Tag: Biblical Principles

Columbus, Racism, & Protests

  

Wealthy football players claim America is oppressive. Their protest over the national anthem goes viral. The nation gets thrown into turmoil. Columbus Day arrives. We have our annual Columbus-was-a-genocidal-maniac theme trumpeted from the mouths of those who, like the football players, believe America is the bastion of systemic racism. As a historian, I know that our history includes some terrible things. Yet we need some sense of comparative analysis, not emotional outbursts, to deal with what has happened. We also… Read more »

Saving Christian Conservatism’s Soul

  

Above all else, my identity is as a Christian—a follower of Jesus Christ in which I consistently acknowledge His lordship over all of life. I take seriously the admonition that our time on earth is temporary and that we are pilgrims on a spiritual journey. Our primary focus in not anything in this world. However, I also take seriously the call for Christians to be salt and light in every situation in this world to help guide others into the… Read more »

American Politics: Stranger Than Fiction?

  

I want journalism to be insightful and devoted to finding truth. That is the ideal, but it seldom is achieved. Those without historical context seem to think that there was a time when journalism was balanced and fair. As a historian, I can debunk that. From the first decade of the nation, in the 1790s, through the Civil War, newspapers were financed by one political party or another. Balance was in short supply. Later, we got sensationalistic journalism that helped… Read more »

Sacrificing Principles

  

An excerpt from the first chapter of my book, If the Foundations Are Destroyed: Biblical Principles and Civil Government: A principle is the source or origin of anything; it is a general truth, that is, a truth that is so broad and sweeping that many other truths can be considered offshoots of it. The idea of general truths that apply to all of society formerly had wide endorsement in America. The Declaration of Independence speaks of self-evident truths and goes… Read more »

Free Speech on Campus: A Tipping Point

  

Free speech at our secular universities is in danger. That’s probably not news to anyone who is alert to the trend. Conservatives, in particular, are under attack whenever they are slated to speak on campuses. They get shouted down and violence is often threatened. One of the best organizations dealing with this threat is Young America’s Foundation (YAF). It works to place influential conservative speakers on those campuses to help students get an alternative viewpoint—all too often, they are treated… Read more »

Christian Higher Education: Discernment Needed

  

In my last post, I critiqued the current campus scene in colleges and universities nationwide and extolled the virtues of evangelical colleges. While not walking back that endorsement, I do want to point out that as long as we are on this earth, nothing is perfect, and that applies to evangelical institutions of higher education as well. Some evangelicals seem to have some kind of inferiority complex because of their affiliation with a Christian college. They continue to look at… Read more »

Principle vs. Pragmatism

  

This divisive presidential election has brought forth a discussion that has all too often not been as productive as it should be: the issue of what is principled and what is pragmatic and whether there is a line that should not be crossed. In my courses, I give a definition of principle as follows: The source or origin of anything; a general truth from which one can deduce many subordinate truths. Principled people believe in foundational truths that span all… Read more »