For nearly 2000 years orthodox Christians have believed in the life-transforming power of the gospel (2 Cor. 5:17), the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:11), the sufficiency of Scripture as a blueprint for comprehensive living (2 Tim. 3:16–17), the sovereignty and providence of God in time and in history (Rom. 8:28), the subjection of Satan to the finished work of Christ and the church [...]
A fragment from the oldest surviving copy of the New Testament shows that the number of the Beast of Revelation 13 is 616. Ellen Aitken, a professor of early Christian history at McGill University, states that “the majority opinion seems to be that it refers to [the Roman emperor] Nero.”[1] The early fragment supports the view that Revelation was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in A. [...]
Critics of “Dominionism” are claiming that adherents to this vaguely defined belief system want to reinstitute slavery. Can this be true? The slavery practiced in this country prior to 1860 was “man stealing,” better defined as “kidnapping.” Black West Africans were kidnapped, often by other Black West Africans, put on ships, brought to these shores, sold at auction, and placed in forced labor.[1] [...]
The evolutionists will look for anything in an attempt to prop up the faultering foundation of their questionable theory of origins. They walk out of meetings in protest when the evolutionary dogma is being scrutinized by other scientists. It’s their claim that to question Darwin is to question science,[1] and they won’t be a part of it. I wonder what their reaction would have been when Louis Past [...]
The Internet has been all abuzz with articles condemning a brand of Christian activism called “Dominionism.” Even Rush Limbaugh got into the act when he discussed the conspiratorial fear of the Left on the topic of “Dominionism” during his May 2, 2005 show. The discussion was prompted by a series of articles that appear in the May 2005 issue of Harper’s Magazine. It seems that anyone who believes [...]
Fred Clarkson, who has an almost irrational fear of Christians involved in anything other than going to church on Sunday (and even this frightens him), has written “How to Beat the Christian Right.” He reserves his salvos for D. James Kennedy’s “Reclaiming America Conference” and American Vision’s “Restore America Rally,” an event he describes as “like an ideological indoctrination seminar in Chri [...]
Former vice-president Al Gore attacked Christian activists in a speech sponsored by the liberal group MoveOn’s political action committee. “This aggressive new strain of right-wing religious zealotry,” Gore bellowed, “is actually a throwback to the intolerance that led to the creation of America in the first place.” Actually, attacks on “religious zealotry” are actually a throwback to the rhetoric [...]
If there was ever an event to drive liberals mad, it was the “Justice Sunday” event. The political Left just can’t believe that Christians are using churches to get their message out about what’s happening in the Senate over the choice of judges and what’s taking place in the courts in general. If the fashionably outraged were consistent, they would have voiced simila [...]
The Family Research Council sponsored “Justice Sunday—Stopping the Filibuster Against People of Faith” (April 24, 2005) as a wake-up call to Christians that judicial nominees are being filibustered because some of the nominees consider religious beliefs to be important in judicial decision making. The claim is being made by liberal Democrats that these nominees are “radical”—outside the political [...]
Those nurtured on the radicalism of the 1960s have been described as the “destructive generation.” The advance of drugs into middle-class culture made its entry through the doorway of the progressive 1960s. Doses of “free love” and “free sex” were passed around as easily as a shared marijuana cigarette. “If you can’t be with the one you love, then love the one you’re with”[1] is a line from a 1960 [...]
Our Sunday school class is studying Ecclesiastes. Last Sunday’s lesson was on a portion of chapter 7. Verse 16 got my attention: “Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?” How can a person be “excessively righteous”? Can a person ever be too good for Jesus? Of course not, if he is following what is indeed righteous. What often happens is that Christ [...]
Is the antichrist alive somewhere in the world today? Cardinal Biffi, emeritus bishop of the archdiocese of Bologna, Italy, thinks so.[1] In addition to wanting to ban Mozart’s music because the composer was a Mason,[2] Cardinal Biffi also believes Italy should stop the flood of Muslim immigrants and protect Italy’s “national identity.” These are just some of his politically incorrect comments abo [...]
Editorial writers have an advantage over journalists. Journalists, at least in the days when fact checking was an honored part of the profession, had to get their stories straight. Writing an opinion column that reads like a news story has become fashionable. Opinion trumps facts. The latest entry into fantasy land is an article by Leonard Pitts who writes for the Miami Herald. He takes on the so- [...]
Periodically American Vision gets some interesting correspondence from people who don’t like what we do. Most of the really bad stuff comes in the form of anonymous emails. In the early days, people would leave profanity-laced voice messages on our answering machine. There were times when we got some death threats. Sometimes we would get a real treasure. On April 11, 2005, a caller left a rambling [...]
On September 17, 1787 the Constitutional Convention officially ended. Copies of the Constitution were sent to the state legislatures. Delegates anticipated tough battles in the states over whether or not the Constitution ought to be ratified. There was much that both proponents and opponents of the Constitution agreed upon. Power, whether in a monarchy or a republic, tended to corrupt whoever yiel [...]
Beginning this Wednesday evening (April 13, 2005), NBC will air the first installment of its “Revelations” series.[1] Like so many evangelicals, the series operates by asking this question: “Could the end be near? To get a jump on the commentary that will follow the series, I’ve decided to jump start the discussion by dealing with questions that Christians often have about the book of Revelation. [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union has asked a judge to hold a Louisiana school board in contempt because someone said a prayer over the PA system before a high-school baseball game.[1] During the critical days with tempers flaring in the July heat, Benjamin Franklin asked to be recognized and presented this memorable speech. Directing his words to George Washington, Franklin made the following pl [...]
Writing a daily column offers some advantages. I get to write about issues that interest me and hopefully interest my readers. But there are always people out there who are downright nasty in the way they express their opinions about my opinions. You’re bound to upset people when you write on controversial topics, but some of the emails I get are over the top. Here’s one example by a guy who calls [...]
Pope John Paul II was impacted by the 1917 Fatima prophecies. The most famous vision is said to have occurred on May 13, 1917. There it was reported that three children, Lucia dos Santos (ten years old at the time) and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco de Jesus Marto (seven and nine), in a field near Fatima, Portugal, saw “a beautiful lady from Heaven,” while others saw what appeared to them to be [...]
Lee Salisbury believes that fundamentalists “must be challenged to defend their religion and tactics.” He writes this in an article titled “The Fundamentalist Christian Mind-Set and the Problem it Presents for America.”[1] Mr. Salisbury believes he has found the soft underbelly of the Bible by uncovering a number of “contradictions.” There’s nothing new in his approach to undermine the Christian f [...]
