Tag: religion

Three views on hell and judgment
(May 11, 2016)

So far I have looked at two doctrinal issues in this series – Three different views of the Bible and three different ways to read it and Three different views of social justice and the gospel – and each time I have concluded that the truth lies between the two more polarised views. It probably […]

Does religion do you harm or good?
(June 11, 2015)

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. […]

Testing God, testing faith, testing truth
(January 3, 2015)

I remember reading about it a year ago. A christian pastor was going to try living as an atheist for a year, and see what happened. I saw occasional news about the experiment during the year, then as the end of the year got closer, I saw that he was due to make his announcement. […]

Christmas, christians and a deep sense of foreboding
(December 19, 2014)

This last week has been a disturbing one for many Australians. A hostage siege in Sydney, that left two hostages and the gunman dead, made a deep impression. Of course other countries have experienced far worse senseless killing and atrocities. This week has also seen the shooting of about 140 people, mostly school children, in […]

What Americans think of church
(May 27, 2014)

The Barna Group has recently released results of research into church attendance in USA, including information on “millennials” (under-30s). While this will have little relevance to other countries, there may be some similarities and thus things we may all learn

The Old Testament: an update on a journey (part 2)
(April 7, 2014)

Last post I described how I have been on a journey working out what I think is true, or not, about the Old Testament. This post I try to draw some conclusions.

Book review: 'I love Jesus and I accept evolution' by Denis Lamoureux
(March 19, 2014)

Last year I posted about how christians are gradually becoming more accepting of the theory of evolution. As part of that post, I reviewed the work of Denis Lamoureux, Associate Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Alberta in Canada, based on some online slideshow teachings he has produced. I have now read […]

Pope Francis – where's the surprise?
(January 5, 2014)

Let’s start the year with a good news story! Since he was elected in March, Pope Francis has been making waves and charming friend and foe alike. It’s worth reviewing.

Variation in Old Testament teachings
(December 20, 2013)

I’ve blogged about Peter Enns’ book Inspiration and Incarnation, and about his first topic, The Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Literature. Now I want to look at his second topic. There are variations in teaching within the Old Testament. What do these tell us about God and his revelation to us?

The advantage of being a christian?
(November 4, 2013)

No doubt we could make all sorts of comments, positive or negative, but sometimes it is good just to laugh (ruefully). Cartoon: ASBO Jesus