Religion

An Elephant and a Cure: the Challenge of the Inclusivist

An Elephant and a Cure: the Challenge of the Inclusivist

One of the most persuasive stories told by inclusivists is an old parable about five blind men and an elephant. Five blind men approach an elephant.

One touches the massive side of the elephant and exclaims, “An elephant is like a wall!”

The second touches the elephant's tusk, and feeling it says, “An elephant is like a spear!”

The third grabs hold of the elephant's trunk and exclaims, “An elephant is like a python!”

The fourth grabs the elephant’s leg and declares, “An elephant is like a tree!”

The fifth grabs hold of the elephant’s tail and states, “An elephant is like a rope!”

Why Is Jesus the Only Way?

Why Is Jesus the Only Way?

Christians claim that the only way to restore our relationship with God is through Jesus Christ. This is an exclusive claim: there is only one way to God. But why would God be so narrow? Isn’t it arrogant for Christians to say Christianity is superior to other religions or worldviews? Isn’t inclusivism a better way than exclusivism?

As one bumper sticker and meme says: “God is too big to fit into any one religion.”

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. 5 ways the world would be worse without Christianity: Sharon James with an excellent rebuff of this cultural push-back, “Christians are instructed to “check their privilege” and “do the work” to repudiate Christianity’s toxic legacy. But what would the world really be like without Christianity?”

  2. How Asian artists picture Jesus’ birthI just loved these pieces that are so different from Western portrayals.

  3. A church is not just a truth-dispensing centerSam Allberry and Ray Ortlund conclude, “Our love for one another is not only meant to be clearly observable by the watching world. It’s to be so strikingly Godlike that it cannot be explained except by the reality of the gospel. The gospel doctrines of the incarnation (“you sent me”) and of justification (“and loved them”) will become more visible and nonignorable through the love we show one another in Christ.”

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations

Thankfulness (and other habits)Marli Scarborough says our gratitude is tied to our identity, “So when [Paul] says “don’t BE anxious,” he’s not saying “don’t FEEL anxious,” or “don’t have anxiety.” He’s saying that anxiety doesn’t have to be your identity. Your identity is in Christ. Joy and gentleness and peace are already yours for the taking.”

  1. Before you gather, mourn your sinPaul Tripp offers a surprising recommendation for how to make your Thanksgiving special. He begins, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4). We don’t tend to like to be sad. We hate bad news. We work to avoid problems. We apologize when we cry in public. Being depressed scares us. In our avoidance of sadness, we often numb ourselves to death with endless social media fluff and vacuous Netflix entertainment.”

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. How was the pronunciation of God’s name lost? Great question! Andrew Case provides three possible answers to this question: “Why did the Israelites go from swearing by Yahweh’s name, using it in prayer, song, and greetings to forbidding its use altogether?”

  2. What’s the difference between venting and lamenting? Kyle Johnston begins, “Christians today are increasingly aware of the importance of emotions. This growing emotional awareness is a positive development—especially when we learn how to process those emotions with God! At the same time, and perhaps even connected to this heightened emotional awareness, there is a growing recognition of the importance of lament.”

  3. The man with the longest-term vision wins: Reagan Rose considers the life of Elon Musk and draws five conclusions from it. “With Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos the ambition to colonize space wasn’t some billionaire’s midlife crisis, it was the long-term vision that’s driven them since youth. And my contention here is that their success in other areas of life is not coincidental either.”

  4. Your conscience on a spectrum: Bobby Jamieson with a nuanced take on how we should listen to and form our conscience. He asks, “What happens when Christians disagree about what belongs in the black, white, or shaded sections? What if you think some act is a sin but another member of your church seems not to?”

  5. The doxology: Ben Rector’s rendition is beautifully haunting.

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations

1.       The Cosmos Keeps Preaching: Kevin Hartnett shares about his faith after forty years of discoveries at NASA. He begins, “Have you ever landed great seats at a concert, show, or sporting event — seats right down front, near the center of the action? That’s very much how I think about my position as an employee at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center over the past forty years (now retired), a career spent assisting in the development and testing of satellite control centers and directing the operation of various scientific missions.”

2.       Sex and Christ Crucified: Excellent post by Ed Welch, making Paul’s insights to the church at Corinth clear. He says, “Notice how we can find a belief, somewhere in our souls, that we are independent agents, free to make our own decisions. This belief can be aroused when we hear that we “are not under law but under grace” (Rom 6:14). But be careful. Even people who don’t follow Jesus would say that freedom has its limits. Some choices are good for us and some are not.”

3.       Guarding Cherished Resentments: Steve Cornell warns, “Resentment often comes with a blinding effect. It can be hard to recognize how anger and bitterness double our loss and send extended effects of the evil done against us to others.”

4.       The Unexpected Beauty of Babel: This is a fun one by AW Workman. It’s similar to a post I wrote here (but I think even better). He says, “Yet Babel was not only an act of judgment. It was also an act of creation. Creation through judgment. Apparently, when God acted, dozens of languages burst into existence instantly and then began to live and move and have stories and descendants of their own.”

