Can You Have Christian Ethics without Christianity? A Response to Bart Ehrman
As you might have noticed, Bart Ehrman has been making the rounds again this recent Easter season regarding his new book, Love Thy Stranger: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West. Most notable was his appearance on the podcast of New York Time’s columnist, Ross Douthat.
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In this new book, Ehrman argues that Christian teachings about helping others in need—especially those we don’t know—was genuinely distinctive in the ancient Greco-Roman world. Altruism was not a value of the polytheistic religions nor the philosophical systems of the time. It was ultimately the influence of Christianity that led to the building of hospitals and orphanages and systems …
How to Have Healthy Disagreements in the Church
During the TGC National Conference this past April, I was part of a panel discussion with Alistair Begg, Gavin Ortlund, and Jen Wilkin on the topic of “How to Have Healthy Disagreements within Your Church.” The panel was hosted by Carl Laferton of the Good Book Company.
I have to say that I can’t imagine many topics more timely than this one. It was encouraging to hear the perspectives of my fellow panelists on how the evangelical community needs more grace, charity and maturity in the way we disagree. Here’s the video:… Continue reading...
The Loss of Intellectual Curiosity—and Why It’s Dividing the Church
In the 2020 Apple TV breakout hit, Ted Lasso, there’s a remarkable scene in the local London pub where Ted challenges the show’s nemesis, Rupert Mannion, to a game of darts. Confident that he can beat this silly American who knows nothing about British culture, Rupert quickly ups the stakes with an aggressive bet. Ted agrees and the game is on.
Rupert quickly discovers, however, that he has underestimated this bumbling “aw shucks” football coach. While Ted threw darts with his right hand in the warm-up session, it turns out he’s really left-handed. Rupert also learns something else he didn’t know: Ted grew up playing darts with his father. … Continue reading...
Is Marriage a Good Thing?
Marriage has fallen on hard times of late.
As of 2020, US News and World Report documented how the US marriage rates have dropped to historic lows. Indeed, since records were kept from the early 1800’s, at no point in our history have people been married so infrequently.
But it’s not just declining rates—the people who are getting married are getting married later. Just let these numbers sink in: In 1978, the number of people between 18 and 34 who were married was nearly 60%. As of 2018, that number felt to 29%.
Now, it would be all too easy to look at these numbers and declare we just live … Continue reading...
A Wonderful New Book on Parenting Teens
Ok, let’s just get it out there. Parenting is hard. And parenting teens is particularly hard. Even more, parenting teens in our current cultural moment is exceptionally hard.
While every generation has “new” challenges, it is fair to say that the current generation has more than its fair share. We are faced with an increasingly secular culture, unprecedented social media pressures (and temptations), and record-breaking rates of depression and anxiety.
Unfortunately, Christian reactions to this matrix of challenges is not always healthy. Some parenting models become super aggressive, overly restrictive, and operate out of a fear-based mentality, sometimes exacerbating the very problem they are trying to solve. More than ever, … Continue reading...