Author Archives: Dr Snyder

Principle Above Politics: Conscience Is Forever

  

Bill Clinton was acquitted of impeachment charges in February 1999. The next month, I was in Washington, DC, attending a conference on constitutional history. It included a session in the chamber of the Supreme Court. I was thrilled to be there. Years before, while earning my doctorate at American University, I had worked in the Supreme Court history office and had even sat in on one of the cases presented to the Court. The thrill, though, disappeared as I listened… Read more »

The Place God Has Made for Us

  

“The place for which He designs them [human beings] in His scheme of things is the place they are made for.” That’s C. S. Lewis commenting in The Problem of Pain regarding human desires. “When they [humans] reach it [the place God has made for them] their nature is fulfilled and their happiness attained: a broken bone in the universe has been set, the anguish is over.” Yet human beings universally set their desires on the wrong things. We want… Read more »

Today You Shall Be with Me in Paradise

  

On this Good Friday, I am speaking in the service being held in my church—All Saints’ Episcopal in Lakeland, Florida. Here is what I’m sharing. Why crucifixion? What did one have to do to receive this particularly gruesome method of execution? There were two main reasons. One was terrorism (or imputed terrorism such as speaking out against Rome)—this was what the Jewish leaders used to convince Pilate that Jesus had to be crucified; he threatened Roman rule. Even though He… Read more »

Mueller’s Report & Partisanship

  

In the world of politics, the big day is tomorrow. That’s when the Mueller Report—with redactions—will be released to the public. Until now, all we’ve had is the four-page summary written by Attorney General Barr, and all it seemed to accomplish is polar-opposite reactions. Republicans jumped on the conclusion that there was no collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia. President Trump, in one of his multitude of tweets, declared, “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA… Read more »

Aim at Heaven & You Will Get Earth Thrown In

  

I’m sure everyone has heard the complaint against some Christians who, we’re told, are “too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.” While that may sound rather clever, and it may be easy to pick up on the refrain because, after all, this is the world we live in, it nevertheless doesn’t hold up under close examination. History itself denies this cliché. C. S. Lewis can always be relied upon to make us rethink popular slogans. He tackles this one… Read more »

Diversity Properly Understood

  

Diversity is all the rage. It’s a word no one can escape nowadays, especially if you are on a university campus. We are told continually that there is strength in diversity, as if differences are inherently better than similarities. Perhaps it’s best illustrated by this graphic: I believe in diversity, but in God’s way. Notice that the wheel above makes no distinction between natural differences and those that are the result of choices we make. My ethnicity is a matter… Read more »

UnPlanned: Christian Truth Is Often Graphic—and Should Be

  

The controversy over the movie UnPlanned was to be expected. Abortion is a controversial subject. But it should not be. No one who still maintains any moral sense at all should be in favor of a “procedure” that dismembers and destroys innocent life. Yet in a society where Planned Parenthood makes billions promoting this “procedure,” one can expect a strong reaction to the truth this movie portrays. Livelihoods and political power depend on defending the indefensible. Television networks refused to… Read more »