Living on the Fringe: Navigating a Culture without a Religious Center
by Ron Davis Is it correct to assert that the United States is no longer a Christian nation? If we’re judging based on census answers, then no, the majority of the U.S. still claims Christianity. The answer is yes, however, if we are concerned with what occupies the center of the nation’s cultural thought and life. A type of postmodern thinking, which holds that individuals are the arbiters of truth for themselves (in particular times...
Featured Content from the First Ten Years
Last week’s article shared reflections from the three founders of the Helwys Society Forum. In this week’s article, we’re calling attention to some of the most popular articles that HSF contributors, past and present, have published. Perhaps you read them when they first published, or perhaps you missed them. In either case, we believe they are worthy of your attention. We hope you enjoy them. Matthew Steven Bracey, “Jacobus Arminius:...
Cultural Apologetics: An Interview with Paul M. Gould
For the past two millennia, Christians have sought to articulate their faith in thoughtful and compelling ways. Many of these “arguments” have been etched into church history, like Anselm’s ontological argument, Thomas Aquinas’s five ways, or William Paley’s illustration of the watchmaker. More recent times have witnessed a shift toward engaging the surrounding culture with the truth and the practice of Christianity. Men like Francis...
Recommended Books (Winter 2019)
The old PBS program Reading Rainbow opened with a song that argued that reading allows us to go anywhere and be anything, even if only for a moment. While PBS has aired more than its share of silliness, that point is important. Reading really does open whole new vistas for the reader and makes it possible for us to travel to distant lands and learn new ideas from the comfort of a favorite sitting chair. Words, in themselves, are...
Cultural Exegesis: A Primer
Karl Barth allegedly quipped that Christians should “do theology with the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other.”[1] His point is that the Christian, in thinking about the truth of God, should understand how God’s truth and today’s world intersect. Theology is fundamentally practical. Yet practical theology can also be a daunting task. While the Bible provides clarity on the things of God, we may struggle to apply these...
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