Agnostic Historian Says, Roman Sexual Slavery Was Overturned by Christians
Agnostic historian and author Tom Holland has said Christians radically changed the way people treated sex and slavery in the classical world. During an exchange on The Big Conversation, Holland explained that Paul’s idea of lifelong matrimony, as an image of the marriage of Christ and the church, set in train a radical reconfiguring of the way that people came to think about sex and marriage. “I think, by and large, pretty much everyone now takes those assumptions for granted and we can see that,” Holland said. “In the 60s, in particular, there was this kind of sense that Christian…
Was Jesus a Refugee?
It’s become quite fashionable with the advent of social media for rank amateur theologians to posture as experts on Christian living, doctrine and to even claim confidence of what the historical Jesus Christ would support or oppose. Ironically many personally reject any authority or validity of Scripture in their personal lives – it’s just something they pretend has authority when they ignorantly assume it supports their position. The most common example is easily people who quote the first two words of Matthew 7, “Judge not”, without reading the rest of that very chapter or Gospels or Bible which teaches Christians…
The gift you need this Christmas
Who wants ‘ten lords a-leaping’ or ‘six geese a-laying’ for Christmas! Would your ‘true love’ remain your true love for giving such bizarre gifts? Has a loved one ever given you a gift that you didn’t like? Ever have to ask, “What do I want with that?” At Christmas, a gift was given. But many people today wonder what they are supposed to do with it. The gift was the birth of the Saviour, Jesus Christ. If we read the Gospel of Luke (a biography of Jesus), we would see that on the night Jesus was born in Bethlehem there…
What if there is proof that God became a baby at Christmas?
I love Christmas carols. They are the soundtrack of the season. As great as carols are, it’s possible to make it through the whole month of December, hear these tunes, and yet not tune in to what the carols are really saying. On closer inspection, Christmas carols make some audacious claims. Consider just a few lines from Hark the Herald Angels Sing: Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, Hail, the incarnate Deity. Pleased as man, with men to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel. What an absurd idea. God being limited to one place at a time? God learning how to walk? God……
Christianity Today, where is the consistency?
If Christianity Today is to remain at the top of its game after their recent support for the full impeachment of Donald Trump, on what is already widely agreed to be manufactured political maneuvering by Leftists, they’ll now need to give voice to a broader theological critique. Australia’s Eternity News also seemingly plopped itself onto the bandwagon, defending what looked like its own giddy, veiled applause with the dismissal that “reporting the news is not the same as supporting the contents of it.” This is despite individuals calling the article “brave.” Readers of both Eternity News and Christianity Today would…
WATCH: Agnostic Sky News host Andrew Bolt says, “Jesus did live” – Scholar explains why there’s NO reason to doubt Jesus’ existence
“Jesus did live and historians say he was crucified,” Sky News host Andrew Bolt wrote in the Herald Sun this morning. Bolt, a self-described agnostic, was introducing a 10-minute segment from his Sky News program The Bolt Report. The piece features Anglican pastor and scholar Dr Mark Durie and addresses some of the historical facts that even unbelievers cannot avoid. In the video, Bolt explains, there’s no bigger story in the world to fact-check than the story of Jesus Christ. “No story has been more important, really, in being such a force for good as well, and I speak as…
This welcome to country has no place in Christianity
Many conservative Catholics are deeply concerned with a moment of unfettered pagan idolatry at their Youth Festival in Perth in recent days. I recently interviewed Mark Powell about his article regarding the use of indigenous protocols in Christian services and events and the danger of mixing Aboriginal religion with worship of the One True God. Little did we know such an explosive example of the worst kind I have ever seen would happen so soon following our discussion. This wasn’t at a government or secular event where ignorant obeisance to political correctness can be expected and maybe even suffered in silence…
The piece Eternity refused to publish
Fr. Daryl McCullough—and Aboriginal Anglican priest from Western NSW—has written a turgid 4,000-word opinion piece in Eternity responding to my original 800-word article as to why Christian organisations should not engage in the use of indigenous protocols. He raises a number of significant concerns which I thought would be helpful to provide a response to help further clarify the issue (Proverbs 27:17). At its recent General Assembly, the Presbyterian Church of Australia discussed the use of Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country protocols. I was one of a significant number who expressed their personal concerns about doing so. The…
Love: I do not think it means what you think it means
Those of you who were correctly raised will remember watching the Princess Bride (if truly correctly then many times), a movie that despite all of its ridiculousness is one of the most classic fantasy love tales ever told. You may also recall how Vizzini the scheming kidnapper keeps describing situations involving the witty hero Westley that is happening before his eyes as ‘inconceivable’. Eventually, the honourable and loveable Inigo Montoya eventually says ‘You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.’ Ah, how classic, such a fun movie, but oh what a great…
Ten Reasons Why Christians Shouldn’t Use Indigenous Protocols
Both Welcome to Country—said by an indigenous person—and Acknowledgement of Country—which is said by someone who is not indigenous—have become a popular practice in the media, government and even in business. What’s more, Aboriginal smoking ceremonies to ward off evil spirits have become an integral part of the opening of the Australian parliament for the past decade. Significantly, a range of these ‘indigenous protocols’ is also being increasingly conducted at the opening of church services, ecclesiastical synods, graduation ceremonies, school assemblies, etc. But while the motivation behind it is well-intentioned, I believe that the rationale for doing so is fundamentally…
Why Israel Folau is right about disasters and the judgment of God
Izzy Folau is in the news again for saying something offensive. This time it’s not because of something he posted on social media but what he said in church. If you haven’t done so already, take the time to listen to his twelve-minute sermon before reading any further… However, this time it was not only those in the unbelieving media who were quick to pour scorn n Folau, but many within the Christian Church were eager to distance themselves as well. Everyone from the Prime Minister Scott Morrison—who said that Folau’s comments were “appallingly insensitive”—to Brian Houston who wrote on…
What is the Christian to make of natural disasters?
