Should Christians Adopt Embryos?
These aren’t “unused embryos” as though they were things or tools.
Embryo adoption would be problematic if the adoptions themselves became a further commodity in the buying and selling transactions of the reproductive technology business or if these adoptions were a widespread incentive for couples to justify the decision to “create” and freeze additional embryos
Adopting a Kid, Not a Cause
What ever happened to adopting simply out of the desire to have children?
So I propose that wanting children, or wanting more children, is a legitimate reason to adopt. Christian couples might be God’s gift to orphans, sure, but these children are also certainly God’s gift to us. Let us give thanks
Who is a “real Christian?”
Just being a member of a Christian church doesn’t make you a true Christian. It makes you at best a nominal Christian
“True Christianity” is a centered set and not a bounded set. Neither I nor any other mere human has the authority to decide who is and who is not a true Christian—other than as a matter of personal opinion. There are times, however, when churches (denominations) find it necessary to decide who is not a true Christian
Exploiting the Prophet
That said, for a self-described “religion of peace,” Islam does claim a lot of lives.
Are extremists hijacking the Arab Spring? They’re trying to, but this is just the opening chapter in a long drama. Some Eastern European countries, like Romania and Hungary, are still wobbly more than two decades after their democratic revolutions. Maybe the closest parallel to the Arab Spring is the 1998 revolution in Indonesia, where it took years for Islamic extremism to subside.
The Jesus Conspiracy
Like Elizabethan buffs in search of the “real” Shakespeare, the questers for the historical Jesus turn out to be masters of detection and geniuses at codebreaking.
The analogy to “The Da Vinci Code” rankles academics, of course. “Dr. King said she wants nothing to do with the code or its author,” my colleague Laurie Goodstein notes in her story on the newly discovered text, and quotes King saying: “At least, don’t say this proves Dan Brown was right.” But if they don’t want people to make the analogy, they shouldn’t imitate his arguments.
Against Traditional Marriage
Traditional marriage hasn't usually been all that Christian
Let’s stop advocating for traditional marriage, an institution dominated by the curse. Let’s recognize that our critics may have more to teach us than we may have been prepared to admit. Let’s advocate instead for Biblical marriage, and the wonderful picture of love and companionship we see presented to us there, a model of mutual... Continue Reading
Problems with a New Reading of an Old Verse: Genesis 3:16
Two views on the meaning of Genesis 3:16, when God curses the woman and says, "Your desire will be for your husband."
I am convinced, however, that this phrase reflects an idolatrous longing for something from the man that the woman was created to receive from God alone. As I researched this topic, however, it became clear that my view is in the minority. Editors’ note: Two views on the meaning of Genesis 3:16, when God curses the... Continue Reading
Does the Christian tradition agree that property rights trump the rights of the poor?
I do take issue with arguments that suggest people have absolute property rights that the government cannot infringe upon
Christian political theology has always denied the existence of absolute property rights, and indeed, has questioned whether property rights are grounded in natural law at all. The tradition is marked by a virtually unanimous consensus that individuals and social organizations are to use their excess possessions subject to the primary claim of the needy as a matter of justice.
The Hazard and Joy of Picking Favorites (Bible Verses and Passages)
The Bible's most important sentence, most important paragraph, and most important chapter.
“Isn’t it all the Word of God, fully inspired and beneficial?” “Well, yes—I believe that with all my heart,” I said. But this is not to say that all parts of the Bible have equal weight. Does not Scripture speak about “the weightier matters of the law?” Did not Jesus speak of the “great commandments?” And is there not a new and better covenant?
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Church shopping violates the integrity of the church and the meaning of church membership
A church that ordains women as pastors may be orthodox on many other issues, but on this question it sets itself against Scripture. In so many churches and denominations, this obstinate refusal to be corrected by Scripture presents faithful believers with a hard choice — but remaining in a church that obstinately refuses correction is not an option. Efforts at “renewal” in many of these churches have been consistently rejected. At some point, the refusal to separate becomes complicity in the heresy.
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