesus’ Failed Prophecy About His Return” (JFPAHR). Go here for Part 1: “Eschatology and Biblical Apologetics.” Let’s continue with how the author of “JFPAHR” deals with passages about “the end.” In fact, it’s in these passages that we understand that the end of the world as we know it is not in view, and Jesus and the New Testament writers wer [...]
One of the ways I’m trying to add new content to American Vision is through video. Learning a new skill takes time. Adobe has come out with a new program – Adobe Rush. It’s a scaled down version of Adobe Premiere. In addition to a three-part article I’ve written, I’ve produced three ten-minute videos. The videos appear at the end of each article. Please share the arti [...]
The following article continues my response to Ed Dingess of Reformed Reasons who responded to my article “Jesus Has Not Called Us to be Doormats” with “Gary DeMar: A Response to Christian Doormats.” See the first part of my response, “Should the Church only Preach the Gospel?” Ed Dingess continues talking about the “mission of the church” and “the primary mission of the church.” The f [...]
Ed Dingess at Reformed Reasons responded to my article “Jesus Has Not Called Us to be Doormats” with “Gary DeMar: A Response to Christian Doormats.” I’ll extend him the courtesy of linking to his article even though he does not link to mine or even give the title of my article. Strange. It would also have been nice if he had been consistent with the spelling of my name. It’s DeMar, not Demar [...]
How many of you are aware of the number of churches that have been vandalized in France? How often do the media report crimes against Christians and their places of worship? Almost never. We don’t know if the Notre-Dame fire was an accident or deliberately set, but we do know that there’s been a lot of anti-Christian acts taking place in France, Europe, and places like Nigeria and China that are r [...]
Is it any wonder that Christians are losing their hard-fought freedoms? Christian radio network K-LOVE found itself under fire after it initially refused to run promo spots on its stations for the newly released pro-life film, “Unplanned.” Please tell me what’s not political? Everything is political. That’s the point. The reasons Christians should be involved in politics is [...]
There’s a great deal of sloppy thinking going on about human sexuality. Many Christians have capitulated on the topic of same-sex sexuality. They’ve given into the premise that God’s Word does not disapprove of such relationships. Students at some Christian colleges are the worst offenders. Students and alumni at Taylor University, a Christian College in Upland, Indiana, are deno [...]
An Israeli political party official wants to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. He doesn’t want to wait for years. He wants to begin now. Of course, there’s a practical problem because the Muslim Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Then there’s the theological problem. Rebuilding the temple excites modern-day prophecy “experts” who claim the temple must be r [...]
