Once Christians adopt a quietist and radical separationist perspective on Christ and culture, the other tyrannical shoe will drop. In time, churches in Nazi German were “confined as far as possible to the performance of narrowly religious functions, and even within this narrow sphere [they] were subjected to as many hindrances as the Nazis dared to impose.” This assessment is from a 1945 report pu [...]
Part Two of Gary’s discussion of a new book by David Jeremiah and the publishing history of (failed) prophecy books. Hal Lindsey and dispensationalists in general have a low regard for the Law of God, [1] similar to the views of the arch-heretic Marcion (second century A.D.). “Marcion stressed the radical nature of Christianity vis-a-vis Judaism. In his theology there existed a total d [...]
Gary discusses David Jeremiah’s new book, which is essentially repeating the same message about being “near to the end.” Christians have always had disagreements over theology. The letters of the apostles to the first-century churches were designed to clear up doctrinal confusion, error, and heresy. The letters are well-reasoned, and, of course, they are truthful. Scripture and h [...]
A Christian posted on Facebook that she was eager to leave this world because it’s not home. Actually, it is her home. Similar to her dual citizenship (Phil 3:20), she has two homes, one in this world and one in the next. Until God calls us to our heavenly home, we are responsible for our earthly home that God made possible for us to have. Christians are often caught between “This World Is Not My [...]
Gary discusses a new book by Eric Metaxas that makes the point that the social and political climate in America today resembles early 20th century Germany. “I will protect the German people, Hitler shouted. You take care of the church. You pastors should worry about getting people to heaven and leave this world to me.”[1] Adolf Hitler’s angry response was directed at Martin Niemöller, [...]
Each October, Christopher Columbus is hammered for his voyages of exploitation of native peoples. For example, Seattle, Washington, has designated the formerly Columbus Day as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” as if Indigenous People were free from conquest, slavery, and brutality. Like Martin Luther King, Jr. Day hasn’t done a thing for black people, Indigenous Peoples’ Day won’t do a thing for the desce [...]
Gary discusses what it means to be a patriot and a Christian, and while the two are not mutually exclusive, they are also not the same thing. Biblical elements often dominated when it came to establishing a moral foundation for the fledgling nation and suspicions of centralized political power. For example, the first legislative act of Pennsylvania, passed at Chester December 7, 1682, announced th [...]
Gary discusses how failed prophecies take a toll on those who believe them. Hal Lindsey argued that Revelation was written in the form of an ancient code that needed a time machine to speed to the right prophetic era where the original symbols could be understood. “You might say,” Lindsey writes in There’s A New World Coming, “that [the apostle] John was put into a ‘divine time machine’ and transp [...]
“Just preach the gospel.” How many times have you heard pastors and critics of social and political action scold Christians concerned about the moral direction the church is taking for mixing the gospel with politics? The gospel is more than a life insurance program or a “Get Out of Hell Free” card. It is to transform everything we think about and act on. There is no neutrality or areas that are o [...]
Gary discusses climate change end-times “prophets” who sound just like religious end-times authors. Climate Armageddon is the new secular apocalypticism. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was nuclear destruction. That was always a possibility because the United States and the former Soviet Union had real nuclear weapons. Students were to “Duck and Cover” in case of a nuclear attack. Like this [...]
“The publishers did not see that my purpose was to write a moral lesson of the punishment that befell a mortal man who dared to emulate God.” — Mary Shelly’s character in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). October is horror film month because of Halloween (“Hallow,” not “Hollow”). The genre has come a long way. The older horror films often blend elements of legitimate science with the occult, alche [...]
Gary responds to an article about political commentator Joe Scarborough calling the “pro-life” movement a “heresy.” Tom Ehrich, an Episcopal minister and writer living in Durham, North Carolina, claims that the religious debate on the subject of abortion “is one best captured in shades of gray rather than . . . in black and white.”[1] Ehrich asks where God stands on the iss [...]
Guest article by Jason Mattera [see original post here] Remember the part of Jesus’ parable where, after seeing the beaten and half-dead traveler on the ground, the Good Samaritan rushes to find the nearest Roman official, urging him to impose an obligatory progressive income tax on the locals to bankroll the battered man’s recovery at the nearby inn? Me either. Must be in the other red-letter edi [...]
Gary discusses several claims in a recent book by an author who claims to be an atheist because of failed prophecies about the “end times.” There is a history of skeptics that turn to Bible prophecy and claim Jesus was wrong about the timing of His coming at “the end of the age” (Matt. 24:3) and the signs associated with it. Noted atheist Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) wrote [...]
Most people who have seen the film The Ten Commandments on television have never seen Cecil B. DeMille’s opening introduction. DeMille had something more in mind than just making a film about a religious figure from the Bible. He considered his production to be so important that he came out on stage to deliver a short but powerful statement on the nature of freedom under the law of God: The theme [...]
Gary discusses art and worldview with Pastor Doug Giles and his several series of art to help change Christians’ perception of biblical persons and events. Interest in the occult emerges when the prevailing Christian worldview fails to impact people’s lives in concrete, life-transforming ways. When the Christian message becomes defeatist, retreatist, and exclusively otherworldly, the door is [...]
Gary concludes his interview with Chris Arnzen about abortion, racism, transgenderism, and so much more. The Bible shows that apologetics and worldviews in general deal with fundamental assumptions that guide reason and give meaning to facts. For example, the first verse of the Bible states without equivocation or defense, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). The ne [...]
It’s not surprising that most Americans don’t know the definitions of various governmental systems. “A professor found that a vast majority of his university students were unable to tell the U.S. Constitution from the Russian constitution…. Many students respond confessing how they have never read the U.S. Constitution and how they appreciate the foresight of the founding fathers to implement mini [...]
This is Part One of Gary’s recent interview by Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. Defending the Christian worldview against unbelieving thought takes an understanding that every worldview has a centralized guiding principle that serves as its foundational operational assumption about the nature of reality. By going after the head, as Jael did to Sisera (Judges 4–5), as an unnamed woma [...]
The red heifer story is back in the news. “The delivery of five red heifers to Israel has sparked a worldwide debate about its significance in biblical prophecy, particularly among Christians who believe a third temple will be built during the End Times,”[1] of which the New Testament says nothing. You will search the New Testament with a fine-tooth comb, and you won’t find any mention of another [...]