Some readers may have struggled with the drought for years, and now, especially in NSW and Queensland, may be confronted with the more immediate threat of fire. Television brings the story to the wider population, but it tends to have a deadening effect too. To watch uncontrolled fire for a minute, then sit through an advertisement for something one does not need, and then, worse, have to endure an ad for Bride and Prejudice, would desensitise anyone’s moral sensibilities. Given all that, what is the Christian to make of what we call natural disasters? 1. We are to do good…
Media outrage after Israel Folau claims God punishes sin
Israel Folau is back in the headlines again after suggesting Australia’s drought crisis and the recent spate of bushfires are a taste of God’s coming judgement. The comments were made during a sermon Folau recently preached at his church in north-west Sydney. Video taken from the service and posted online on Sunday shows the former rugby star urging Australians to repent of their sins and revert the laws that made it legal for same-sex couples to ‘marry’ in Australia. “These bushfires, these droughts, all these things, they’ve come in a short period of time,” Folau said. “You think it’s a…
Would You Rather Kneel Before the State or Have the State Kneel Before King Jesus?
All societies are theocratic. All of them! The only thing that distinguishes them is how the reigning ‘theos’ or ‘god’ of each society is defined. In a lecture delivered at New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho, Doug Wilson explained that the reigning theos of any society can be identified by locating that society’s highest authority. The highest authority is the point at which no further appeals can be made. A Christian society recognises the highest authority as Jesus Christ. That is what Christians mean when we say Jesus is Lord or Jesus is King. Jesus is the supreme authority…
Huge spike in searches about Christianity after the release of ‘Jesus Is King’
There has been an increased interest in Christianity recently after rapper Kanye West released his latest album, Jesus Is King. Google searches for “Jesus”, “Jesus is Lord” and “What do Christians believe?” spiked with the release of West’s gospel-themed album last week, while #JesusIsKing was trending across social media. Bible Gateway also reported a ten-fold increase in searches for “John 8:33” and “John 8:36,” two of the verses mentioned in the song ‘Selah’. Following the release of the album, the American Bible Society (ABS) set up a website offering free Bibles to Kanye fans interested in learning more about…
Middle-Class Christianity vs Christianity
A lot of what is called Christian morality today is not necessarily Christian, but more accurately described as Middle-Class Christianity. It is the Christianity influenced by the Victorian era politeness and the rather quiet indoor working spaces of many Christians, who tend heavily towards the middle class. Here are examples of the difference: Middle-Class Christianity: Don’t be harsh and use mean words to those who come to you, especially if they are in need. Christianity: Jesus said to the Syrophoenician woman: You don’t give the children’s food to the dogs (Matt 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30). Middle-Class Christianity: It is wrong to even insult those…
Kanye West’s ‘Sunday Service’ event filmed for the first time
If you’re following the news about Kanye West’s conversion to Christianity, you’ve likely heard something about the crusade-style, musical events he’s currently holding across the U.S. The gatherings, known as the Sunday Service, have attracted thousands of attendees, and have sparked the interest and curiosity of many on the outside who aren’t sure whether they’re an evangelistic outreach, a music concert, or a church service. Some of the events entirely consist of singing songs of praise, others have included the preaching of ministers such as Adam Tyson, senior pastor of Placerita Bible Church. Speaking with Jeff Durbin of Apologia Studios,…
Western civilisation has moved from Christianity through science-based rationalism to paganism
We typically think of our western culture as being secular. Western civilisation was not born out of secular (non-religious) concepts. Great Britain was a Christian nation when it colonised a large part of the world and Christian concepts formed the basis of its government, education and laws. America similarly had a Christian worldview underlying its formation. The Mayflower Compact was the first document written by the early western settlers of America when they landed at Plymouth Colony. In it the Pilgrims write (emphasis mine): Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of…
Kanye West spreads the Gospel after ‘radical salvation’, West’s pastor says: ‘God is at work’
Pastor Adam Tyson, the senior pastor of Placerita Bible Church, made headlines recently after preaching at a number of Kanye West’s Sunday Service events. Tyson had previously worked as a Physician’s Assistant at the Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery, in Savannah, Georgia, for about three or four years before entering fulltime ministry. He recalls sitting in his office as a P.A. thinking, “Man, what am I doing? I might be helping people live longer, but they’re just going to sin more. I want to help people live forever, where they never sin again.” Tyson, a young graduate of The Master’s Seminary, now…
When a Woke Pope goes for Broke
Is anyone else having trouble distinguishing a difference between the Extinction Rebellion activists in London—as well as the rest of the Western world—and the latest goings on in the Roman Catholic Church? Because as The Mocker rightly asks in The Australian, it has become almost impossible to discern just exactly where the climate Catholics and the religious environmentalists differ. Yep, the Pope has gone woke. For some bizarre reason, he has embraced the spirit of the South American rainforest by including animistic religious rituals in the opening of the recent pan-Amazon Synod. It has many people seriously asking the…
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