Ben Joiner's Blog

 In recent years, the topic of Christian Nationalism has emerged as, well, popular and much discussed.  A big part of the debate is what Christian Nationalism even is.  But more importantly, there is the big question of whether Christians should want to make the Bible the foundation of the law of the United States.  Should we make it against the law to skip church?  Should there be a fine?  If you say no, then how about abortion?  Should abortion be outlawed purely because of religious motivations?  Until recently, homosexual practice was technically illegal in many areas due to sodomy laws.  Although perhaps not really enforced, should Christians work to bring such laws back?  Doesn't the Bible condemn such activities as sinful? Sometimes, it troubles me how many controversies are actually philosophical in nature.  People can argue about many things.  And as arguments continue, they go to more and more foundational disagreemen...

 Pietism is a school of thought that originated in Lutheran Christianity in Germany of the 1600's.  It emphasizes obeying God's commands and Biblical Doctrines.  But in my own experience, I've seen a unique Pietist approach to Apologetics.  More than once, I've heard the same self contradictory thinking.     In more than one way, they essentially say that apologetics is a bad thing.  Then they say that we simply need to see the evidence of the Gospel changing lives.  There are a few problems here.  Out of one side of their mouths, they argue that the Gospel doesn't need evidence to support it.  Then, in the same breath, they lay out evidence to support the truth of the Gospel.  But a bigger problem is that the evidence isn't all that good.  Think of how this logic works. p1)Christianity makes people become good c)Therefore Christianity is true     There are problems galore here. 1)Many young people claim morality...

 Jewish prophecy has an odd quality.  I'd often noticed it when reading parts of the Bible, especially Daniel.  It always confused me.  I didn't understand what this was until I got an apologetics book by a Jew.  The book was intended to persuade Jews to convert to Christianity. So there are two basic types of prophecy in the Bible.  This I had long known.  Normal prophecy is when God tells someone something to tell to other people.  The prophet has been sent by God with a message.  Typological prophecy is when something happens that is similar to what happens later.  For example, Paul calls Adam a type of Christ.  Here there is no direct message from God.  Instead the events occur normally and God providentially oversees that they are also foretelling future events.  God inspires someone to write about these events for a purpose of that time.  But all along there is an additional prophetic message for the future....

It's a well known phrase in our language.  A person claims to be a woman trapped in a man's body.  This statement entails some unavoidable implied statements.   First)  It implies that the essential self is the soul.  It's not the body.  It's that which, as Christians believe, survives death.  "You are not your body."  Even if one is an atheist that doesn't believe in souls and the afterlife, it still implies the mental self is the essential self.  Other things that are true about your body are not essential to you.  You can grow taller and still be yourself. Second)It also implies that the gender is part of the essential self.  For, I will quickly agree that the mental self is the essential self.  I am a Christian.  But all of your mental properties cannot be essential to you.  Your mental properties can change and you will still be you.  You can learn things you didn't know.  You can forget things you...

Churches and Anti Intellectualism:  Dangerous Anyone whose been involved with conservative churches is aware of the anti intellectual ideas that so often prevail.  The message is one of worship, conviction, devotion, etc.  But it is not one of education.  Let me be clear that those other things should take up more of the time than education.  But when the prevailing mood is anti intellectual, then there will be no education at all. And so the message will be essentially moral or ethical.  This is a good thing.  For, in liberal churches, there is neither ethics nor learning.  But ethical teaching without education can only ever be a celebration of normal moral standards.  There will be no asking of the hard questions where the right thing to do isn't obvious.  And that type of ethical teaching is not teaching.  It is a form of entertainment.  It is no accident that movies have moral messages and make millions of dollars. ...

 I learned something new (to me) about cultural Marxism yesterday.  It seems that there is a definite attempt to dance around a plain statement of what it is by its' advocates.  Rather they simply push for the application of it in terms of legal policies.  But what is modern day Marxism exactly?  The problem is that when we find out, nobody will have any respect for it.   First, under critical theory, a person who has privileges in society will have unconscious biases.  This is obviously true.  We've all been wrong about things which we previously thought we were correct on.  And it's easy to see how your situation and even social privileges can cloud your perspective.  It's easy to see that you shouldn't judge another person until you've walked a mile in their shoes.  But that bat swings both ways.  Someone from a less privileged position can have an unconscious bias too.  They could think that society is against their gr...

  When it comes to fear in general, that’s a big question.  There are a few things to know before tackling it. First, a third of all injuries happen in the first week.  After that, injury rates are half that of basketball.   So it all seems super dangerous to outsiders because it really is for them.  But it isn’t for skaters.   Skateboarding is a relatively safe sport. Source: 2002 Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection and Critical Care Sport Injuries per 1,000 partipants Basketball 21.2 Football 20.7 Bicycling 11.5 Snowboarding 11.2   Skateboarding 8.9   In-line skating 0.9   “Injuries” defined as emergency room visits.      33% of those injured on skateboards are injured within the first week of skateboarding. Source: 1996 Skateboarding Injuries, Department of Health and Human Development, Montana St...