Should Bible Prophecy Always be Interpreted Literally?

Should Bible Prophecy Always be Interpreted Literally?

In a previous article, I dealt with “Confronting Eschatological Gnosticism” when very specific time words in Scripture are redefined but only when it comes to the topic of Bible prophecy. For example, when the Bible says that Jesus was “near Jerusalem,” dispensationalists have no problem understanding “near” to be close in proximity: “Now while [the people] were listening to these things, Jesus we [...]

Confronting Eschatological Gnosticism

Confronting Eschatological Gnosticism

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to have a great discussion with my sister-in-law on the topic of Bible prophecy. It was very encouraging. Because of it, I thought I would resurrect something I wrote some years ago on the topic since there are a lot of Christians in churches where they are getting less than accurate teaching on eschatology. Some pastors don’t realize that other views approa [...]

Progressivism Is a Rival Religion

Progressivism Is a Rival Religion

“[T]he state is necessarily hostile to Christianity due to it being not only a rival pole of power in society, but because the state itself promotes its own religion in the form of progressivism.” — Zachary Yost It has been said that he who frames the debate wins the debate. I think the “progressives” were brilliant to coin this term. But in reality, it’s one big lie. Progress is a good thing, but [...]

“We Are Primates... We Are Animals”

“We Are Primates... We Are Animals”

I saw the following on a Facebook post: A chimpanzee’s finger and a human finger. Identical in practically every aspect. We don’t come from primates, we are primates. We are not a race, we are a species. We are animals. We are mammals. We are a product of nature. We belong to it and we are a part of it. — David Attenborough According to Attenborough, we are animals almost identical to chimpanzees. [...]

Atheists are Duped by Bad Eschatology

Atheists are Duped by Bad Eschatology

A fellow who calls himself Morgue and looks like Jeremy Irons in the 2002 remake of The Time Machine starring Guy Pearce has declared that Jesus was a liar because His prediction about His return did not happen as He predicted. Here’s the link to the video. Morgue, as in the place of the dead, and not Mork as in Mork and Mindy, claims that if Jesus lied about this one thing, then how can Jesus be [...]

Marxism in the Military

Marxism in the Military

Can anybody name a square inch spot on the planet anywhere where Marxism has brought anything good? Anywhere? Certainly not in • China, • Russia, • Cambodia, • Vietnam, • Cuba, • Venezuela. And now, Marxism is allegedly making inroads into the U.S. military at present? So says a whistleblower, who just got fired from the military. Critical Race Theory, which is now being taught in many schools and [...]

The Church is Not a "New Thing"

The Church is Not a "New Thing"

There is no Church-Israel distinction in the Bible because the Greek word ekklēsia is not an invention of the New Testament writers. Ekklēsia is a common word that is used to describe an assembly or congregation. It is used this way in the Greek translation of the Old Testament—the Septuagint (LXX)—and the Greek New Testament. This common word is used by Jesus in Matthew’s gospel (the most Jewish [...]

If You Don't Start Here, You'll Never Get Anywhere

If You Don't Start Here, You'll Never Get Anywhere

The Christian begins with the presupposition that God created the cosmos and man as a special creation different in kind from both inanimate and other animate creations. We are so special that the Bible tells us that we are created in the “image of God” (Gen. 1:27). One of these image attributes is the existence of the mind and the ability to think rationally (Col. 3:10) and to act morally (Eph. [...]

The "Green Thing" Back Then

The "Green Thing" Back Then

Green energy and the New Green Deal are big Democrat talking points. The Left wants to spend trillions of dollars to Go Green. Like nearly everything bureaucrats and elected officials propose, it’s about power and money. The Green New Deal will turn out to be like war profiteering. When there’s talk about bringing our troops home, Democrats and Republicans fight the initiative because some of thei [...]

Science Cannot Teach Ethics

Science Cannot Teach Ethics

Belief in evolution is not a harmless enterprise. There are specific ethical implications that follow believing and applying the major tenets of the evolutionary religion even though prominent evolutionists go out of their way to deny it. The late Stephen Jay Gould, who served as professor of geology at Harvard and New York University, stated that “no factual discovery of science (statements about [...]

