Last fall, LifeWay Research conducted a study commissioned by Ligonier Ministries to examine the theological views of Christians throughout the United States. The results were disconcerting for those of us who hold evangelical beliefs.
Americans who self-identify as Christians seem to believe in heaven, hell, and a little bit of heresy, likely without even realizing their error.
Biblical illiteracy is running rampant within many contexts. Fewer and fewer people know what the Bible actually says about key moral and theological issues, but more and more people know what they want the Bible to say on these issues.
The woman who accused Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz of having sexual relations with her while she was a minor has filed a declaration in federal court in the Southern District of Florida this week. In her declaration, she affirms her earlier allegations and fills in a few more details about her alleged encounters with Dershowitz. The woman is believed to be Virginia Roberts, based on her self-disclosure to media sources.
Dershowitz has vigorously defended himself against the allegations since they appeared in a December 30 motion to join additional plaintiffs to an ongoing Crime Victims' Rights Act suit against the United States. Virginia Roberts, identified in the motion as Jane Doe #3, is one of the women asking to join the suit. The plaintiffs in the CVRA suit claim that federal prosecutors violated the plaintiffs' rights by secretly negotiating a sweetheart plea deal with billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. On January 5, Dershowitz filed a declaration with the court, disputing the charges of sexual wrongdoing.
I don't know if you have noticed, but ever since Robin Williams died, I have removed the filter from my writing that keeps me safe of jaw dropping, disappointing head gestures, and all kinds of judgments that authentic writing invites. I just really don't care anymore what people think because lives are at stake.
If this brutal beast of an illness is strong enough to kill someone with the passion, determination, and genius of Robin Williams, than we must do everything we can to protect those who are more fragile. That means being brave and writing as honestly as I can, on a taboo subject so few people understand, even if it means getting disapproving stares from other parents at my kids' school.
When I first heard about Robin's death, my first reaction was this: "The poor guy sneezed."
Southern states dominate annual list of Bible-minded cities.
The Bible Belt lived up to its name as Southern locales topped the American Bible Society (ABS) and Barna Group's annual list of Bible-minded cities, with Birmingham, Alabama, earning the No. 1 spot.
The rankings, based on a city's Bible reading habits and beliefs, come from a decade of interviews with more than 63,000 adults in the country's 100 largest metropolitan areas. While the study crowned a new winner (Chattanooga ranked first last year), manydemographic trends stayed the same, notes ABS:
As in past years, the Bible Belt performed strongly in the 2015 rankings, while East Coast cities once again brought up the rear of the list. Small cities also generally performed better than did large cities. Just one of the top 10 Bible-minded cities ranks in the top 25 media markets.
Learning that you or a loved one has a chronic illness is news you never want to hear. The knowledge of such information is often accompanied by feelings of fear, anger, and depression, which can cause debilitating, unnecessary stress. By understanding more about your condition and adopting a positive outlook on life, you can set the course for a better future.
During my time at Harvard University, I focused on positive psychology, the scientific study of what makes people thrive. Research in the field has found a strong connection between an individual's mindset, social support system and well-being. Recently I have been able to leverage the research behind positive psychology to help people living with multiple sclerosis.
Occasionally you will hear people question whether an atheist can be a moral person. But is this the right question to be asking?
Can an Atheist be Moral? Of Course, but that is the Wrong Question
As Christians we know that the moral law comes from a Creator God, and some think that those who reject Him are therefore unable to to have good morals. In an effort to address the worldview of atheism, some will suggest that an atheist is incapable of being a moral person. But is this true? Is this even the question we should be asking?
As we begin to examine this issue, note that we're referring to a person's ability to be moral in a practical, everyday sense. Theologically, we understand that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). No person who has not been redeemed by the blood of Christ can be considered moral in a spiritual sense. This is as true of the atheist as it is of the person who sits in church every week in an attempt to earn their salvation apart from God's grace. For our purposes, "moral" is being defined as being able to distinguish right from wrong and make choices that we would recognize as "good."
