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Bible Verses Missing in Modern Translations? There are a lot of people today that are what we call “King James only“ Christians. They believe that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is the only inspired version and that modern translations are modernist. One argument for this is that there are some verses contained in the KJV which are not in recent modern versions. The argument of KJV-only adherents only betrays their ignorance of the process of inspiration, transmission and translation. We sometimes joked that, “If the KJV was good enough for St. Paul, it is good enough for...

[Barf Alert] Biden’s ‘Theology Avocation’ Democratic frontrunner accredits himself a theology aficionado Joe Biden: "One of my avocations is theology" Joe Biden is claiming to be an expert in theology. On Tuesday, at the "Million Muslim Votes" virtual summit, he used the platform to say this about Islam and Christianity: "We all come from the same root here in terms of our fundamental, basic beliefs." The claim comes despite him having no formal education, degrees or certificates in any theological fields. His claim is also false, as Islam, rooted in the Quran, fundamentally denies Christ's divinity. For instance, chapter 4, verse 171 says: "O People of the Book! Commit no...

PITTSBURGH, PA—A rowdy gang of angry, riled-up Arminian believers gathered to pull down a statue of Reformer John Calvin standing in front of Calvin Reformed Bible College & Seminary, authorities confirmed Friday. The band of Wesleyan troublemakers brought a rope, lassoed it around the neck of the stone likeness of Calvin, and yanked it down while yelling rallying cries like “Down with limited atonement!” “You’ll never take our free will!” and “For Servetus!” Mob members then stomped on the statue and spray-painted crude Arminian slogans on the downed Reformer, according to police reports. “We encourage all citizens to stay indoors...

I think the idea that the word or Logos is God is amazing. But what does it mean?

A pastor explains why the idea of a Godless, purely naturalistic universe is impossible.

I explore Surah XXXI (The Adoration) of the Koran, demonstrating some of the inherent limitations of Mohammad's "Lord of the worlds."

Do leftists ever think through the implications of their bright lightbulb poppings?One of their latest stupidities, via Glen Reynolds of Instapundit (who has a fine curation), came a couple days ago from the Presbyterian side of things, with seminarians at New York's Union Theological Seminary offering up their 'confessions' to plants, an act than makes even less sense than trying to talk to a goat. According to the Washington Examiner, they tweeted: "Today in chapel, we confessed to plants," the nation's oldest independent seminary declared Tuesday on Twitter. "Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow...

Accepting the Vatican II Sect as the Catholic Church has consequences. So does believing that Jorge Bergoglio is the Vicar of Christ despite being a public apostate: If he is a valid Pope, then there is no power on earth that can undo his papacy. If he is truly the successor of St. Peter, then he can resign voluntarily, but no one can take the pontificate from him... Clearly, it is high time we looked at what the Catholic Church teaches on the (im)possibility of judging and removing a valid Pope. In this post, therefore, we will examine two things:...

In vitro fertilization is the process of joining a woman’s egg (ovum) and a husband’s sperm in a lab rather than inside a woman’s body... When the egg is fertilized by the sperm, the result is a living embryo, which is then implanted in the woman’s womb so that it can develop like any other baby. Evangelical Christians differ on the moral acceptability of this procedure. My own position is that, in principle, the teachings of Scripture present no moral objection to a married couple using IVF (as long as no human embryos are destroyed in the process), because it...

In my childhood, it was not unusual to hear someone ask, “Who are your people?” It was a semi-polite, Southernism designed to elicit essential information about a person’s social background. The assumption was that you, at best, could only be an example of your “people.” It ignored the common individualism of the wider culture, preferring the more family or clan-centered existence of an older time. It was possible to be “good people” who had fallen on hard times, just as it was possible to be “bad people” who were flourishing. Good people were always to be preferred. I am aware...

Posted on July 31, 2019July 31, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope Was St. Paul a Poor Preacher? For many years, the image I had of St. Paul was that of a bold evangelist who went from town to town teaching and preaching powerfully about Christ. I envisioned his audience mesmerized as he preached and took on his opponents.I ultimately altered my view a bit based on scriptural descriptions, some of which we are currently reading in the Office of Readings. I have no doubt that he was a brilliant theologian. Paul was reputed to have been one of the...

