15 sobering reminders about Hell (and what it means for us)

This is a much neglected doctrine in Western Evangelicalism. We tend to be more embarrassed about this doctrine than we care about the estate of those going there. If we really believed these things, we would not be asking many of the church planting, revitalization or evangelistic questions currently being asked.

Tragedy – or, Comedy?

Is life a tragedy or comedy?

If… only they would read the poem

Carl Trueman hits the nail on the head. ‘Postcolonial theory offers a vision of the world that has no more moral sophistication than the typical B-movie Western from the 1950s, where the goodies and baddies were identifiable by the color of their hats. It is the perfect ideology for the imperialist parvenus of our culture of virtuous victimhood, who want to feel superior without the bother of having to respect the views of others, and who want to appear savvy without the intellectual effort of understanding their opponents.’

What kind of sins warrant church discipline?

Jonathan Leeman gives a concise and helpful answer.

The morality of capital punishment

John Stevens makes a Biblical case for the implementation of the death penalty. I don’t agree with his conclusion but he makes a strong case for his view. Most arguments revolve around the Mosaic covenant but John makes his case from elsewhere and it bears consideration.

Don’t argue like those who have no hope

‘We seem hopelessly captive to the same news cycle, the same polarization, and the same grievances as the media moguls who stand to make a pretty penny from the coarsening of American public life. There is a continuity not only between what evangelicals and what unbelievers say, but between what captivates our attention and stokes our emotions. This is tragic.’

From the archive: have we confused the qualifications for eldership with middle class values?

‘We look for those who are good readers (not demanded), evidence a tendency to save money (not demanded) and who aspire to certain occupations (not demanded). We deem that which is ‘respectable’ and ‘upright’ not according to biblical understandings of those things but according to social understandings. In many middle class circles, for example, it is ‘respectable’ to own a home and to hold a professional job. But, of course, if that sort of thing makes it into our understanding of ‘respectable’, Jesus wouldn’t get a look in as a carpenter who had ‘nowhere to lay his head’. All too often our definitions of the Biblical criteria are based more on our social attitudes than they are on Biblical definitions.’