Category: Biblical Principles

What are the general truths that should guide our thinking in all areas of life? Here are some possibilities.

Principles vs. Pragmatism

  

I chose the title “Pondering Principles” for my website because I believe that we are called by God to be principled people. I’ve taught hundreds of students the distinction between being principled and being pragmatic. Definitions are essential. Here’s how I have explained what it means to be principled. Principles are what I would call the “big truths” out of which other truths naturally should flow. Truth must be our foundation for all things, and we must not give only… Read more »

Solidifying the Faith of Mere Christians

  

I’ve finished three weeks of my university course on C. S. Lewis and enjoyed every minute of it. We began by going through his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, which I can tell was well received by the students. We have now begun key chapters in Mere Christianity and carefully analyzed and discussed Books I and II, which provide the basis for building an apologetic for the faith. As I read my students’ reading reports on the assigned chapters, I see… Read more »

The God-Is-In-Control Cliche

  

Lest there be any alarm at the title of this post, let me give the broader context first. I firmly believe that God is capable of doing whatever He chooses. Further, Scripture makes it abundantly clear that He will be the one to decide when this thing called history will come to an end. I also believe this verse is true: It’s a wonderful assurance that the Lord is an active God who works in our behalf. Keep in mind,… Read more »

Conniving with Evil

  

I’m constantly re-reading C. S. Lewis books. It had been a while since I read his Reflections on the Psalms, so I took it down from the shelf and gave it another go. This time, as is always the case, something stood out to me that didn’t, to the same extent, in my previous reading. The chapter title “Connivance” leaped off the pages into my world—at least, the world I constantly experience around me, particularly with respect to government and… Read more »

Re-Reading “Till We Have Faces”

  

C. S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces, for many years, was kind of a mystery to me. All of my Lewis reading prior to tackling this book was centered on his apologetics and fantasy. I loved the logic of Mere Christianity and Miracles and basked in the delights of the Ransom Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, and of course, the Narnia tales. The first time I read Till We Have Faces, I came away from it disappointed. This… Read more »

Jesus on the Cross: “I Thirst”

  

Two simple words of Jesus from the cross—I thirst—confirm His human nature. The exact nature of Jesus was a source of debate in the early church. I don’t think there was any disagreement during the apostolic era about precisely who He was as both God and man, but when certain theologians came along and raised questions, the church leaders needed to get together and settle the matter once and for all. One question raised was whether Christ’s divine nature removed… Read more »

The Corner Has Been Turned

  

C. S. Lewis’s essay, “The Grand Miracle,” concludes with a comparison of Christianity with other religions. He notices what he calls “an odd point.” All other religions, he comments, are either “nature religions” or the very opposite—religions that are “anti-nature” in their beliefs. The nature religions are easily identified as all the old pagan types where “You actually got drunk in the temple of Bacchus. You actually committed fornication in the temple of Aphrodite.” He then identifies the anti-nature religions… Read more »