The miraculous assumptions of Christianity are a major stumbling block to its critics. This anti-supernatural view was pretty well summarized by the philosopher, Spinoza in the 17th century:

Miracles are violations of natural laws. Natural laws are immutable. It is impossible for immutable laws to be violated. Therefore, miracles are impossible.

Many Bible scholars say this is the most difficult, demanding, and mysterious passage in the Bible. Some interpretations emphasize the supernatural, some more naturalistic theories. Others see this only as a Jewish version of an ancient myth of the gods copulating with mankind.

The big question is: What was the nature of the sin that caused God to mete out such a judgement? Whatever it was, it resulted in ever-increasing human power and violence on the earth (vs.5). God’s created order was violated. We must not underestimate the wrath of God here. I.D.E Thomas said:

The proposed answer for this sin are many. The main ones are: unequally yoked marriages (bad marriages=bad kids), demon possession, divine kingship, miscegenation (mixing of seeds), polygamy, etc. or, various combinations of the above.

A. As Christians we must view everything through the lense of the Biblical Worldview, making all thoughts captive to Christ; and always seeking the mind of Christ (IICor 10:5; Phil.2:5). This includes political philosophy and economic theory, though many Christians still mistakenly think these areas are neutral territory. The truth is, some theories harmonize better than others.

B. We are all aware that discussions in the realm of politics and economic theory these days can be filled with vitriol and rancor like no other subject. We need to ask why this is so? Why is it such an emotional subject?

C. Postmodernism is the prevailing paradigm today and it affects every area of our culture, and in particular, politics. For postmodernists all life is politics. We will explain why this is so, and why it must be so. (Note: A paradigm is a model for interpreting life or reality)

No on will dispute that the issue of race is one of the hottest issues in our land today. The Bible has much to say on the subject, and the Church needs to preach the biblical perspective; it needs to be applied in its Body life, and with reference to the world, it needs to be a light in a dark world. It needs to set the example and lead. With a Bible in its hand the Church should be telling the Government how to act, not vice-versa.

Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics, Vol. III.

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. See Chapter 17.

Geisler, Norman L. Knowing the Truth about Creation.

Gilkey, Langdon. Maker of Heaven and Earth. Non-evangelical, but provocative.

Henry, Carl F.H. God, Revelation and Authority. See pp. 108-228.

Houston, James M. I Believe in the Creator.

Hyers, Conrad. The Meaning of Creation. Non-evangelical.

Schaeffer, Francis A. Genesis in Space and Time.

Vestal, Daniel. The Doctrine of Creation.

Whitehouse,

The prevailing view among scholars (particularly Old Testament scholars) who still call themselves Evangelical, is that Genesis 1-11 is not a narrative of actual historical events as we usually define history (something that actually happened in time and space). Gen. 1-11 is seen as the equivalent of ancient near eastern creation and flood myths but devoid of most of the elements of paganism. In other words, it is only a work of literary genre. Does it matter? In this Briefing Outline it is our purpose to show that the preponderance of evidence, particularly from the Bible itself, is that Chapters 1-11, are to be interpreted as historical narrative and are foundational to the story of redemption and the trustworthiness of the rest of Scripture.

The postmodern paradigm has spawned many new philosophical and theological trends that affect orthodox, evangelical theology. The purpose of this briefing outline is twofold: For readers to be aware of these trends, and to be able to discern if any of these changes might be taking place in their own churches.

One of the claims we make as Christian apologists is that only the Christian worldview fully explains what is. In other words, it contains within itself the ability to answer all the major philosophical questions. In this briefing outline it is my purpose to demonstrate the vital importance of the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity as the necessary foundation to that worldview. It should, and must be, our primary dogma (starting assumption).

Conspiracy theories during the last presidential campaign proliferated aided by the world-wide web. While many of these were utterly incredible, they received hits in the hundreds of thousands. One, the Qanon Conspiracy is so bizzare one almost has to conclude that it was a false flag to make conservatives look like kooks. The whole world seems rife with conspiracy theories. Some examples in the not too distant past: the recent winner of the Nobel prize announced, as she received the award, that AIDS was created to rid the world of the Black race; the tsunami in Japan in 2011 was caused by the Jews (Israel) and the U.S. setting off a nuclear bomb on the ocean floor; the Iraq War was concocted at the president’s Crawford Ranch to help his oil buddies; the U.S. government is altering the weather by shifting the jet streams in Alaska with secret giant jet fans. These theories are not just being promoted by the unwashed masses, but often by well-placed, highly-educated men and women.

