Applied Theology
The Christian Post has a fascinating interview with Brother Andrew, the famous "Bible Smuggler." I encourage you to read the entire article, some of which is quite entertaining. Brother Andrew is now in his 80's, and his work for the persecuted church is immense, primarily accomplished through Open Doors, a ministry he founded in 1955.... Continue Reading →
To my post Did God Cause Kids to Die in Connecticut, some objected that it did not go far enough. Some believed that it was necessary to say that God actually caused the school shooting for the purpose of judging Americans for kicking God out of our schools. Yesterday, I demonstrated why that position is... Continue Reading →
Thank you for the responses to the post, Did God Cause the Connecticut Shootings. The responses came mostly through Facebook and other media. Some thought the article didn’t go far enough. Others thought it went too far. So, let’s consider the objections in these two directions. First we will consider the objection which says my... Continue Reading →
A brother in Christ recently asked, “Did God cause the Connecticut school shootings?” I am attempting to answer that question with this blog post because I imagine that question—or something similar to it—is on the minds of a lot of Christians. So, let me begin by clarifying some language. Clearly, God did not cause the... Continue Reading →
Yesterday, twenty kindergarten children were mercilessly murdered by an evil young man. Some have shouted, “Where is God?” in the face of this utterly unspeakable tragedy. A friend of mine posted a quick reply to the cynical inquisition: “Where is God? He was kicked out of schools in America years ago.” There is truth... Continue Reading →
The Holy Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, operating in complete unity of will and purpose (though 3 distinct, divine persons)--is unique to Christian theology. The Trinity belongs to no other religion, and, thus, no other religion can explain the complexities of the universe. The universe is filled with individual, particular realities which must also... Continue Reading →
I hear a common refrain from those who favor abortion. It usually goes something like, "The Bible is silent on abortion," or "the Bible never condemns abortion." Is this true? Is it true that the Bible does not speak to abortion? On the surface it appears true that the bible does not condemn abortion. There... Continue Reading →
If what has been said already about Israel is true, then a question arises, “What about the nation of Israel today?” In this final part (of a three-part series), we’ll look at what the Bible says about Israel as an ethnic/national people. The key text for this discussion is Romans 11. The question we are... Continue Reading →
Happy Thanksgiving! We set aside today to remember Him to whom all thanks is due. Thanksgiving was instituted by proclamation of the President of the United States--George Washington--on October 3, 1789. You do not need for me to explain it to you because you can read it for yourself below. As you can see, the... Continue Reading →
Earlier, Acts 13:32-39 was quoted, but not in its entirety. When the complete quote is included, we see that the early church proclaimed more than the fact that Christ is the fulfillment of Israel, He is the realization of the Son of God. As such, Christ is also the fulfillment of the kingdom. So, Acts... Continue Reading →
I honestly dislike controversy. I try to avoid it. But the things which matter most to me are always on collision course with the things that others decide are too “controversial” to speak about in polite company. Marriage, families, protecting babies, and the freedom of religion—all these are important realities which rile abortion supporters and... Continue Reading →
For more than a century, Christians have been stretched by the tension of a fundamentalist strand on one side and the evangelical strand on the other, each pulling backwards against the other like a rubber band being pulled apart by two opposing hands. The result has indeed been tension. On the one hand, the fundamentalists... Continue Reading →
One of the greatest secular songs ever written, Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald stands as a monument of musical story-telling. Inspired by a Newsweekarticle of the November 10, 1975, events that led to the loss of the Great Lakes’ greatest ship, Lightfoot penned a masterful poem capturing the weight of the tragedy... Continue Reading →
There were many instances from my days of growing up under the moss-laced cypress trees of southern Louisiana that I would be asked by my father or my mother, "Aren't you ashamed of yourself?" Most of the time, I was not. I was only "ashamed" of getting caught. Shame is not an emotion we naturally... Continue Reading →
This article is part one of a three-part defense of miracles. Against the backdrop of growing skepticism in Britain and the west, C. S. Lewis wrote an important little treatise in defense of miracles. As the progress of science became more and more intertwined with Darwin’s evolutionary schemes of human origin, philosophers and academics became... Continue Reading →
Gregory C. Cochran 