Items of Interest
"Willow Creek Repents?"
This is the question posed in the title of an October 18 article at the Out of Ur blog at the Christianity Today website. The subtitle reads, “Why the most influential church in America now says ‘We made a mistake.’” Here are a couple of quotes from Bill Hybels that are contained in the article:…
The James Ossuary
The much debated James Ossuary, with an inscription reading “”James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” has still not been conclusively ruled a fake. Although no one doubts that it dates to the time of James and Jesus, there has been some question whether or not the inscription was a forgery. However, after having been…
Why Did "Mother" Teresa Lack Assurance?
A recent Time article entitled “Mother Teresa’s Crisis of Faith,” reported the apparent double life led by the Nobel Peace Prize winner: A new, innocuously titled book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday), consisting primarily of correspondence between Teresa and her confessors and superiors over a period of 66 years, provides the spiritual counterpoint…
The Pope Has Done Us a Favor
There have been many reports recently about the Pope’s reassertion of the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church as the one true church. For example, an article posted at Forbes.com declared: Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective…
Doctrinal Testimony Regarding Recent Errors
Mid-America Reformed Seminary has released a Doctrinal Testimony Regarding Recent Errors, a document in which the Board of Trustees and faculty declare that they “humbly but resolutely stand against the theological errors now current, propagated by certain teachings of what has become known as the Federal Vision, by certain teachings of what has become known…
PCA Study Report on Federal Vision Theology
As one who has had a friendly relationship with many in the Presbyterian Church in America, having attained my M.Div. at Covenant Theological Seminary and being sincerely appreciative of their involvement in my life, I have been watching with real concern the development of the controversy over Federal Vision theology within that denomination. I am…
"The Secret" is No Secret! It is Just the Same Old Lie
The book The Secret and the movie by the same name have recently been gaining a lot of attention, especially due to the coverage received on the Oprah Winfrey Show. On the page devoted to The Secret at Oprah.com, a caption under a promotional video reads, “It’s making headlines around the world—and buzz just keeps…
The Supposed “Tomb of Jesus”
Recently the story that Jesus’ “family tomb” has been found has been making some waves. This is mostly due to a so-called “documentary” produced by James Cameron and aired on The Discovery Channel. The program is called The Lost Tomb of Jesus, and it presents the ides of an orthodox Jew named Simcha Jacobovici, who…
Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith More Proud to Win as Christians Than as Black Men
The thing I appreciated most about this year’s Super Bowl was not just that my two favorite teams were in the contest, but that these two teams both have Christian head coaches – Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith – who are known for the way they coach without using profanity or tearing players down and…
Ten Percent of SBC Pastors Call Themselves 5-point Calvinists
Ten percent of SBC pastors call themselves 5-point Calvinists Published September 28, 2006 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — While LifeWay Research found the number of Southern Baptist pastors embracing five-point Calvinism to be relatively small, it is undeniable that the conversations on Calvinism within the Southern Baptist Convention have brought renewed interest to the theological system.…