I’ve never met a perfect human being. Even extraordinary Christian people I’ve known who are uncommonly humble, gracious, and loving admit that they have moral and spiritual flaws like envy, selfishness, and pride. It seems all human beings have a congenital moral condition that stands beyond complete cure in this life. Personally, I sincerely desire to fulfill what Jesus called…
How often do you use analogies when trying to explain things? I’ll bet you do it more often than you realize. An analogy involves a comparison between two things, usually for the purpose of explanation or clarification. Analogies are an important part of human thinking. In fact, logician Patrick Hurley says “Analogical reasoning may be the most fundamental and most…
One of the hotly debated topics within Christian theology is the question of how God can be sovereign and yet allow evil in the world. Two people asked me about this issue on social media recently and I offered a brief response. See what you think of the questions and objections raised as well as my replies. Please consider also…
Many people claim to have had religious experiences with God—a phenomenon that has been true since time immemorial. How can a person think through this numinous topic? What are the right questions to ask? In this brief article I’ll answer some basic questions about religious experiences from a historic Christian perspective. I hope my thoughts will be helpful to both…
“Who can fathom the Spirit of the LORD, or instruct the LORD as his counselor? Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:13-14, NIV 1984) Is there mystery involved in encountering the exalted God of the Bible? If so,…
Ancient Christian church father St. Augustine (354–430) articulated the provocative idea that the Trinity makes God perfect in a love that is found within God’s nature. Contemporary Anglican theologian Gerald Bray provides a helpful summary of Augustine’s basic reasoning: “God cannot be love unless there is something for him to love. But if that something were not part of himself,…
As a Christian thinker and apologist, I have talked with many non-Christians about my Christian faith over almost the past four decades. Some of these apologetics discussions have taken place in formal debates, others on television and radio, still others on social media, and many in personal face-to-face discussions. Sometimes I reflect back on these discussions and wonder how…
Historic Christendom is generally thought of as consisting of three main branches: Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism.1 Yet as a serious student of Christianity I would like to propose that a reasonable case can be made that there is now a fourth branch of Christendom to go along with the three traditional ecclesiastical bodies.2 Not everyone will agree with my assessment but let…
Since I teach courses in comparative religions at Biola University and through Reasons Institute, people sometimes ask me what I think about the relationship between the biblical religions of Judaism and Christianity. And in that specific context, I’m also asked about Messianic Judaism. In fact, some time back I was contacted on social media by a Messianic Jew who is very supportive…
The doctrines of the incarnation (Jesus Christ as God in human flesh) and the Trinity (one God in three persons) are two of historic Christianity’s most distinctive teachings. In fact, these two doctrinal truths separate the historic Christian faith from the two other major Middle Eastern monotheistic religions of Judaism and Islam.1 Yet these biblically revealed doctrines contain great mystery,…
Reflections 