Introduction: This briefing, we believe, is necessary, because in our opinion, the level of propaganda and anti-Semitism hasn’t been higher since WWII. In addition, the dominant media has been untrustworthy in informing the public. Currently, anti-Israel sentiment among the academic left on college campuses, and in Western Europe is unprecedented in recent times. Note the three following quotes:

A Brief History

Reincarnation is rapidly becoming the philosophy of the day when it comes to the eternal state of mankind. Westerners are embracing reincarnation in alarming numbers and Christians are not exempt. A 1990 poll by CNN indicated that roughly 35% of Americans accept reincarnation as a valid belief. According to another survey, 60% of Americans believe reincarnation is probably true. A breakdown of those who believe in reincarnation reveals that the majority are college age.

Introduction (Note: This Briefing Paper updates and supplements #27: Facts About the Flood) A flood of great proportions is described in Genesis 6-9. The text never indicates that it was anything other than a historical event. The Flood, and, or Noah, the builder of the Ark, are mentioned 7 more times in the OT. These passages are Gen.10:1,32; 11:10; I Chron. 1:3; Isa. 54:9; and Ezek.14:14,20. The NT also assumes that a great deluge came on the earth as the result of God’s judgement: See Matt. 24:37-39; Lk. 3:36; 17:27; Heb. 11:7; I Pet. 3:18-21, and II Pet. 2:5; 3:3-7. ( See “Noah and the Flood in Jewish, Christian and Muslim Tradition,” in the Biblical Archaeologist, Dec. 1984.)

Is a theological position held by professing evangelicals heretical if it espouses the following positions: God does not know everything; He sometimes makes mistakes and regrets His actions; He may have a material body; He is not unchanging; He suffers like us; He takes risks; His sovereignty is limited; He does not punish people eternally in hell; devout people of other religions who have not heard of Christ will be saved; the Bible is not error free; Christ’s death did not pay the penalty for man’s sins; Love is God’s primary attribute?

The cult of Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830 in Fayette, NY. It was known as The Church of Christ. Later, the church became officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1834.

There are 215 million people in the world who align themselves with one of the branches of Orthodox Christianity sometimes known as The Eastern Church. Beyond some stereotypes, Westerners (Protestants) know very little about the distinctive beliefs of this large branch of Christianity. There are an estimated 5.6 million Orthodox Christians in the U.S.

One notable characteristic of the counter cultural movement in the late Sixties and early Seventies, was its wholesale rejection of western values, and in particular, the Christian religion. To fill the vacuum, many turned to the religions of the East, one of which was Buddhism. After the Vietnam War a large influx of Asian immigrants brought with them the religion of Buddhism. These two factors, coupled with current movies, Seven Years in Tibet, and Kundun, which put Buddhism in a good light, prompted this brief overview of one of the world’s five main organized religions. For a good overview of this intellectual switch to Eastern worldviews, see: Turning East by Harvey Cox, and The East: No Exit by Os Guiness.

Interest in Biblical prophecy intensifies as we near the end of the millennium. (If Christ was born in the spring of 4 B.C. it is already 2002!). Along with an increase in sensationalism we are also witnessing a revival of a view of Biblical prophecy that was popular in previous centuries but almost unheard of in this one. Now its revival is chronicled by the appearance of books, tapes, many websites, and a growing number of adherents. The prevailing view for most of this century is that nearly all the great NT prophetic passages point to some future fulfillment. This view is generally known as the futurist (FT) view of prophecy.

In February 1997 it was announced that a sheep had been cloned at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. The ethical reverberations were heard around the world, not because it was a sheep, but because the possibility loomed that a human would soon be cloned as well.

Over the last several years you may have heard someone use the term postmodern, or postmodernism. You also may have heard someone say something about a paradigm shift (see below). Postmodernism is a new way of looking at reality that is strongly entrenched in all areas of our culture. A previous briefing paper (#52) on Deconstructionism was a more in-depth critique of a specific postmodernist movement as it affects a particular area. (See also briefing papers #50, and #54 on Existentialism and Fascism for related insight).

According to their training manual, Mormon missionaries are instructed that the first step to winning converts to their faith is to create the need for a prophet. Ironically, there are a growing number of evangelicals, some with impressive academic credentials, that are saying something similar. (See Why Christians can still Prophesy. CHRISTIANITY TODAY, Sept. 16, 1988.) The gift of prophecy, these advocates say, should be revived as it was in the First Century Church. What is noteworthy is that many of these scholars formerly believed that the spectacular gifts, such as prophecy, ceased near the end of the First Century.