5.       Two Types of Airport People: Pretty funny.

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. The Clay-Pot Conspiracy: Dave Harvey begins, “One year ago, we lost our youngest daughter to her longstanding battle against addiction. Walking alongside her in this multiyear struggle sank us into parts of this broken world we never dreamed we would inhabit. Dark places with desperate people became familiar terrain. We fought for life. Death won. Now our precious daughter is gone. Each morning I stare into the eyes of her 2-year-old son, now entrusted to us.”

  2. Forgiveness Without Limits: Vicki Bentley concludes, “No matter what insecurity issues we might carry with us today, we know that the cross is our ultimate cure, and in this mighty act of love, our perfectionism can be put in its place for good.”

  3. Words Grow Wiser with Age: Lara d’Entremont begins, “As a middle schooler and high schooler, I remember having big opinions about God, life, relationships, and all the things. I believed my answers were right, and to view things any differently was utter foolishness and absurdity. I had scathing words for people who didn’t agree with me over theology, dating, and clothing choices. I became easily enraged by those who thought contrary to my beliefs.”

  4. The Joy of Being Forgiven: Tom Sugimura with a simple to profound reflection, “As David speaks for God it’s as though he’s saying, “I’ll kneel down to eye-level when I give you my instructions. I will lead you with my loving eye upon you.” The painful “bit and bridle” are just for stubborn beasts who won’t obey their master. Yet forgiven saints will gallop free in God’s enduring love.”

  5. Tiktoker Says Christians Must Choose Between Faith and Evidence: A helpful brief response to a common critique of the Christian faith.

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. How did the King of Kings Die? Robert Martin begins, “In the ancient world there was a man declared to be ‘the King of kings.’ His reign was very short but he was widely influential, had thousands of admiring followers, and his presence brought peace and hope to many. Yet his life was cut short through a premature death. This king was Odaenathus, the king of the small but extraordinarily influential independent city-state of Palmyra in the third century.”

  2. Study finds Gen Z Wants to Know More About Jesus: Andy Macinnis reports some encouraging news, “The study found “a lot of just openness, country over country,” said Daniel Copeland, lead researcher on the project.”

  3. The Shadow is a Small and Passing Thing: I love Lara d’Entremont’s writing. She concludes, “To God, this Shadow is but a dust cloud, and with a wave of his hand, he will blow it away forever and one day draw me into eternal life—where he is the eternal light, and darkness has finally been banished forever. Until then, we press on with weak hands and aching feet, because God made this world good, and there’s still beauty worth fighting for despite its fallenness.”

  4. Wrath is not an Attribute of God: Jeremy Treat rebuffs a common misunderstanding, “In our society, love is often reduced to affection or affirmation. To love someone is either to have warm feelings toward her or to affirm her without conditions. And when people in our society think of the wrath of God, they imagine a red-faced deity with a bad temper and short fuse.”

  5. Two Days to Change Her Mind: A sobering account (I recommend listening to the podcast, not just reading the transcript) of a woman fighting to protect her mom from Canada’s euthanasia laws.

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations
  1. Don’t Let Your Wrath Make You a Wraith: Trevin Wax warns us, “The frightening future for the unforgiving isn’t in encountering a ghost but in becoming a ghost yourself, perpetually haunted by resentment and wrath until your humanity is diminished.”

  2. Reminding Ourselves to Forgive—Even After We’ve Said the Words: Lara d’Entremont’s related post begins, “We often picture forgiveness as a single moment—not a journey. We imagine a moment of tears as each party repents and asks the other for forgiveness. We imagine hugs and handshakes. What we don’t usually imagine is a journey. But what if a journey is a more apt description? What if forgiveness isn’t only a moment, but also a journey of reminding ourselves of the forgiveness received and given? What if forgiveness is refusing revenge and bitterness?”

  3. Deaths of Despair and Loss of Religion Linked: Steve Goldstein reports, “So-called deaths of despair such as from suicide or alcohol abuse have been skyrocketing for middle-aged white Americans. It’s been blamed on various phenomenon, including opioid abuse. But a new research paper finds a different culprit — declining religious practice.”

  4. The Murderer Who Crushed a Worm: Tim Challies points to a gentle warming from F.B. Meyers, “Guard especially against heart-hardening. Hard hearts are unbelieving ones; therefore beware of ossification of the heart. The hardest hearts were soft once, and the softest may get hard.”

  5. What was God Doing Before Creation? Michael Reeves packs a lot into his two-minute answer to this question.

Diversity and God's Glory

Diversity and God's Glory

There is a temptation for Christians to reject what the world values. Understandably, we would be suspicious of those things which secularism honors. But sometimes there is a baby in the bath water. There are few things more sacred in the modern West than diversity. But this is a baby worth preserving. Diversity was God’s before it was the world’s.