It’s 1991, I am flying home from Germany, sitting next to a man who is almost in tears, he is so upset. He’s a physician involved in an FDA study of a new drug. It’s a double-blind study involving four separate teamsone . . . Continue reading →
truth
It All Depends Upon Who Says It
As a follow up to my recent interview with Stella Morabito I thought that this clip illustrates some important realities that we discussed. Joe Klein and Jeff Greenfield have impeccable mainstream media credentials. Klein writes for Time. Greenfield is perhaps best known . . . Continue reading →
What Do We Really Know About Global Warming?
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
The Fugitive, The Truth, And Social Media
One of the television shows I remember watching as a boy, briefly when it was first run (1963–67) and then again in re-runs, was The Fugitive. It was the story of a man who was falsely convicted of murder and who sets . . . Continue reading →
Facts, Evidence, Wisdom, And Gossip
I’m not sure why, as a child, the TV show Dragnet captured my attention and imagination. Perhaps it was the theme song with its beat and blaring horns or perhaps it was the staccato, film-noir dialogue or the claim that the episodes . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 40: Why Did Jesus Have To Die? (3)
In part 2 we looked at what it means to speak about God being just and about justice. In this last installment we need to consider what it means to speak of truth and the truth of God. During his interrogation of our . . . Continue reading →
Freedom Depends On Those Who Will Say What’s True
.. . we can stand in a room full of dear friends, knowing that nine-tenths of them, if the pack demands it, will become our enemies. .. . But there is always the minority who do not and it seems to me . . . Continue reading →
Why Brian Williams’ Lies Mean More Than You Think They Do
By now you know that anchor of the NBC evening newscast, a position once held by the likes of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley,1 has admitted fabricating stories about his experiences reporting from Iraq. He is under investigation by his network. When . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 92: Of Nice And Men (1)
With this episode we begin a new series: Of Nice And Men. The argument, the thesis, of the series is that niceness is one thing and Christian virtue is another. Niceness is a pervasive ethos among evangelicals. The dictionary defines ethos as the a spirit . . . Continue reading →
Strangers And Aliens (15a): Turning The Other Cheek (1 Peter 3:8–12)
When a group faces external pressure, criticism, or perhaps even persecution of some kind it may lead to internal fractures and schism. The Apostle Peter was aware of this possibility among the congregations in (modern) Turkey. He has been urging them to respond appropriately to those outside the congregation but in this section he turns his attention to those within the congregation. How ought they to relate to one another? Continue reading →
Strangers And Aliens (15b): Turning The Other Cheek (1 Peter 3:8–12)
Our Lord himself is the model for this response to evil. He was repeatedly insulted by the Pharisees, who sought to do far more to him than insult, and even on the cross, while he was coming to the close of his active, suffering obedience for us, the chief priests and the scribes mocked him. Even those who were being crucified with him, who were guilty of crimes, reviled him (Mark 15:31–32). As Peter says in 2:23, when he was reviled, he reviled not in return. “Eye for an eye” (Ex 21:24) belongs to the covenant of works, not the covenant of grace. Continue reading →
Jesus, The Ninth Commandment, And Objective Truth
The 2016–17 academic year has begun. It’s time for introductory and orientation lectures. Yesterday I was talking with the Ancient Church (patristics) class about the what history is or what historians do and why history is important. Americans, in particular, it seems . . . Continue reading →
Truth Offends Narcissists
Truth as a proposition is found to be offensive by what it implies. That is, if the proposition is correct I must be wrong, ergo you are judging me. Or, if we are passionate about the truth the response is normally, ‘why . . . Continue reading →
Is It Education Or Propaganda?
If you can’t ask a candid question of a professor or fellow students without fear of retribution, you aren’t in a place of learning. That’s because real knowledge can be fueled only by free and open inquiry. The process of learning for . . . Continue reading →
An Undergrad Replies To Social Justice Warriors
But the SJW movement is so hopelessly confused and maddeningly fickle that the prospect of their rising powers of censorship is nothing short of terrifying. Not satiated by the traditional right-wing targets of progressive indignation, they eat their own: feminists who criticize . . . Continue reading →
Revoice, Nashville, And The Therapeutic Revolution
More than 50 years ago Philip Rieff alerted us to what has been called the “therapeutic revolution.” The West did not pay attention and now our broader culture is awash in therapeutic categories and rhetoric. Anyone, on most any university campus, who . . . Continue reading →
There Is Only One Way—But Thank God That There Is A Way
The Illusion Of Choices One of the first Bible verses I learned as a young Christian remains near the forefront of my mind because it captures an essential truth. It is John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. . . . Continue reading →
A Meditation On The Virtue Of Truthfulness (And Against Deconstructionism)
A meditation on truthfulness from Galatians 4:16, Ephesians 4:15; John 18:38; and 1 John 2:21–24. Continue reading →
Facts Matter
When people’s average perceptions of group sizes are compared to actual population estimates, an intriguing pattern emerges: Americans tend to vastly overestimate the size of minority groups. This holds for sexual minorities, including the proportion of gays and lesbians (estimate: 30%, true: . . . Continue reading →
Facts Matter But So Does The Framework Of Analysis: Deconstructionism Must Ultimately Dissolve Every Belief System
The facts recounted in any historical work are important, but so are the uses to which those facts are put, the tools used to analyze those facts, and the conclusions that are drawn from those facts. Accurate details can be both cherry-picked . . . Continue reading →