Category: Theology

Babel

The first eleven chapters of Genesis consist of important pre-historic oral traditions included in the Torah because of divine inspiration. They express the efforts of early humans to understand why things were the way they were, how they came to be, how they were to live. In the Bible, recorded human history begins in Genesis […]

Twelve Theological Truths

Twelve Torah-Rooted Theological Truths There is one and only one God. (A radical idea at the time considering the multitude of gods typically worshipped in Biblical times. Exodus 20:1-8) God created the universe and all that is in it. (We don’t know how He did that, but scientific investigation has revealed much about how it works, how […]

Bible Punch Lines

Bible verses read without pertinent context may be misleading. Sometimes, important verses are at the end of a passage and might be surprising, like a punch to the nose, not making us laugh like a punch line to a joke, but hitting us with simple statements of theological truth! Consider these two verses: Bible Punch […]

Three Christian Evangelists

Fulton John Sheen (1895-1979) was a renowned theologian and Catholic Bishop who became famous through radio and television exposure from 1930 to 1968. Life is Worth Living was on television in the 1950’s, and The Fulton Sheen Program in the 1960’s. Bishop Sheen taught theology, emphasizing the common ground all Christian faiths share. His programs […]

For or Against, Us or Jesus

The accusation, “You are either with us or against us!” has been used for centuries to divide and conquer, to build commitment, to arouse emotion, to win elections, etc. Republican President George W. Bush and Democrat Senator of New York Hilary Clinton both used it in September 2001 to encourage the support of other nations […]

From Chaos to the Church

 A Great Course In January of this year an email from The Great Courses offering big discounts caught my eye. One course offered for only $25, Foundations of Western Civilization, inspired me. History of Western Civilization had been my toughest course as a Vanderbilt freshmen in the fall of 1960, and, while the title was slightly different, foundations vs. history, […]

Miracles?

A Chesterton Quote Impossible to Remember That quote is eight lines out of a 55 line paragraph in Chesterton’s book. Apparently Mr. Chesterton was never at a loss for words. Well, what’s my point? For about three months, I have been choosing a few lines meaningful to me from Chesterton’s book and copying them into […]

The Same as if it Were

It was the fall of 1990, and I was in a new member class led by Pastor Saresky at Faith Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) in Penfield, NY. He was discussing Communion, The Lord’s Supper, Eucharist, the celebration of that Last Supper Jesus celebrated in the Upper Room with his closest followers and commanded that they […]

"Believing," "Believing That," and "Believing In"

Matthew 24:23 – Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’– do not believe it. James 2:19 –  You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe– and shudder. John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten […]