Thoughts on ethics, society, politics, religion, philosophy, theology, and everything in between
The End of Christendom For many centuries, from the late Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages, and into the Modern period, the political, social, and ecclesial status quo in Western civilization was that of Christendom. All of society was (supposedly) Christian. “Christian” governments used coercion and violence to force everyone to be part of the … Read more
A Great Apostasy? There is a popular belief among many Christians that in the early fourth century, with the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity, the church suddenly committed a “Great Apostasy” by turning away from the Way of Jesus, making a grab for worldly political power, and embracing “Constantinianism.” Usually this is … Read more
The Importance of Church History There are two reasons it is important to know about Church history. The first reason is so that the Church today can look to the authority of Church tradition to guide us. Even if we are Protestants who believe in “sola scriptura,” we must recognize that the Bible itself is … Read more
Theological Ethics “A properly Christian ethic cannot hold to the notion of a general ethics and remain Christian. To advocate this is to demand that Christians who are subject to the Word of God share that allegiance with something which is autonomous from God’s Word. For Christians to resort to an autonomous general ethics, as … Read more
Doctrine and Ethics Which is more important: right belief or right action? We have all heard this question asked countless times. Usually, this question is asked by people who then confidently answer that right action is obviously more important; therefore, right belief, right theology, does not matter. After all, people can have true beliefs while … Read more
Is Evangelism Good? Evangelism has come to be frowned upon in many modern Western Christian circles of late. Some see it as intolerant to try to make others adopt one’s own religion. Since Christianity is a “Western religion,” trying to make the whole world adopt Christianity seems to many to be a form of oppressive … Read more
Only about half of American Christians attend church every Sunday. About a third attend church irregularly (some as little as a few times a year). And about 15% of American Christians attend church seldom or never.[1]Statistics from the Pew Research Center, https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/attendance-at-religious-services/ Apparently, many American Christians think that going to church is an optional part … Read more
Why Fast? Fasting is the deliberate abstaining from food, or at least certain types of food, for a fixed period of time. By extension, any deliberate abstaining from a particular created good (entertainment, luxury, comfort) for a fixed period of time can be considered “fasting.” Many modern Western Christians do not engage in fasting to … Read more
Most people would not consider prayer to be a moral or ethical responsibility. In fact, whenever there is a tragedy, and Christians say they are praying about it, there is inevitably an angry backlash of people telling them not to pray but to do something! (By which they mean increase the power of the nation … Read more
Transgenderism is the phenomenon of people choosing to identify as a gender other than their biological sex. Various controversies about how to respond to this phenomenon have caused transgenderism to become a hot button political, social, and moral issue in contemporary American culture. For example, if a person identifies as transgender, should they be allowed … Read more