You don't have to be a clear thinker to be famous

That much is evident by a couple of stories I have just read.

If the bad news isn't really bad then the good news isn't really good!

Quite a long title but it catches what I want to talk about here. There's a big tendency today to tone down the Scriptural teaching regarding the state and danger of mankind. There is huge pressure to soften the harder truths of the Bible, and to sweeten the bitter pill the Word of God commands us to swallow.

Good for you!

I had an interesting conversation with a spiritualist recently. She was telling me that the thought that her departed loved ones were not so departed was a comfort to her. She liked the thought that they could see her and she could talk to them and they could help her. I asked her had she any reason to believe those things were actually true, she admitted she had no real evidence.

It's not a joke book!

I had a conversation with a lady a wee while ago and we were talking about the Bible, and she informed me that she thought all Christians would admit that the Bible wasn't true.  I told her she had just found one Christian who would admit no such thing!

Readers, writing and writers

I have posted on the issue of the grounding of morality before, most recently here, but I want to do it again in light of what I have just listened to.

Empty promises, empty threats

It isn't a new thing, but it's certainly a current thing - the world is full of empty promises and empty threats.

Never say never?

Never say never is a good piece of advice for us to remember.  In many situations it is unwise to say you would never do such and such because, after all, we aren't omniscient - we don't know what the future will throw at us to make us eat our words.  Furthermore, we aren't omnipotent - circumstances may arise that will cause us to give in and back track and do what we said we would never do.  However, if one were omniscient and omnipotent then that person could afford to say "Never!"

Is there anyone in there?

Imagine you are a demolition man - you have the job of blowing up buildings.  Prior to plunging the detonator you ask the owner of the building if there's anyone inside.  The owner says, "I'm not sure, there's no consensus.  Some people say there is, and others say there isn't."  What do you do?

The slaughter of the innocents

I have heard an objection to Matthew's account of the slaughter of the children in Bethlehem.

Thinking straight

It is a subject I haven't written directly on, quite simply because I don't want to...