Your weekly installment of things we’ve been reading (and watching) around the web.
Video of the Week
What’s The Big Deal About Living Together Before Marriage? Brad Hambrick.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
“Covenants are made. Therefore, they have a definite beginning. It would be inaccurate to say, ‘We have always been married.’ Similarly, it would be inaccurate to say, ‘I have always been a Christian.’ Saving faith is a covenant made with God that has a beginning. Before that covenant was made, we could not claim any of the special benefits of Christ’s death on the cross – forgiveness of sin, assurance of heaven, or the fruit of the Spirit.”
“Similarly, before the marriage covenant is made, we have no claim on the special benefits of the marriage covenant – living together and sexual intimacy. In the same way that good intentions towards God do not merit heaven, we should not assume that good intentions towards marriage merit presuming upon the benefits of the marriage covenant.”
Articles of the Week
Is It Always Possible to Forgive? Alphonsine Imaniraguha. It’s doubtful whether forgiveness—even for something as small as a careless word—is ever an easy thing to do. But bring up the topic of forgiveness for truly heinous crimes (like rape or genocide) and even Christians are likely to balk. “Yes, well…that’s just a different category.” But Imaniraguha, a Rwandan genocide survivor, knows from experience that as difficult as forgiveness can be, unforgiveness is actually much more painful.
Who Really Wrote the Gospels? Timothy Paul Jones. Most of you, dear readers, are fortunate enough not to traffic in the world of anti-Christian New Testament academia. There are, of course, many excellent scholars out there, but there are more than a few who—for reasons I (Chris) still can’t fathom—have dedicated their lives to studying a book they don’t believe in. Go figure. Anyway, one of the academic skeptic’s favorite claims is that the gospels weren’t written by eyewitnesses. The early church, they say, fabricated the names we know to enhance authenticity. Jones shows why this is hogwash.
Is Christianity Dying? Russell Moore. “Bible Belt ‘near-Christianity’ is teetering. I say let it fall. For much of the twentieth century, especially in the South and parts of the Midwest, one had to at least claim to be a Christian to be ‘normal.’ . . . It took courage to be an atheist, because explicit unbelief meant social marginalization. Rising rates of secularization, along with individualism, means that those days are over—and good riddance to them.”
The False Equation of Atheism and Intellectual Sophistication, Emma Green, The Atlantic. Speaking of atheism, Green addresses an increasingly popular claim—that atheists are simply more intelligent. I’m sure you’ve heard it, in one form of fashion: “Believers aren’t educated or thoughtful enough to debunk God, and if they only knew more, rational evidence would surely offset faith.” As Green shows, intellectual atheists have been hammering this point for 125 years. But it’s no coincidence that atheists most fervent “evangelists” just can’t gain much traction. (FYI: This is a touch on the long side. Pour yourself a nice cup of tea and put your feet up!)
On The Lighter Side
Typedrummer.com, Kyle Stetz. I’m not entirely sure how to describe this fun little diversion. Stetz has created a nifty site that translates your typed letters into a beat. A word of advice: tinker with this on your own first before you share it with your pals. (Or tinker with it in their presence and have them throw things at you. Your choice.)
Wisdom For Your Weekend is presented to you by Chris Pappalardo, with occasional guidance from J.D. Greear. This is our attempt to reflect Proverbs 9:9: “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.”
