Category: Biblical Principles

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

What About Impeachment?

  

Talk of impeachment is beginning. President Obama’s latest power grab, declaring publicly that he will act without Congress to get done what he considers his priorities, is rankling those who are committed to the delicate separation of powers established by the Constitution. Is this just talk? Are there sufficient grounds for impeachment? Is it even politically feasible? Impeaching a president is a big step. Two presidents have been formally impeached: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. A third, Richard Nixon, resigned… Read more »

Lewis: The Unfathomable Anguish of Hell

  

Regular readers of this blog know that each Saturday I pull quotes from the vast resource available from C. S. Lewis. The past couple of Saturdays, I’ve focused on his comments about hell. Why, some may wonder, would I dwell on that topic? One reason is that we live in a society that pretty much dismisses hell as a fantasy or, at best, an illustration of something more “real” but less frightening. Well, hell is real. And, if you take… Read more »

Lewis: Hell’s Operating Principles

  

For many, their first encounter with C. S. Lewis’s marvelous works is The Screwtape Letters. This witty little book, which consists of letters from a superior devil, Screwtape, to a junior devil, Wormwood, continues to be a bestseller. Why? I think it’s because it captures so well the essence of the sinful heart as it displays not only Screwtape’s advice on how to lead a person into hell, but also the manner in which the inhabitants of hell treat one… Read more »

Finney: The Ultimate Intention of Our Choices

  

I’ve often heard people say—and ministers of the Gospel teach—that the motives for our actions can be mixed; that is to say, when we choose to do something, we might do so both for God and for us simultaneously. In other words, our actions are partly holy in intention and partly selfish. Charles Finney disagreed with this formulation. In his Systematic Theology, he explained why: Whenever a moral being prefers or chooses his own gratification, or his own interest, in… Read more »

Lewis: The Self-Centeredness of Hell

  

Modern man doesn’t like to talk much about hell, unless it’s in some fanciful movie creation where one doesn’t have to worry about its reality. The reason we avoid thinking about the possibility of hell can be traced back to our similar reluctance to consider seriously our sinfulness. And what bothers us the most, I believe, about the idea of sin is that we know the root of it is our self-centeredness. We like being self-focused; we feel justified in… Read more »

Lewis: Hell Cannot Veto Heaven

  

One of my favorite C. S. Lewis books is The Great Divorce. This fanciful account of a busload of occupants of hell getting an opportunity to visit heaven allows Lewis, through conversations between the passengers from hell and heavenly denizens, to discuss all the objections to the faith raised by those who reject it. In one such discussion, Lewis deals with those who say it’s unfair that those who enter into eternal bliss should be so happy when the rest… Read more »

Lewis: Made for Another World

  

We are earthbound creatures. We are transfixed on what we see around us. C. S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, reminds us that we are meant for a fuller existence, and that there is a reality we cannot see fully now, but if submitted to God and His will, forgiven of our sins and living righteously, we will see it. He also deals with a common misconception: Most of us find it very difficult to want “Heaven” at all—except in so far… Read more »