Cultural Wars – Page 3 – Intentional Faith

Culture Warriors?

In your nation, do you think of yourself as a culture warrior? Why or why not? JOSH MANLEY – RAK Evangelical Church, Ras Al Khima, UAE As the pastor of an international English-speaking church in the United Arab Emirates, I do not consider myself a culture warrior. For the Christian pastor, to war either for orContinue reading “Culture Warriors?”

The Map of Your Culture

While cultures might be driven by grand worldviews, J. H. Bavinck argues that most individuals are not. To borrow the language of Isaiah 44:19 (NIV), “no one stops to think” about worldview, despite the pervasive influence worldviews have on whichever culture they inhabit and the haphazard glimpses of those worldviews that can be seen inContinue reading “The Map of Your Culture”

I Mistook Freedom for Feminism

I was born the year Margaret Thatcher came to power. My first political memory is the fall of the Berlin Wall. The reverberations, followed by glasnostand perestroika, marked the decade of my teens. For an average middle-class girl in 1990s Home Counties Britain, the big battles seemed to have been won, and the great disagreementsContinue reading “I Mistook Freedom for Feminism”

Doubting the Sinless Life of Christ

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, fewer born-again Christians now say that Jesus lived a sinless life during his time on Earth, and church attendance has dropped by some 15 million people weekly, a new study from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University shows. The findings came from The American Worldview InventoryContinue reading “Doubting the Sinless Life of Christ”

What You Are Not

Sometimes a perfectly good word loses its meaning so much that it ought to be set aside, at least temporarily. Calling someone a “fundamentalist” in 1923—when the word designated Christians who believed in the supernatural—is a very different thing than in 2023, when it conveys sectarian militancy. Several years ago, I realized another good wordContinue reading “What You Are Not”

Are We Past Debate?

One of the largest religious message boards on the social-media website Reddit is simply called “Debate an Atheist.” It’s filled with exactly the kind of content you’d expect. Some conversations quickly devolve into name-calling and petty insults. Others are incredibly philosophical, showing a strong grasp of epistemology and teleology. In total, the subreddit has moreContinue reading “Are We Past Debate?”

We Shouldn’t Be Surprised

We shouldn’t be surprised when a left that once embraced “freedom” and “tolerance” now seeks to persecute the Church. Those positions were opportunistic, like the early Suras of the Quran that endorsed religious freedom. Muhammad promulgated them while he was still weak and unpopular. Once Muhammad had the whip hand, Allah conveniently changed his mind,Continue reading “We Shouldn’t Be Surprised”

Don’t Be a Pharisee

If you could have chosen one type of person to cancel in the first century, it would have been a tax collector. Jewish people, rightly skeptical of Roman power, viewed tax collectors as turncoats, those willingly colluding with the government to collect heavy taxes while taking a hefty commission off the top. Their work wasContinue reading “Don’t Be a Pharisee”

Living in an Age of Cynicism

In a discussion with some friends about social media, one of them recently wrote, “It’s so difficult to wade through social media attacks and gang wars. That’s why I can’t bear to be on social media.” I totally understand. Nothing makes me more cynical than listening to cynical people, and even though my cynicism isContinue reading “Living in an Age of Cynicism”

The Bible and Sex Change Surgery

Although sex-change operations are not specifically mentioned in Scripture, human sexuality is spelled out clearly, starting in Genesis: “So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them. God blessed them and told them, multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:27-28a). Genesis 1:31Continue reading “The Bible and Sex Change Surgery”