Religious

Archive for Religious

Jesus Spoke Logically on Miracles

This is perhaps an anal little point, but apropos my thoughts on miracles and the laws of physics–where I say that by definition, God can’t break the laws of physics, because if He did then they wouldn’t be laws–here is Jesus (Mk 10: 23-27): 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How […]

Two Gospel Episodes That Always Puzzled Me

I recently read over these passages, and remembered that they had always puzzled me (for different reasons). First we have Jesus healing a blind man, as is His wont (Mk 8: 22-26): 22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He […]

Salvation Through Faith or Works?

I’ve written on this controversial topic before, and I tried to resolve it by saying that faith is a work, meaning that it is a conscious action on your part to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and savior. (Note, I am technically not disagreeing with staunch Calvinists here. You can still think you were […]

Why Evangelicals Get So Worked Up About Evolution

A few years ago, I got hip-deep into the Intelligent Design (ID) controversy and gave it a qualified (opposable) thumbs-up. Here’s my quick position, because I know some readers will be horrified if I don’t clarify: (1) I do not think the Biblical Genesis account should be treated as a literal chronology, as an eyewitness […]

Can God Violate the Laws of Physics?

In church today the pastor discussed the story of Jesus rebuking the storm and calming the sea. He brought up earlier miracles that Jesus had performed, such as turning water into wine and healing a congenitally blind man. Then he said something like, “So already Jesus has broken the laws of physics and biology.” I […]

Do Not Worry

Somehow I think the following will be relevant in the next few months: 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? […]

Jesus Insults Gentiles?

I know there are some serious difficulties with passages from the Old Testament, where the Lord (e.g.) literally orders the Israelites to kill infants. In the past I’ve offered some thoughts on this heavy subject. Yet today I want to bring up something that is more trivial and yet as always puzzled me more: 21 […]

Law and Knowledge

One of my favorite themes in the Bible is that God’s laws help us. We should follow them in order to navigate this world better. God knows things about the world that He created that we do not, and so even if a particular law doesn’t make sense to us, we should trust that God […]