MennoNerds SynchroBlog on Refugees There have always been refugees – people fleeing from oppression and death that they cannot fight. And there has always been oppression and killing, as greed or fear or power lust drive people to destroy, enslave or oppress those who belong to another tribe, another belief or another power grouping. But […]
Can christians find a loving and ethical response in the abortion debate?
Difficult issues series When Darwin published his On the Origin of Species in 1859 it provoked a range of reactions from christians and from scientists too. Many christians were quite comfortable with the idea of evolution (though many others were not), and it wasn’t until about 60 years later that the more ‘hardline’ christian opposition […]
In the west we generally live in post-christian societies. Although the majority of people in many countries may list their religion as “christian”, weekly church attendance is down around 5-15% in many countries, and somewhere around 30% in the US. It seems that in many cases, churches haven’t really adjusted to the end of Christendom […]
Difficult issues series This one’s been around for a while, but I hadn’t seen it until recently, so maybe you haven’t either. When Jesus healed a centurion’s servant in Matthew 8:5-13 & Luke 7:1-10, the Greek word pais is used and translated as “servant”. The word pais had several meanings, including young boy or son, […]
Apologetics series Many atheists have alleged that great harm has been done by religion, christianity in particular. Even if they have overstated their case, we can, and must, still learn from their criticisms. And if the analysis is fair, we have all the more reason to listen and repent. Keith Parsons is a US philosopher […]
It seems to be oh so easy for us christians to get it wrong and misrepresent God. I’ve done it myself many times. But it must displease God to be represented so badly on earth, and it is harming the mission Jesus left us. It is worth thinking about what we are going to do […]
I was reading an article today by a christian minister who I respect, and he said: “Christians gather in order to listen to the Scriptures being read, and to the gospel being proclaimed.” It made me think ….. Why?
Famous atheists have said that religion is harmful to the believer and to society. Religious belief is “poisonous”, making believers “delusional” and anti-social. And internet sceptics have followed them in repeating the allegations until they have some sort of authority. These accusations may trouble some christians. But the thing is, the scientific evidence shows otherwise. […]
It was an argument about women preaching in church. The first guy was a moderate and a historian, and he wrote a book about why women should be allowed to preach. The second guy was a pastor and a conservative, and he argued against this view. The first guy replied, the second guy responded. Each […]