Thoughts on ethics, society, politics, religion, philosophy, theology, and everything in between
What is salvation? Many Christians would answer that salvation means going to heaven when you die and having eternal life. These certainly are important aspects of Christian salvation. However, this answer represents an impoverished and shrunken understanding of salvation that misses important aspects of what Christian salvation means. A careful study of the concept of … Read more
The story of Queen Vashti (Esther 1) teaches us that women should not parade themselves in front of men who do not respect them. The story of Ham dishonoring his father Noah (Gen 9:18-29) teaches us that it is wrong to dishonor our parents. The story of David and Bathsheba (2 Sam 11) teaches us … Read more
The New Testament and Politics When discussing a Biblical view of the state, it is very common for people to turn immediately to Romans 13:1-7 (“Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. . .”), as if this provides the basic and central summary of a New Testament view of politics. However, this is a mistake. … Read more
Most modern Christians read the New Testament with a filter that says, “New Testament ethics is only about personal morality, so of course the New Testament ethic of love says nothing against state-sponsored violence; of course the New Testament ethic of love does not forbid us to hate and kill the enemies of our nation.” … Read more
Old Testament and New Testament Ethics It is obvious to anyone who reads through the Bible that there are significant discontinuities between the ethics of the Old Testament and the ethics of the New Testament. For example, the Old Testament Law allowed for divorce (Deut 24:1); Jesus absolutely forbids it (Matt 5:32). The Old Testament … Read more
The Bible as Scripture What is the Bible? The Christian answer is that it is the word of God. Yet at the same time, the church has always recognized that the Bible is also a fully human book. In fact, it is not a single book, but a collection of dozens of books written by … Read more