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Theology

The Dark Knight and Human Nature

If you ever look up philosophical/psychological perspectives on Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, you would immediately come across arguments about whether the films are “liberal” or “conservative” particularly as they relate to the question of human nature. Questions concerning anthropology such as, “What are humans fundamentally?” “Is human nature essentially good or essentially evil?” “Is there even such a thing as an established human nature or is it malleable and constructed individually or culturally?” are important questions and undoubtedly emerge in Nolan’s three Batman films.  Some argue that the movies present a nihilistic worldview, (the rejection of any objective meaning or principle, life is ultimately void of any real purpose) as presented through the character of the Joker. Others think that the Batman trilogy puts forward a humanist worldview as it displays the greatness of the human spirit to overcome and triumph over struggles as presented through Bruce Wayne or the passengers on the ferries. Others think the story is about the battle between the humanist and the nihilist, one trying to convince the other that human beings are fundamentally evil or fundamentally good. I… Read More »The Dark Knight and Human Nature

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Interview with Alex Varughese

SV: Sometimes as Christians, we don’t pay much attention to the Old Testament, or we have a tendency to think it is not as significant for us today? Why is the Old Testament important? Do the books of the Old Testament still have relevance for our lives today? AV: The Old Testament is important because it is an integral part of the Christian canon, the primary source of authority and standard for Christian faith and conduct. The 39 books of the OT provide the foundation for the faith proclaimed in the New Testament. The OT also provides the historical and theological setting of the NT. Without the OT, the NT will be incomplete and incomprehensible. In other words, the NT is only one half of the whole.  Moreover, there is nothing new in the NT except that it clarifies, interprets, and expands the message of the OT through the lens of Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection. Every doctrinal issue or teaching in the NT has its foundation in the OT.  Every major event in the NT has some point of contact with the… Read More »Interview with Alex Varughese

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Interview with Brant Bosserman

Brant Bosserman earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion from the University of Bangor. He wrote The Trinity and the Vindication of Christian Paradox. He is currently the pastor of Trinitas Church and teaches philosophy at Northwest University.   Faith Colloquium : A Blog about Theology, Philosophy, Church, and Culture  532 total views,  1 views today

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Interview with Joshua Ziefle

SV: Could you please explain some of the theological distinctives of Pentecostalism? In what ways is it different and similar to mainstream evangelicalism? JZ: One of the helpful ways to understand Pentecostalism is around what Donald Dayton refers to as a “gestalt” of approaches towards Jesus Christ: Savior, Sanctifier, Healer/Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and Coming King.  This is the traditional four-fold or “foursquare” arrangement of what Pentecostals understand to be the “full gospel.”  These four doctrinal strands (salvation, sanctification/Spirit baptism, healing, and premillennial eschatology) form the core of the movement, especially when Spirit baptism is linked together with the biblical practice of glossolalia (speaking in tongues).  A Pentecostal’s openness to the continued and unexpected work of the Holy Spirit (via tongues and other gifts/miracles) is often experienced in a deeply personal and miraculous way.  Such experience and theological system that accompanies it helps characterize Pentecostalism. When it comes to the core historic doctrines of the Church and more traditionally conservative approaches to biblical teaching and ethics, Pentecostals and evangelicals have much in common.  The Assemblies of God, for instance, was a founding member of… Read More »Interview with Joshua Ziefle

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Interview with Adam Johnson

SV: When Christians talk about the atonement, what do they mean? What is the doctrine of the atonement about? AJ: Answering this question is a lot like asking: “when people talk about education, what do they mean?” As it turns out, there are lots of answers. Some folks think of education as a means to the end of getting a job. Some think of it as a form of daycare or imprisonment by society. Other think about it as a life-long vocation to grow in wisdom and understanding. When it comes to the atonement, there is a similar range of meaning. Some think of it primarily in terms of the Hebrew word kipper, used throughout the Old Testament in describing the role of blood within the sacrificial system. Others think about it as an explanation of the death or crucifixion of Christ. In this sense, the atonement answers the question: “Why did Christ need to die?” My own preference is to use this word to sum up the work of Christ: pulling together the incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, to explain… Read More »Interview with Adam Johnson

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Witches, Warlocks, and Magic

Growing up in a conservative Christian home there were some things that were considered sort of… “off limits.” And one of those things was books, tv shows, or movies that had anything to do with magic, or more specifically, witchcraft.

