Culture

Question Dr. Stratton, In your debate with James White you made three claims that demand further clarification. First, you appealed to 1 Corinthians 10:13 as biblical support for libertarian freedom. Second, you claimed that the London Baptist Confession of Faith affirms libertarian freedom. Third, regarding the Problem of  Evil, you appealed to The Avengers in an attempt to show that your Molinist theodicy that God is certain evil will occur is superior to White's view wher

Disagreement is a necessary aspect of theological discourse.  Though unity is desirable, and like-mindedness is applauded throughout the New Testament (Phil. 2:2-8), it seems inevitable this side of glory that brothers in Christ will take issue with each other’s biblical interpretation and theological proclamation.  In fact, much of the development of theology throughout the history of the Church has relied on disagreement to flesh out nuances and answer important questions a

No theology is developed in isolation. Throughout the history of the Church universal, the theological discourses that have developed our most beloved (and most contentious) doctrines, confessions, and dogma were embedded deep in controversy. It seems that no theological musings can be traced back to a bubble, untouched by prior or co-terminus views that fostered the climate or context for the development of doctrine in the Church.  This is one of the many reasons why the hi

Question Dear Dr. Stratton, I hang out in atheist debate groups. These are among the top reasons why many Christians have "deconstructed" and are Christians no longer. 1. The Theory of Evolution 2. Santa Claus 3. Prejudice against homosexuality I don't think the church gives good answers on any of them. 1 and 3 were listed among the reasons why Rhett and Link "deconstructed." I honestly don't know why we perpetuate the Santa myth. How would you address these "Top 3" reasons f

Everyone wants to be special, set apart and significant.  One of the ways this manifests itself in our culture is through the concept of gender identity.  This is a real issue that many people struggle with in our society and should be taken seriously. However, it has also become a social trend. For instance, a recent research study found that nearly 40% of Generation Z identify as members of the LGBT+ community, which is about four times the norm: The pollster who worked on

Have you ever had an interaction with someone that left you speechless?  It goes something like this: “I just don’t think that’s right.” “Are you serious?  Wow… Aren’t you supposed to be Christian?  Show some empathy or compassion, isn't that what Jesus would do!?” Pick the topic – abortion, eternal life, race, identity and a myriad of others.  This is often how some of those conversations end.  The highest moral ground goes to the one that is most empathetic to the plight

**Warning: This analysis contains major spoilers** (This review is for people who watched Squid Game and are needing to process what they watched and for people who do not intend to watch it but want to know how to have conversations about it.) “Squid Game,” the Korean show that has serious Hunger Games energy, is now the number one most watched series of all time on Netflix. This peaked my interest. Similar to the show “13 Reasons Why,” this show taps into essentially huma

Dear KPS School Board, In a sense, it is your job to “legislate” morality. The question is: whose morality are you going to force upon the people – and the children – of Kearney, NE? Where do you get your morality? From where do you decide how to legislate how the citizens of Kearney ought to live? Is it based upon the philosophical foundations of America – The Declaration of Independence – or is it based upon something antithetical to American values? While many consider

Lil Nas X Back to where we started. What if I told you that the issue with Lil Nas X was not his being gay, but with how he perceived the Church’s response to his being gay? He has somehow come away with the understanding that he should hate himself because he has a natural proclivity to same-sex attraction.  For some reason, pointing out a lifestyle of sin has been equated to pointing out the evil of the person. I think this reason is tied to the idea of identity.  In this

As we enter into the final section of critiquing the objections to the orthodox view of homosexual activity as a sin, it is important to note, again, why I am spending such a significant amount of time on these particular points.  The rallying cry for the liberal theologian has been grace, mercy and love, but as I established in part one ( HERE ), I believe that true grace, mercy and love must be based on the Truth established in God’s word. In order to have proper compassion

When it comes to leaving religion, there are two ways in which these exits have been cataloged. The first involves moving from a weak religious position to an irreligious position. In this context, “weak” means that the person was either only nominally religious or came from a church tradition which was only superficially religious and fundamentally secular. This is broadly categorized as apostacy. The second type of religious exit would involve a person from a strong religio

Previously, we looked at the dichotomy between what it means to declare homosexual activity a sin and how those who believe in Christian orthodoxy deal with it.  We addressed the current cultural movement’s roots and introduced the idea of identity into the argument. It was necessary to do this so that we can have a strong foundation from which to build the following arguments.  We must first know why the liberal theologians seek to glorify homosexuality as an identity to

Lil Nas X Do you know the name?  I do not know why you would, but Lil Nas X has become a bit of a cultural icon in recent years.  He wrote a hit country/hip-hop song in 2019 called “Old Town Road” with country star Billy Ray Cyrus.  The success of the hit propelled Lil Nas X into the modern spotlight.  The song, and its remix, won him fourteen awards spanning from the Grammys to Kids’ Choice Awards . As a result, Lil Nas X toured the country singing for elementary age kids

A few months ago I reviewed Alisa Childers’s , which is a fantastic response to the ever-growing problem of progressive Christianity. At the end of the article, I promised a review of Thaddeus Williams’s , but I got sidetracked with some other projects, including the study guide for Tim Stratton’s . Now, at last, I offer my review of Williams’s book. Our country has been in racial turmoil for over a year and a half, which has greatly impacted the Church. Plenty of well-meanin

One does not have to look far to see a lot of confusion in how the issues of Critical Race Theory (CRT), sexual identity, and Comprehensive Sex Ed (CSE) intersect, so I want to give you a few thoughts and explanations. Currently, there is a lot of discussion about school boards forcing CRT into our schools, and some states such as Florida and Texas recently passed bans on CRT. There is also a lot of discussion about how this is intertwined with CSE, which is being pushed in

Introduction Why the case against abortion is weak, ethically speaking is an engaging article on an issue often confined to academic journals. I am grateful for the report, mainly because of Nobis’ and Dudley’s emphasis on personhood and because I agree with them on two significant points. First, our society needs careful and respectful examination of challenging topics rather than sloganeering and ad hominem . As Schopenhauer put it, “one wants reasons and not empty phras

I magine if C.S. Lewis had podcast his journey to faith, and millions of unbelievers had listened in. Imagine if the forces of secular universities, progressive politics and media had targeted him to take him out before he could cross the line of faith and bring thousands with him. A similar journey by a similarly brilliant academic may be taking place right now. In the last six weeks over a million and a half people have listened to his remarkable recent podcast discussing h

In my last blog post , I shared some of the most important books regarding cultural issues that I read in the year since the COVID lockdowns began in March 2020. While those books dealt with the culture at large, my next two reads focused on cultural and theological issues impacting the church: by Thaddeus Williams, and the book I am reviewing here, by Alisa Childers. Content follows the story of former ZOEgirl, Alisa Childers, as her orthodox Christian faith was challenge

Today I had the opportunity to speak directly to the Nebraska State Board of Education (NSBE) along with the Protect Nebraska Children Coalition . Dangerous curriculum is being considered which proposes radical Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) along with Critical Race Theory (CRT). I felt an objective obligation to inform the NSBE as to why their first proposed draft was out of touch with ultimate reality, because, as Adrian Boykin recently said to me: "Critical Race Theo

I’ve always enjoyed reading. And when the COVID lockdowns began in March 2020, there wasn’t much else to do for a long time. I took full advantage of this, though, and over the next year, I read a lot of books over a wide range of topics. For instance, I read the entire series by C.S. Lewis with my son (in the order ), which was wonderful. But not all of my reading was for fun. I focused mostly on current cultural issues, given all that went down in 2020. I wanted to bett