Over time, the Pledge of Allegiance has changed. The original Pledge read as “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The word “to” was added before “the Republic” in October for the public recitation. This is the only difference from the original published version. “My flag” was changed to “the flag” in 1924 [...]
“Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security concludes the Gog battle is a ‘realistic scenario,’” a recent article from WND reports. “The study forecasts the toll of a massive nuclear war.” Christian prophecy writers have been making similar claims for decades. Are they right? Before we get into the meat of the controversy, it should be noted that in the premillennial and dispens [...]
Gary discusses Dwight Wilson’s 1977 book, Armageddon Now. As a premillennialist himself, Wilson was able to see clearly the many mistaken prophecies of his own tradition. The doctrine of the clock of prophecy is central to dispensational theology. But what no paperback dispensationalist prophecy book of the This Time, Armageddon Really Is Near! variety ever discusses is that orthodox dispens [...]
I’ve always said that prophetic views have real world consequences. This is especially true when it comes to popular prophecy beliefs and their relation to prophetic inevitabilities. When Jesus told His disciples that the temple would be destroyed before their generation passed away, He issued a warning. Leave the city. The final warning was when Jerusalem was surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20). Th [...]
In a debate I had with Dr. Michael Brown, I asked him what he thought of the supposed future Jewish holocaust that’s part of premillennialism’s prophetic system based on Zechariah 13:8-9: “It will come about in all the land,” Declares the LORD, “That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, [...]
Gary discusses a new article by Greg Laurie that makes the (same old) argument that modern events “could be” fulfilling biblical prophecies. Most interpreters have tried to find the fulfillment in events of their day using current events as the interpretive grid. For example, in the fourth and fifth centuries, Gog was thought to refer to the Goths and Moors. In the seventh century, it [...]
A daily double: an article and a podcast! The article is from the July 1991 issue of James Jordan’s Biblical Horizons newsletter. It shows how Jordan’s thinking and views of the whole debate over ancient and modern Jews and the state of Israel changed from his previous views that essentially followed the Puritans and the Westminster Divines. It is vital that Christians understand this [...]
Gary discusses an article from the Christianity and Civilization series about politics, Christians, and activism. In Genesis 1:1, God set up two realms, heaven and earth. The goal of history is not for earth to be forsaken, but for heaven to impress its pattern on earth. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, ” we pray. The duality of heaven and earth is to be resolved, e [...]
Gary discusses the recent ousting of Speaker McCarthy and what political writer Jason Whitlock calls the “Gaetzful 8.” Whitlock compares the 8 to Gideon’s 300 and the idea of the remnant. Gideon is called Jerubbaal, the Baal-Fighter. He is going to war against Baal, in the confidence God had given him the night before. They rose early, with the sun. The rising of the sun is a pic [...]
Personally, I don’t care much about the names of buildings or sports teams. If residents of a city, municipality, or state want to rename a building after Barack Obama, as some in a town in NJ want to do, I’m fine with it so long as it doesn’t cost me any money. The name change won’t do one thing for black people. They won’t get a better education (see test scores Baltimore Maryland public schools [...]
Gary highlights a few recent news articles that are actually encouraging. “Society” possesses no will of its own, but reflects the people’s will. The will of the people is either based on the autonomous will of men or reflects the will of the Triune God of Scripture. E.C. Wines (1806-1879) writes: In political, as well as physical science, there are certain great principles, true or false, from wh [...]
It’s not hard to find people who are ignorant about other people’s beliefs. All you have to do is watch man-in-the street interviews. A good portion of the population is ignorant about a whole range of topics. Even students at some very prestigious universities are more familiar with the latest Taylor Swift event and love interest than with what’s happening with Ukraine, the Bidens, the plummeting [...]
Gary discusses an article about the upcoming presidential election and the fatigue about the entire process being experienced by the majority of voters. There are problems with some kinds of circular arguments. But you might be surprised to know that you can’t help arguing in a circle. At some point, everyone has to argue in a circle. Why? Because everyone has certain assumptions. No one is neutra [...]
Gary interacts with Carl Trueman’s newest books about “expressive individualism” and the modern “truth” of the interior self. The greatest offense to the unbeliever is the Christian’s insistence that there is only one truth. The statement that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only light seems rather closed-minded. For secularists, it seems reasonable tha [...]
With some variations, those who hold to a biblical economic model share many fundamental principles with advocates of an unregulated free market, or, as I hope to demonstrate, free marketers share many fundamental economic principles with advocates of a biblical worldview. John W. Robbins writes, in his critique of Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophy, “That the structure of knowledge that she erecte [...]
“Nobody knows anything.”[1] William Goldman, not to be confused with William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, sums up the problem of attempting to be certain about the success of a film—“Nobody knows anything.”[2] Goldman should know. He was a successful novelist and screenwriter with several Academy Awards and big screen blockbusters to his credit.[3] Goldman was not saying that Hollywood ty [...]
In this encore episode from a couple of years back, Gary discusses the impossibility of a “neutral” law system. Constitutional scholar Archie Jones argues there is no way to escape legislating morality: Every system of government exists to produce or enforce certain laws, and every law necessarily entails a set of moral assumptions. All morality—even that which is usually supposed to b [...]
In an earlier article and podcast, I responded to a Facebook Post related to the application of God’s law in the NT, including laws found in what is described as the “law of Moses,” actually God’s law. The Mosaic Law is God’s Law that was revealed to Moses. The FB poster went on to write the following: [Gary DeMar] also believes [God’s laws] should be legislated in secular government. There is no [...]
I saw the following on a Facebook post indirectly aimed at me. “It frustrates me when people insist that the New Covenant has Torah requirements, i.e., that we are still under the law. Paul pitted law against grace. Grace is not the adapter that connects us to the law; it actually frees us from that slavemaster. We don’t live by an external force like the law; rather, we live by an internal nature [...]
Gary interviews Rhonda Thomas about the current trend in education: social and emotional learning. The goals of the humanists are clear and forthright. They hide nothing and demand everything. The humanist agenda has been relentless in its efforts to remake man and the world in the image of autonomous man. There is no compromise or lack of vision on their part. The humanist worldview is comprehens [...]