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The Last Days

Are we in the last days? Is the end drawing near? Will Jesus return soon? These are all important questions, and issues that seem to be popping up more and more frequently. I often hear Christians say, “You can tell we are in the last days…” or “It just proves we are in the end times…” It always seems to be in the context of the news… Christians seem to love talking about the end of the world. And not only Christians, even the broader culture does as well. (Just think of movies like 2012, Day After Tomorrow, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World…) It’s fascinating. It’s mysterious. It’s unknown yet still intriguing.  When I was in college, we had a chapel speaker who passionately declared to the student body that Jesus was going to return in our lifetimes. He boldly said to us, “I believe this generation has a special anointing! Because I believe your generation is the last generation!” Why he thought this? I’m not sure. Another recent end times prophet who got a lot of media attention was Harold… Read More »The Last Days

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A Self-Help Gospel

God has a plan for your life. You are meant to fulfill a purpose. God wants you to flourish. You don’t have to feel confused or despair… All of this is true, but when it becomes the entirety of the Christian message, then it is bad. A human-centered, me-centered theology is always a bad theology, and I see this take place in two forms. Many people with Charismatic inclinations seem to particularly  gravitate to this type of message. The message that says, “You can do it! “You’ve got it in you!” “Don’t give up!” “Don’t look back, God wants you to climb higher! He’s got good plans for you. And here’s a plan how you can know God’s plan for your life so you can be happy…” These are the voices that tend to be on Christian television or in popular Christian bookstores. And what is communicated over and over seems to be essentially this, “Is life hard? Does life have problems? Well you can fix them! God’s made you victorious. Don’t live a disappointed life. Be positive! It’s what God wants for you.” When… Read More »A Self-Help Gospel

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Christianity and Postmodernism. Friends or Enemies?

What is Post-modernism? To some Christians, it’s a scary, terrible movement destroying the culture, while other Christians embrace it as a breath of fresh air. Gary Aylesworth is right in pointing out that defining postmodernism is a very difficult, (maybe nearly impossible) task. Because it’s such a huge and somewhat ambiguous topic with each person having their own take on it, it’s difficult to talk about what it actually is (that in and of itself captures part of the mood of postmodernism). A helpful way to understand postmodernism is in this way: postmodernism is that which stands over and against modernism. The term “postmodernism” gets the name because it means after modernism. So, postmodernism is a certain philosophical practice/method/lens which stands in contrast to modernism and also critiques modernism. So, then we have to ask the question, “what is modernity?” In the history of philosophy, modernism is that period which contains thinkers like David Hume, Descartes, Immanuel Kant, John Locke. Modernity has been characterized as having a very analytical and rational (I mean using reason and thinking, I don’t mean rational as opposed to empirical)… Read More »Christianity and Postmodernism. Friends or Enemies?

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Why I Still Believe the Bible

The Bible is probably the most well–known book in the world. It’s read by all sorts of different people: men, women, young, old, rich, poor… And it’s also read for many different reasons: to bring hope, to reveal knowledge, to find comfort… Yet, at the same time the Bible is surrounded by an incredible amount of controversy. People discuss it, attack it, question it. And to make things more complicated, there seems to be as many interpretations of it as there are people who read it. As I read and study the Bible, I see it primarily as a means to an end. Before I explain what I mean, let me say a few other things first: There is no such thing as just reading the Bible. Everyone is interpreting the Bible. All the words, and verses are the same but everyone comes at it with a certain lens of interpretation. Simply pointing to “what the Bible says” is not quite enough. Take for example, John 6 in which Jesus says, “I am the bread of life…eat my flesh…” Protestants read those verses and think,… Read More »Why I Still Believe the Bible

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The Bible, Guns, And Peacemaking

I have never had an interest in guns. I’ve never found them impressive, attractive or anything like that. I have never owned a gun, and I have no plans on ever owning a gun. And yet for many Christians, being a patriotic gun owner is synonymous with being a Christian. And I think this view is troubling for a number of reasons.  Guns, violence, and patriotism all seem to be very interconnected in some Christian circles, so that is what I want to respond to as a whole.  But first let me say that if I were not a Christian, I think the arguments encouraging gun ownership would be very compelling. However, it is my Christian faith that leads me to believe what I do about guns. So, let me offer some reasons why I am not a gun enthusiast, first by giving a framework for it: I think that the Bible is very clear on the intrinsic value of human life. It is very grievous to me that we live in a culture that disregards the incredible weight and value of a human life,… Read More »The Bible, Guns, And Peacemaking

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Theology AND Ministry

Theology and Ministry are not mutually exclusive. They go hand in hand. It’s not like there’s theology AND ministry as though the two were two completely separate and unrelated categories. Theology and ministry are as two sides of the same of the coin. I think it’s absolutely crucial that we keep this in mind whether we are “doing theology” or “doing ministry.” In order to do either properly, you have to do both. Recall the greatest theologians throughout the Church. Paul: Think of all the theological material and rich literature found in the letters of Paul. So much of our Christian theology comes from Paul and is developed by Paul. And there are very intelligent, academic, scholars who study all the intricacies and minutia of Paul’s letters and Paul’s theology, and write giant books about it. But Paul himself was a pastor and a missionary. He was a minister! Paul was not some lofty academic theologian at a prestigious institution sitting and writing in an office full of books, who only cared about academia and scholarship. (Some of the time he wrote from prison.) Rather,… Read More »Theology AND Ministry

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Why I Believe in God – Part 3

I wanted to share some of the philosophical arguments for the existence of God that compel me the most. Click to view Part 1 and Part 2.

The Transcendental Argument. This argument primarily comes out of the work of Cornelius Van Til and other presuppositional apologists, and I find it to be incredibly powerful. I think it goes much deeper than a lot of the other arguments for God’s existence.
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