Right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy, who won a landmark ruling to clarify the law on assisted suicide, has died.
The 51-year-old from Bradford had lived with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) for almost 20 years.
Ms Purdy had spent a year in the city's Marie Curie Hospice and had sometimes refused food. She died on 23 December.
In 2009, she won a ruling to get clarification on whether her husband Omar Puente would be prosecuted if he helped her to end her life.
Lord Falconer, the former lord chancellor, said Ms Purdy's role as a campaigner against the law on assisted suicide was "absolutely key" and she had transformed the debate.
Mr Puente confirmed the death of his wife in a statement, paying tribute to "a much loved wife, sister, aunt and friend".
"Imagine having Watson there with you in the courtroom," said Robert C. Weber, general counsel for International Business Machines Corp.IBM+0.34%, referring to the company's problem-solving software of Jeopardy! fame. "There are a lot more cases out there than anybody can keep track of. The facts of cases are sometimes extremely complex."
Watson, in this conceiving, would have all the facts and the cases at his command. The software could weigh the pros and cons of a legal argument, on the spot, in the same way Watson is learning how to marry patient records with medical literature for treatment options. "Having Watson there with you as a lawyer gives you an associate with encyclopedic knowledge and inexhaustible work ethic."
Some of the finest books pull us deeper into familiar subjects—biographies of great statesmen, say, or fresh takes on the essentials of Christian doctrine and discipleship. Others introduce us to people, places, and ideas about which we know very little, if anything. Last year, I finally discovered Laura Hillenbrand's epic World War II survival story, Unbroken. Going in, I'd never heard of her protagonist, the indomitable prisoner of war Louis Zamperini. Now, I won't soon forget him.
It's like that with our current crop of book awards, which pursue paths both old and new. One of the victory nods goes to a new study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. You've perhaps heard a thing or two about him. And like always, we honor plenty of volumes touching on the Bible, the church, and perennial matters of faith. But hopefully, we'll also inspire at least some readers to acquaint themselves with abolitionists Hannah More and Sarah Grimke, or the philosopher Charles Taylor (and his penetrating look at our "secular age").
Every one of us wrestles through the realities of a very broken world. Government is sometimes dysfunctional, seemingly beyond repair. Laws can be unjust, penalizing the innocent. Communities discriminate against people because of the color of their skin or their zip code. Chronic pain may be your unwelcome friend, visiting you each day.
This world is not without its troubles.
How does the Christ Follower deal with his own downturns? How do we handle troubles that are not a direct result of our own poor choices?
Hopefully, you've had the opportunity to look over Darren Wilson's grand jury testimony in the case of the State of Missouri versus Darren Wilson. The "versus" part is a complete joke, of course. If you read through the testimony and listen to the statements of prosecutor Bob McCulloch, you'll see that it's more like "Missouri and Darren Wilson versus Michael Brown." Wilson was not put on trial, the dead black teen was, and Brown didn't get to testify.
If Wilson had been brought to trial, his testimony would have been subjected to cross-examination. It's possible that Wilson wouldn't even have taken the stand in his own defense — many criminal defendants do not — because he wouldn't have wanted to face cross-examination.
One of us attended a two-hour creativity workshop in 2011 where the workshop leader spoke about the various stages of creativity. He asked the audience to blurt out words related to their experience when working alone and generating new ideas. They yelled, "excitement," "intrigue," "joy," even "love." Basically, it is pleasurable to conjure up ideas. Next, the workshop leader asked the crowd to identify emotions associated with that next phase of creativity; the part where you share your ideas with the outside world. The crowd hushed and a few timid voices mumbled "fear" and "embarrassment." Thinking about a field of judges evaluating the sweat equity and inspiration that goes into our work feels wrong. What adult has the authority to claim that a kid's crayon drawn meatball-shaped house with watermelon-shaped, purple skinned parents is anything less than creative? If creativity is about originality and usefulness, how can anyone criticize never-before-used rhymes ("I don't like 'em figgity fat, I like 'em stiggity stacked/You wiggity wiggity wack if you ain't got biggity back")? As these MC Hammer lyrics suggest, actually, some ideas are terrible.
