Prayer and Purpose

“We have learned that ‘politics is downstream from culture, not the other way around . . . . Real change has to start with the culture.’” (page 18 of Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey) I have been reading about apologetics a lot recently. Thinking about its usefulness both inside and outside the church. After all, we are called to make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19) and while the truth of God is evident in nature (Rom 1:20), I believe sound apologetics within the church can help people walk through their doubt more easily. With Easter season just recently behind us, I had a memory brought to mind frequently in the last few weeks. When I was a Freshman at Pacific Lutheran University, I attended the Easter Chapel service. One of my friends was in the choir group that was singing at this service, so I was especially excited for some Easter selections sung by the ensemble she was a part of. The homily was to be delivered by a professor rather than one of our campus pastors. The music...

Did you know that Zondervan has an online offering known as Textbookplus+? It's pretty neat. I realized this when I was looking at the back of my copy of Grasping God's Word. So, I went to the site ( https://zondervanacademic.com/textbookplus ), created my free account, and found that the resources are actually pretty useful. For Grasping God's Word, they offer study guides, flashcards, quizzes, and a guide to plus a sample of an exegetical paper. Even if you don't have this particular book, the materials offered for free here could be useful to you, particularly if you are new to theological vocabulary. Just in the Chapter 1 flashcards you will get introduced to some basic vocabulary that is pretty specific to theological studies or other specific academic areas, such as: autograph, formal translation, and textual criticism. Also identified are major translations of the Bible, such as the Vulgate, the Authorized Version of 1611, and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. If...

Lately my reading focus has been on the subjects of prayer and apologetics. Not at the same time, I just read like 10 books at a time. I’m sure this is probably not the most productive way to read, but it lends itself to my personality and to continue school again in the future because I never take one class at a time. So last night while reading the Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli, I came upon a wonderful, concise refutation to “liberal” theology. The correct theological term for many who label themselves “liberal” or “left-wing” or “progressive” theologians is “heretics.” By definition, a heretic is one who dissents from an essential doctrine (from the Greek haireomai, “to pick out for oneself”). Since most heretics today no longer believe in the very idea of essential doctrines, they do not accept the label. They also have a strong case in the press because the church still smells from the smoke of the Inquisition, when it made the ver...