Category: Religion
Kardashev’s Scale and the Kingdom of God: Part 3 – Type 2 Civilization
Last time we talked about what Christianity has to say about the not-too-distant future of human civilization. Specifically, the progress of humanity into a Type I civilization—one that can harness all the power of its...
Kardashev’s Scale and the Kingdom of God: Part 2 – Type 1 Civilization
What does Christianity have to say about the not-too-distant future of human civilization? As science fiction increasingly weaves into our reality, we need to think ahead and think well about how our theology will shape—and...
Kardashev’s Scale and the Kingdom of God: Part 1 – Christianity and the Cosmos
Despite our acknowledgement of the bigness of God and the length of eternity, Christians tend to focus on the here and now. Surely, it’s appropriate to emphasize presence in the present. We have but one...
What Young Adults in 100 Countries Think of Religion: Christianity Today
This story is published in full at Christianity Today Despite concerns about secularization, the world’s population may not be losing its religion quite so fast. Like in the US, young adults around the globe are generally less...
Christianity and Terror Management Theory: Part 2 – ‘I Am With You’
Last time, we talked about how Christianity responds to terror management theory with the promise of a favorable afterlife with God. But what other promises does Christianity have that removes the sting of death, that...
Christianity and Terror Management Theory: Part 1 – The Afterlife
Terror management theory juxtaposes the human impulse toward survival with our realization of the inevitability of death. How do we deal with these two competing facts? The result in this heightened, ever-present state of cognitive...
Gospel Offense and Christian Kindness
We’re in a season in history when it’s popular, and true as ever, to talk about the offense of the gospel. God’s Word tells us that the good news of Christ will be a “stone...
Western Europe’s Christians Are as Religious as America’s ‘Nones’
This story is published in full at Christianity Today Religiously unaffiliated Americans are, unsurprisingly, less likely than their Christian countrymen to attend church regularly or say religion is important in their lives. However, on several common measures,...
Your Personal Den of Robbers
When God enters his holy dwelling place, he brings a lot of change. This is the sanctification of the Christian life—the transformation of mind and heart. Part of that transformation is mopping up the dirty...
How to Love the Alien and Fight Bureaucratization: Paternalism over Partnership
Temptation 3: Paternalism over Partnership In my own experience in aid work and in conversation with many veteran colleagues, the heavy sociological question arises: Is aid colonial? The answer: sure, it can be—but it doesn’t...