One of the more fascinating sections of the book is Cosmas’ account of when the flat-earthers and the round-earthers met in Alexandria for a debate. Each side presented arguments, counter-arguments, and even conducted experiments. Evidently Cosmas believed his side won. He reported to his mentor, “And it is the truth I speak, O most God-beloved Father, through the power of Christ they went away dumbfounded and sadly crestfallen, having been put to shame by our exposure of their fictions.”

Authors include: Monica Duffy Toft, Daniel Philpott, Timothy Samuel Shah; R. C. Sproul; Doug Coleman; Idzerd Van Dellen, Martin Monsma; G.D. Cloete, D.J. Smit; Piet J. Naude

All 50 states require vaccination for public-school attendance, permitting exemptions for medical reasons. All except Mississippi and West Virginia allow religious exemptions, and 20 states let parents skip their students’ shots for “philosophical” reasons—often a firmly held belief that vaccines are ineffective or harmful. An Associated Press reporter found the rate of vaccine exemptions has... Continue Reading

We can put this kind of media event into perspective by noting that each such unearthing of non-canonical ancient Christian texts receives publicity in direct proportion to attention being given to particular controversial issues in the contemporary world.

Privacy and solitude has just about vanished from our world and the strange thing is that we seem to love that fact. Moronic tweeting about routine daily activities, the constant rattle of texts, planes full of people who can barely wait for the wheels to touchdown before they need to switch on their iPhones: it is surely strange that the idea of being alone with one's thoughts for even a moment has now become something which seems to terrify people or at least be most undesirable

I do think the Gospel Coalition’s rallying behind complementarianism is troubling. It resembles the version of Calvinism that traffics among the young and restless — lots of talk of divine sovereignty, not so much about limited atonement. After all, that biblical teaching and those Reformed creeds can sound reactionary to modern ears and we don’t ever want to sound extreme

Keep pedaling, son, despite your fears. I know all the bumps in the road, and, although you falter and even wipe out, my grace surrounds you to the end.

First, does the physical harm to the contestants challenge Christian teachings on stewardship of the body, and are acts which defile the image of God permissible? Second, he worries about "the moral harm to the spectators," and about what the celebration of violence with intention to do harm to "the other" does. Third, the pagan cultural rituals back then competed with Christian rites.

In 2001, I wrote the following first paragraph: “On January 22 – on the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade – North Carolina Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm sentenced 27-year-old Rae Carruth to a minimum of 18 years and 11 months in prison for his role in the execution-style murder of his pregnant girlfriend. Miraculously, doctors were able to save Cherica Adams’s baby.”

-- Every minister and every volunteer who works with children and youth should undergo a thorough criminal background check and be required to attend an annual boundary awareness workshop/review. -- All churches need clear policies regarding online and social media communications for clergy and laity. -- If you think you are above and beyond the need for clear boundaries, you probably have a problem.