Luther on the “Minors”

While reading Francis Schaeffer’s The God Who Is There last night, I was very convicted by this quote from Martin Luther. How often do we allow the “minor” issues to slip by?

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.

Martin Luther, quoted by Francis A. Schaeffer, The God Who Is There

Stand to Reason Blog: Darwin Day Is Not Really about Darwin

When you read Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species, you can sense his honesty about the problems with evolutionary theory. Like a good scientist should do, he acknowledges that his theory could be proven false it’s falsifiable. He even offers specific examples of the kind of data that is necessary to show he’s mistaken about his theory. He was a fair-minded man.

via Stand to Reason Blog: Darwin Day Is Not Really about Darwin.

The Bible and Science

Albert Mohler, responding to BioLogos yet again, offers the best short overview of a Biblically inerrant, Evangelical, Christian view of science I have seen yet:

I am willing to accept the authority of science on any number of issues. I am fundamentally agnostic about a host of other scientific concerns — but not where the fundamental truth of the Gospel and the clear teachings of the Bible are at stake.

As I have stated repeatedly, I accept without hesitation the fact that the world indeed looks old. Armed with naturalistic assumptions, I would almost assuredly come to the same conclusions as BioLogos and the evolutionary establishment, or I would at least find evolutionary arguments credible. But the most basic issue is, and has always been, that of worldview and basic presuppositions. The entire intellectual enterprise of evolution is based on naturalistic assumptions, and I do not share those presuppositions. Indeed, the entire enterprise of Christianity is based on supernaturalistic, rather than merely naturalistic, assumptions. There is absolutely no reason that a Christian theologian should accept the uniformitarian assumptions of evolution. In fact, given a plain reading of Scripture, there is every reason that Christians should reject a uniformitarian presupposition. The Bible itself offers a very different understanding of natural phenomena, with explanations that should be compelling to believers. In sum, there is every reason for Christians to believe that the cosmos appears just as it does as graphic evidence of the ravages of sin and the catastrophic nature of God’s judgment upon sin.

via AlbertMohler.com – No Buzzing Little Fly — Why the Creation-Evolution Debate is So Important.

Tolerance? Nah, Too Easy

One good definition for tolerance is Webster’s: “the act of allowing something; sympathy or indulgence of practices differing or conflicting with one’s own.” In practice, it usually means letting others do and be as they wish without interfering with them. That’s where its weakness lies. In letting others alone, and not interfering, really means separating ourselves from one another. We sanction differences without engaging meaningfully with them. “Live and let live” is a euphemism for “Don’t criticize, ignore.”

via Tolerance? Nah, Too Easy » Evangel | A First Things Blog.

Colson on the Culture Wars

…secularists berate Christians for the culture wars, claiming that we are trying to impose our bigoted agenda on them. Often intimidated, Christians fear raising controversial questions.

But someone should ask: Who started the divisive culture wars in the first place? Far from being the aggressors—as the press would have us believe—religious conservatives have simply been responding to the relentless secularization of American life.

via We Must Not Despair | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction.

Is It True That “1 in 10 Teens Has Had a Same-Sex Partner”?

You may have seen this amazing news headline: 1 in 10 Teens Has Had a Same-Sex Partner.

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Wow! Who knew? 1 in 10 American teenagers has had a same-sex partner?! That’s really terrible/terrific (depending on your point of view). What a revelation!

The only problem with this revelation is that it’s false.

via Is It True That “1 in 10 Teens Has Had a Same-Sex Partner”? – Kevin DeYoung.