Halloween Hate

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A recent incident occurred on Halloween. A woman dressed up in a tasteless Halloween costume depicting a bloodied Boston Marathon runner. This is a link to the article reviewing the incident, which I have seen posted all over facebook. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/03/boston-marathon-victim-costume_n_4208720.html I had someone ask me my thoughts on this incident, so I’ll share. 3 main points come to mind. (1) First of all, obviously it was incredibly stupid for her to do this. That is pretty much universally agreed upon. She even admits that. It was disgusting, and insensitive and downright cruel to the people who suffered… BUT… (2) Did … [Read more]

Why Pray?

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There’s an age-old question in Christianity. It goes like this: “Why do we pray?” It’s a fair one to ask. To the casual observer outside of Christianity it makes absolutely no sense, because they have absolutely no sense… of the God to whom we are praying. For the non-Christian this question is really asking, “why do you pray to no one?” For the Christian, however, the question is just as valid and is more layered. Assuming that the Christian understands that you’re not just talking to thin air when you pray, the question they are asking is usually the more … [Read more]

Just How Was the Bible Written? Views on Inspiration

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Introduction Determining one’s belief on how the Bible was written is a foundational step in doing theology. With that in mind, the following will attempt to explain and evaluate all of the most prominent views and theories about how the Bible was written, and then construct a logical argument for why verbal plenary inspiration is the correct view of inspiration. Each view of inspiration will be defined and explained and then evaluated. Natural Inspiration Definition and Explanation Natural Inspiration: the belief that the Holy scriptures were written by extraordinary men, and God’s only “role” in the writing of the scriptures … [Read more]

False Teachers in 2 Peter and Jude

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Introduction When discussing the false teachers mentioned in the books of 2 Peter and Jude a few essential questions must be answered prior to drawing any applications about them. We need to discuss their teachings, their methods— or tactics, and also their spiritual standing—or trusts. All of this will form a picture for us to look at while ascertaining fundamental truths, and thus applications and reactions to false teachers we can have in today’s world. The first three sections of this paper will cover those attributes, and the final section will discuss biblical responses to false teachers, both in the … [Read more]

Free Will and Election

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I’ve decided to start posting the papers that I write for school, since that’s where all my time is currently going. Feel free to comment, agree, disagree, or ask questions about anything I write. Introduction The attempt to build a case as to the complete certainty of a single side in the debate of free will verses election seems to me to be emotional, and intellectual suicide. The plain fact is that, based on a plain normal, literal, grammatical, historical interpretation of biblical text, no one “side” is completely, exclusively “correct” and no one “side” is completely, exclusively “incorrect.” A … [Read more]