Timing is Everything

Timing is Everything

“1. Preterists. The prophecies contained in the Apocalypse were fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of heathen Rome.”[1] If today’s prophetic theorists are to be believed, Jesus will be returning “soon.” Dave Hunt’s book How Close Are We?, written nearly thirty years ago, claimed to answer the question in the subtitle: Compelling Evidence for the Soon Return of Christ.[2] On t [...]

Some Thoughts on Interpretive Maximalism

Some Thoughts on Interpretive Maximalism

There have been some comments recently about the Interpretive Maximalism of James B. Jordan. This has been an ongoing discussion for nearly 30 years. An article by Pastor Uri Brito from 2015 posted on Facebook brought the topic to my attention again: “James B. Jordan and Interpretive Maximalism.” Since I’ve known Jim since the mid-1970s and have benefitted from his works over the years, I thought [...]

Who are The Little Foxes?

Who are The Little Foxes?

“Little Foxes have lived in all times, in all places. This family happened to live in the deep south in the year 1900.” — Prologue to THE LITTLE FOXES. A few weeks ago my wife and I watched the 1941 film The Little Foxes with the always delightful Teresa Wright. The title comes from the Bible: Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that spoil the vines. For our vines have tender grapes. [...]

How to Make a Strong Family

How to Make a Strong Family

Mother’s Day is May 9th this year. I thought I’d give it a headstart with one of my favorite films. I Remember Mama is based on the memoir Mama’s Bank Account written by Kathryn Forbes. The setting is pre-WWI San Francisco. The irony of the setting should not be missed. Modern-day San Francisco is the philosophical center of familial redefinition incorporating everything from Heather Has Two Mommi [...]

The Mafia is Running the Government

The Mafia is Running the Government

When my oldest son was about four, we were at the check-out line at a Blockbuster video store when he noticed a display promoting a new video release of The Godfather. “Dad, are these movies about God?” he asked. A reasonable question for a four-year-old given the title and his always curious nature. Knowing that he would not care to hear a long retelling of the plot, I summed up the storyline by [...]

Science Fiction Films as Hope and Warning

Science Fiction Films as Hope and Warning

Science Fiction has been defined as “Any story that argues the case for a changed world that has not yet come into being….”[1] A “changed world” means a temporary suspension of belief in what we know to be true to allow for the possibility of extraordinary occurrences that cannot happen in terms of our present operating worldview. Good science fiction blurs the distinction between the world [...]

The Inadequacy of Norman Geisler's Moral Law Theory

The Inadequacy of Norman Geisler's Moral Law Theory

It must not be forgotten that under the Puritans in Massachusetts there was no religious freedom. They persecuted those who did not believe their way. Many of those calling for a return to “Christian America” have forgotten what this so-called “Christian” state was like. Ironically, some of them are Baptists, who have forgotten that Roger Williams—a Baptist preacher and signer of the Declaration o [...]

Are General Revelation and Natural Law Substitutes for Biblical Law?

Are General Revelation and Natural Law Substitutes for Biblical Law?

Criticisms of theonomy are in vogue once again. I see this as a good turn of events. It shows an interest in social ethics and attempts to offer a viable methodology. I’ve noticed, however, that the criticisms of theonomy are not new. They’ve been dealt with in numerous publications since the 1970s. It’s rather remarkable that anyone would publish a critique of theonomy without first reading the m [...]

Remembering and Revolutionaries

Remembering and Revolutionaries

The following movie review from a 2005 issue of Biblical Worldview Magazine is quite relevant to our own day and time of “burn it down” revolutionaries. G.K. Chesterton, ever the prophet and eminently quotable, made the point about good always needing to be vigilant in the fight against evil with his “old white post” analogy: Chesterton addressed this perennial fight for go [...]

Biblical Examples of Church and State Jurisdictional Separation

Biblical Examples of Church and State Jurisdictional Separation

“Getting to Know Your Church-State Jurisdictions” is Part One in this series, “The Biblical Model of Church and State” is Part Two, and Part Three is “Can Secularism Account for Morality in Government?” To understand the relationship between Church and State we need to go to the source, and that source is not the United States Constitution. Modern-day social theory is based on an evolutionary mode [...]