The experience in this workshop reflects a broader pattern in life regarding creativity: people tend to fall in love with their ideas. Research suggests that the easier an idea is to think of, the better and more correct it feels. This is why none of us can accurately judge the creative merits of our own ideas. It is for this reason that creativity requires more than one person. Gifted authors still need editors. The best film directors rely on script supervisors to catch mistakes. Nobel Prize-winning scientists still submit their work to the scrutiny of peer review. The problem emerges in families, schools and societies that promote appreciation, compassion, and kindness over candor.
Words matter. God speaks loud and long regarding the power of our words. One prime example, Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue can bring both death or life (NLT)."
While there are many expressions of a toxic tongue, comparing ourselves to others leads to words of death. Comparisons can be a carefully laid trap that will lead you down a road of relational ruin. Sinful comparing tends to measure our own worth through the lens of others' lifestyle or accomplishments. Ecclesiastes 4:4 notes, "Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless – like chasing the wind (NLT)."
Americans are more depressed now than they have been in decades, even if they don't know it, a new study finds. Data from 6.9 million adults and adolescents from across the US found that Americans now report more psychosomatic symptoms of depression than similar studies in the 1980s (Twenge, 2014). Dr. Jean Twenge, the study's author, said:
"Previous studies found that more people have been treated for depression in recent years, but that could be due to more awareness and less stigma. This study shows an increase in symptoms most people don't even know are connected to depression, which suggests adolescents and adults really are suffering more."
Symptoms of depression that many reported, but which people appeared not to know were signs of depression included:
Being a lawyer is not an easy job: They carry a special responsibility towards their clients, in particular their obligation to confidentiality. The clients on the other hand want to communicate with their lawyer quickly, preferably via email. A dilemma because emails can be intercepted and read with any laptop. While most lawyers still send their emails openly like postcards, pioneers like Thomas Feil are ready to break new grounds.
Where we feel happiness in the body, how it affects our genetic code, why it changes with age, unexpected pleasures and much more…
Here are 10 of my favourite recent psychology studies about happiness.
Hope you enjoy them!
Happiness activates the whole body
Unlike thoughts, the emotions don't live entirely in the mind, they are also associated with bodily sensations.
Thanks to a new study, for the first time we now have a map of the links between emotions and bodily sensations.
Finnish researchers induced different emotions in 701 participants and then got them to colour in a body map of where they felt increasing or decreasing activity.
scar Pistorius was found guilty Friday of a manslaughter charge that carries a potential penalty ranging from a fine up to 15 years in prison, capping a trial that chronicled the high life and swift fall of a disabled South African hero who shot and killed his girlfriend through a locked bathroom door.
In rendering her verdict, Judge Thokozile Masipa said Mr. Pistorius acted recklessly in firing four shots at what he thought was an intruder lurking in his bathroom. Three of those shots from a 9mm pistol—loaded with hollow point bullets that expand on impact—struck his girlfriend, 29-year old model Reeva Steenkamp. She died almost instantly.
"A reasonable person in possession of his faculties with a similar disability would have foreseen that possibility," Ms. Masipa said as Mr. Pistorius, seated alone on a wooden bench in courtroom in the South African capital, listened impassively.
Some people are passionate about the debate between megachurches or house churches. This can be good, but passionate people tend to be enthusiastic to the point that they can exaggerate their position—even when research and data do not back up their claims.
For example, some assert that people are leaving megachurches in droves and are headed toward house churches en masse.
Statistically, there is no real evidence of that.
I was recently asked about house church critiques of the megachurch, recorded what I said, and my team turned it into this brief (and narrowly-focused) article.
So, let me share some thoughts on how that conversation might be made better—from a friendly outsider's perspective.
