Excellence should be able to demonstrate itself without appeals to authority or qualifications. Let those who claim to have authority or expertise demonstrate it by their teaching. The apostle Paul demonstrated the standard: "... but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.” 2Corinthians 4:2. He was …
Author: Donald
Extraordinary providences and the existence of God
I propose an easier argument for the existence of God than you have probably heard so far. There are a few standard arguments for the existence of God, but not everyone can understand them. They are known as the ontological argument (the most perfect Being necessitates His existence), the teleological argument (design and fine-tuning implies …
Continue reading Extraordinary providences and the existence of God
Global religion
The rapprochement between the apostatizing Church of England and the Roman Catholic papacy is reaching a tipping point. The first point in King Charles III's message to the nation today was that he and Camilla "were delighted to make a state visit to the Vatican where we prayed with pope Leo in a historic moment …
Holding the line
Democratic voting is not the answer to "holding the line", whether it is ecclesiastical, political or secular. Democracy works when the loser accepts the result of a vote, but accepting defeat has been abandoned in recent decades. Donald Trump had no sooner won his first term in office as the US President when protests began …
Protest and Reform
Protest and Reform are current political themes. These terms were commonly used in the 16th-century European Reformation and by the Protestantism associated with it. That Reform was a religious movement that continues to the present day, but modern protest and Reform are political movements, with secularism undergirding them. Revolution can also be thrown into this …
Competent or incompetent Government
Surely most of us want competent Government. When will BBC Panorama make a programme on the incompetence of the UK Government under Sir Keir Starmer and of the SNP Scottish Administration? Why do I ask? Because it has just made a programme about the USA's Trump Government, apparently to warn or at least inform its …
Who are the 144,000?
Who are the 144,000 mentioned in the Book of Revelation? "I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." Revelation 7:4 The Book of Revelation is a mystery to most people. Although we are told …
A three-in-one question
"As Jesus sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Matthew 24:3 My last blogpost looked at Jesus' teaching on the current and future character of His …
When will the five wise virgins waken up?
Jesus spoke this parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and five were foolish. While the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept." Gospel of Matthew 25:1-2,5 This describes the Christian church at present – some are …
Jesus’ extraordinary conversation
Some of Jesus' quotations are well-known, such as: "Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's", but people do not sufficiently appreciate how extraordinary are Jesus' answers. This was not simply a comment but it was a quick-fire answer to the Pharisees who set out to entangle …