Tag Archives: Theology

Commentary

Is Rick Warren an orthodox Christian?

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In my view, Warren minimizes sin and judgment  in order to appeal to “seekers”. He doesn’t defend traditional marriage. He seems to think that Christianity is about doing nice things for people, and making everyone feel good, instead of telling them the truth.

Well, Neil Simpson’s latest round-up has an article about Warren’s latest blunder.

Neil writes:

Rick Warren doesn’t understand the concept of unequally yoked.  It isn’t just about not marrying unbelievers, it is about not partnering with them in spiritual enterprises.  We should share the Gospel with Muslims, not do “ministry” together.

The post he links to at Slice of Laodicea cites this Washington Times article:

The Rev. Rick Warren, one of America’s best-known evangelical Protestant pastors, pleaded with about 8,000 Muslim listeners on Saturday night to work together to solve the world’s greatest problems by cooperating in a series of interfaith projects.

“Muslims and Christians can work together for the common good without compromising my convictions or your convictions,” Mr. Warren said during an evening session of the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) at the Washington Convention Center.

“I am not interested in interfaith dialogue but interfaith projects,” said the pastor of the 24,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., who is widely known for his bestseller “The Purpose-Driven Life.”…

My advice: Never trust Christians who think that Christianity is just about helping the poor. That is a peripheral issue, which some Christians focus on in order to avoid debates about the main issues of Christianity. The main issues are “Does God Exist?” and “Who was Jesus?”. Why people follow these left-wing social justice mega-church pastors instead of solid Christian scholars is beyond me. Just another reason why Christians should be fiscal conservatives.

Events

Debate: June 11, 2009 in Toronto: Tony Costa vs. Habeeb Alli

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Christianity vs. Islam debate

Tony Costa e-mailed me to notify my readers in Ontario about a debate scheduled for this Thursday!

Details here.

  • Date: June 11, 2009 @ 7 PM
  • Place: 4140 Finch Avenue East, Scarborough, Ontario
  • Price: FREE!

For some background, check out my post on the doctrine of the Trinity.

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity

Other debates on Christianity and Islam featuring William Lane Craig

Opponent
 Debate Topic
 Audio
 Video
Jamal Badawi The Concept Of God In Islam and Christianity Audio Video
Shabir Ally Did Jesus Rise From The Dead? Audio Video
Shabir Ally The Concept Of God In Islam and Christianity Audio Video
Shabir Ally Who Is The Real Jesus? Audio Video

Courtesy of ChristianJR4 who maintains a full list of Bill Craig debates here. I helped to sponsor the last 3 of those debates!

Commentary

Featured blog: Pursuing Holiness

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I’ve been featuring a lot of conservative women lately, and not just Marsha Blackburn and Michele Bachmann. Earlier this week I featured Dawn Eden, who is a champion of chastity, and Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse who champions parenting, men and the family. (I found a very frank, funny podcast by Dr. J where she is speaking to a Catholic church about chastity, marriage and parenting – her podcast feed is here)

How are women different than men?

Here are some ways that women are different than men:

  1. women tend to favor gun control, because guns are loud and scary
  2. women tend to emphasize having their needs met by Christianity over theology and apologetics
  3. women tend to favor compassion and forgiveness over responsibility and moral obligations

Well, let’s just see what Laura over the Pursuing Holiness blog thinks about all of that!

1. Laura likes guns

She writes:

Consider, for example, the New Bethel Church in Louisville, KY. Pastor Ken Pagano has decided to have a Gun Day at church. The Gun Day will include patriotic music and gun safety information. After all, recent shootings at churches have illustrated the need for responsible, defensive gun ownership.

I thought to myself, Sweet, maybe I should convert to the Assemblies of God and be a part of this.

Read the rest here.

2. Laura likes God

She writes:

What if church was about worshiping and learning about a holy and sovereign God?  A radical idea, I know.

…What’s the point of filling a church with benchwarmers, or in turning a church into a community organization where people perform service in order to fulfill their own moral code instead of for the glory of God?  We have a country full of people and groups intent on self-gratification.  If the church is no different, people may as well sleep in on Sundays.

Read the rest here.

3. Laura likes moral obligations

She writes:

Is there something morally wrong about being required to pay for [medical] services we willingly received? It’s far more morally wrong to have people throw in the towel and just refuse to pay, but even that is an option that society chooses to accept via bankruptcy laws.

I really don’t understand why people are buying into the idea that it’s some massive, morally unsound, unfair burden to pay for the medical services that they willingly received.  It’s entirely fair.  You asked for those services, you accepted them, and now you need to quit whingeing and pay up.

Read the rest here.

Laura’s blog is called Pursuing Holiness.