God's progressive process of redeeming the world has been done through covenants and dispensations.  These terms somewhat overlap, though not always.  You can generally find various Christian denominations, sects, and theological systems somewhere along a continuum from intellectual legalism on one extreme and behavior legalism on the other.  And placing too much emphasis on either covenants or dispensations can lead one away from the solid middle ground and into one of these two forms of legalism.  This closely mirrors other articles in which I've written about how the same demons of the early Church still haunt us today, specifically...

Rev. Thomas Brown, who is married to a fellow priest, was ordained as a bishop of the diocese of Maine in the Episcopal Church June 22. Immediately following his ordination, Brown referred to God as a "she" twice in the Nicene Creed. "She is worshipped and glorified. She has spoken through the prophets," the just-ordained Bishop Brown said, referring to the Holy Spirit. ...

Atheism’s Burden of Proof Problem By Philip Cottraux An effort to redefine what “atheism” actually means started a few decades ago but is popping up everywhere in the online community. I’ve seen plenty of debates never get anywhere because people get sucked into a vortex of trying to establish what an atheist actually is. While the traditional definition of atheism is the belief that God doesn’t exist, the new subversion is that it’s a “lack of belief” in God. The amount of energy devoted to this controversy is both fascinating and instructive. The first time I encountered the vehement denial...

The Truth about Radiometric Dating June 2019 Prove it. That’s the challenge biblical creationists often face when discussing the scientific validity of the Genesis creation account with skeptics. Many people leave the church, especially young adults, when they think that the Bible and science can’t be harmonized. But what if incredible harmony actually exists? Those who believe in millions and billions of years often point to radiometric dating as indisputable scientific proof that Earth is old. Since the biblical timeline indicates a young earth that’s only about 6,000 years old, creation scientists must address the radiometric dating issue. We need...

This is another item that belongs in the Johnny Carson “I DID not know THAT!” category. What do heavy metal rock music and Reformed theology have in common? It turns out that there is an affinity of two of the biggest metal bands of all time to R.C. Sproul. I don’t remember how I first came across this, but the Van Halen III album has in its liner notes a “special thanks to” section. Among the mostly unknown names is R.C. Sproul. It turns out that in the fall of 1996, after a falling out with vocalist Sammy Hagar and...

The British Academy has warned that theology and religious studies could "disappear" from universities after a study found that the number of students taking the subjects has halved. An analysis by the British Academy found a staggering decline in the numbers of students enrolling on the courses in just six years, down from over 14,000 students in 2011/12 to 7,585 in 2017/18. The decline covers a whole spectrum of programmes, from undergraduates, to masters, doctorates, foundation courses and diplomas. "Theology and Religious Studies has been on a downward trend in both applications and enrolment of undergraduate students from 2012/13 onwards,"...

An award-winning scientist recently told the world that science and religion are not incompatible. The Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports (3/19/19), “The annual Templeton Prize, which recognizes outstanding contributions to ‘affirming life's spiritual dimension,’ was awarded Tuesday to Brazilian Marcelo Gleiser---a theoretical physicist dedicated to demonstrating science and religion are not enemies.” Gleiser, a professor at Dartmouth College since 1991, said, “Science does not kill God.” Although he is described as an agnostic, the AFP reports that Gleiser “refuses to write off the possibility of God's existence completely.” He said, "Atheism is inconsistent with the scientific method…Atheism is a belief in...

I must apologize. I do not have the time to make individual apologies to each one of you who I have offended, hence the general post. I have learned a lot in the last several years. Some of the things I've learned: I USED TO vote the lesser of two evils. No longer. God is Sovereign in illumination, as He is in salvation. He doen't give the same light to everyone at the same time. If you're in the dark; blame God, or get wisdom. Lincoln was NOT a good president. One of the most evil, actually. The CSA were...

Perhaps American Christians cannot think clearly about homeland security, borders, and immigration for the same reason Americans cannot think clearly about anything else. As Christians we have rich, intellectually credible traditions and frameworks for ethical reflection at our fingertips, and yet, as Americans, we suffer from a historical amnesia. What we need is a historically-attuned theological framework that can lay the foundation for our debates and political deliberations. Without one, we risk acting in ways that contradict the Gospel that we profess. To jump, as we tend to, from Plato and Aristotle to Locke and Hobbes is to ignore crucial...