There Are No New Heresies -- New Thought Isn't New

By Al Mohler

Look closely at a claim that appears on the Web site of the Understanding Principles of Better Living Church and, most interestingly, is also offered by the minister of the Unity congregation. They both claim to teach how to think, not what to think. This statement implies that the groups offer no doctrine, merely a route to transformed thinking.

But the claim is false -- and must always be false. The distinction between how to think and what to think is artificial. It is sloganeering and advertising, not serious thought. Every pattern of thinking is based on certain presuppositions and leads to certain conclusions. A pattern of thinking that begins with relativism as a presupposition will inevitably (if at all consistent) lead to relativistic conclusions. In other words, when it comes to thinking, there is no how that does not include a what.

You cannot begin with the presupposition that you are the center of the Universe and then reason to conclusions that are in any way consistent with the Bible. You cannot get from the presupposition that you are a sinless victim of negative thinking to the conclusion that the cross of Christ is the answer to our deepest need. You cannot reason from the presupposition that you can cope with all your problems by the exercise of positive mental imagery to the conclusion that your greatest need is for a Savior. The how is a what when it comes to thinking about anything of importance. (more)

How to read a lot of books in a short time

By Matthew Cornell

Naturally, because my goal is to learn, the reading involves work. But the question is: How can one read efficiently, capture relevant ideas in a usable way, and keep the process sustainable and enjoyable? The rest of my post summarizes the best solutions I've found, but the most useful technique comes from Jason Womack [3], and synthesizes nicely the most common ideas. In a nutshell, he says he reads the book four times:

1. Table of contents, glossary, index.
   
2. Anything in bold, titles, and subtitles.
   
3. First line of every paragraph.
   
4. Entire book

(more)

What Books Should I Read on the Trinity? A Top Ten List

By Fred Sanders

Every few months I get e-mails from people asking what books I would recommend on the Trinity. These are not requests for the latest scholarly work. They’re not focused inquiries with specific topics in mind. Nor are they requests for the greatest books of all time on the doctrine of the Trinity, the kind of thing I would use in a seminar class on the doctrine. These are just people asking, “I heard you talking about the Trinity, and I want to think harder about that doctrine. What books are in print (or not far out of print), readable, and broadly trustworthy on this subject?” (more)

The Reality Based Community: How Faith in Jesus Avoids Utopian Fallacies

by John Mark Reynolds

I try to explain that this is not faith . . . at least not Christian faith. Faith is believing things despite some contrary evidence. It is building a view of the world based first on things we know beyond a reasonable doubt (though we can still have doubts on a very dark and terrible night of the soul!) and then building on that foundation to ideas we can accept that seem (on the whole) better than their contrary. (more)

Do Democrats think Billy Graham is Immoral?

By John Mark Reynolds

Instead, what the Pope thinks about homosexuality is called “divisive” by Senator Obama. So much for his outreach to Evangelical voters who evidently only support marriage because they want to divide the nation!

...

Are the two leading candidates for the Democrat nomination for President saying that every traditional Jew, Christian, Islamic person in the United States have an immoral position?

Are the majority of Americans immoral? (more)

Misplaced Faith

By William Anthony Hay
WSJ Opinion Journal

Why no one questioned the implications of bringing large Muslim populations into a secularizing West.

Although many observers predicted that religion would enter a pattern of terminal decline in the 20th century, events took a different course. Religion not only revived but found expression in unexpected forms. The theologian Paul Tillich noted the way in which people invested worldly things, especially politics, with transcendent meaning. In a 1937 speech, Winston Churchill described communism and Nazism as "non-God religions" that aimed to reignite old religious wars. In "Sacred Causes," Michael Burleigh tracks the fate of religious and secular forces in the 20th century, registering their collisions and their effects on the culture we live in today. (more)

With Job’s Eyes

By Paul Spears

While I am not presently suffering, because I live on this fallen earth it is only a matter of time before I do. I need to remember that this earthly suffering is only temporary, and that God promises a life with him that is eternal where suffering is no more. While we should, like Job, yearn for that day to come; we should also pray that when we suffer we are as confident in God as Job is. (more)