Faith Makes it Easier to Resist Temptation - Go Figure!

Here's a report about a recent study indicating that faith in God helps people to assert self-control.

Vandy and Religious Freedom

Here's an excellent column in a recent Wall Street Journal focusing on the state government's response to Vandy's inexplicable interference with on-campus religious organizations.

Dr James Charlesworth on the "Talpiot Tomb"

Here is a link from Ben Witherington's blog in which he interviews Dr. James Charlesworth from Princeton on the so called "Talpiot Tomb."

Some Thoughts for Conservative Christians Regarding Gay Marriage

President Obama made headlines this week by reversing his opposition to gay marriage. At the same time, voters in North Carolina made that state the 31^st to constitutionally ban gay marriage. Both moves prompted outrage on the right and on the left, and guaranteed that this issue will come to the fore in the presidential election this fall.

I am not a prophet, but I believe that it is inevitable that within 20 years gay marriage will be legal in most states. This prediction isn’t the result of divine inspiration (obviously!), but simple demographics. Polling shows that older Americans generally oppose gay marriage, while younger Americans support it.  So the passing of time will lead to legal recognition of gay marriage.

From a practical point, what does this mean for us as Christians?

Religion and Politics: A Cautionary Note to Christians

This past week Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum reignited the controversy over President Obama’s religious beliefs, and triggered a larger discussion of the relationship between religious beliefs and politics. I have been concerned for some time about a dangerous trend I think I see among believers, and I would like to address it in this post.

Questions About the Afterlife - Part 2 - The Resurrection

Review

1.  The Bible teaches humanity is both material (the body) and immaterial (the spirit).

2.  Death ruptures that wholeness.

3.  The Bible teaches that there is life after death (Lk. 23:43).

a.  The time between death and the resurrection is sometimes called the “intermediate state,” in-between death and the resurrection.

b.  For the righteous, I argued that this involves the spirit resting in the presence of God (2 Cor. 5:6-8).

c.  The Bible doesn’t say much about the state of the wicked, but 2 Peter 2:4 mentions wicked angels cast into “hell” (tartarus), to await the judgment.

4.  But the Bible also teaches the body will be raised and joined with the spirit in the resurrection, life after life after death.

Questions on the Afterlife: Part 1 - Life After Death

Part 1: Life After Death

I.               Life: What Is a Human Being?

A.              The Bible teaches that God created human beings in some sense as both material and immaterial.

1.              “Outer self – inner self” (2 Cor. 4:16).

2.              “Kill the body  - cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28).