The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy

Biblical illiteracy among Christians is arguably at an all time high, with chilling implications that can hardly be overstated. I know that various things in the church will inevitably change, such as songs and hymns taking on new forms, and that's fine. What isn't fine is for God's people to neglect His Word.

The Bible: More Than Stories

I am often hearing people say these days that God has revealed himself to us in stories, and that story, not doctrine, is the framework in which we should see our faith.

I LOVE story (which is why I’ve written and enjoyed fiction and also love good biographies). However, story is NOT everything. There is also revealed propositional truth and many other forms of communication God has taken with us in his Word.

I love this blog from John Piper on this very subject. It’s not long so I’ll take the liberty of quoting it in its ...

Question and Answer of the Week: Choosing a Christian College or Secular University

What are some criteria to use for choosing a Christian college or a secular university?

It's summertime, and many recent high school graduates will be starting college for the first time this fall. Other young people are beginning to look into which college they would like to attend in the next few years.

When our daughters were considering a college, we told them, "Judge everything you hear by the Word of God, like the Bereans in Acts 17:11." There will be disagreements with faculty and students, of course, but that's healthy as long as people are appealing ...

Dug Down Deep and the Joy of Studying God

Does studying God—and doctrine—have to be a dull discipline, or can it be an exhilarating exercise that transforms your life? I believe that theology is the foundation upon which worldview is built. People have good worldviews because they have good theology and bad worldviews because they have bad theology. I say this partly because I can't divorce heart orientation from theology. The word believe in the New Testament (for example, in John’s gospel) stresses belief as trust and submission. This is my approach to theology. It’s not a dried up system of intellectual affirmations divorced from a passion for God; rather, it is a life-transforming belief of both seeing and embracing God’s truth. It is a belief that is a trust—one which permeates your mind and heart and life.

Albert Mohler on the Air Conditioning of Hell

Before I get to today's blog: If you've followed the news lately, you've probably heard about CBS's controversial decision to air a prolife commercial produced by Focus on the Family during the Super Bowl, telling the story of football star Tim Tebow and his mom Pam. (Read more about Pam's courageous decision not to abort Tim.) Good for CBS. And I hope they don’t cave in to the National Organization for Women who have recently launched an effort to call on CBS to drop the ad. To encourage CBS, you can send them a ...

What have you been reading lately?

I've recently been reading G. K. Chesterton's book Orthodoxy and his little book on St. Thomas Aquinas.





Also, I've read several books on intelligent design, by Johnson and Dembski, and Stephen Meyer’s excellent Signature in the Cell, regarding DNA and its incredible complexity.

The Annunciation and its Prolife Implications

Yesterday was the Annunciation, a Christian holy day most of us never think about. Ted Olsen, Christianity Today managing editor for news and online journalism, recently asked me my thoughts about the Annunciation and its prolife implications. Here’s Ted’s online article from Christianity Today:

Rob Bell and the Controversy over Hell

There has been a lot of online response to Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins. The controversy began with this video, which I've posted here so you can hear Pastor Bell’s own words.

Rob Bell's "Love Wins", and the Biblical Doctrine of Hell

I mentioned in an earlier post Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. I read it several weeks ago. It contains some good and accurate things here and there, but unfortunately its central message is in explicit contradiction to Scripture and historic Christianity.

Follow-up on Rob Bell and the Hell Controversy

This is my third and possibly last blog on this subject. But given its importance to the gospel of Christ and the health of Christ’s body, I make no promises.

Someone placed my Friday blog on their site. A journalist who read it posted this response:  “Alcorn's piece has a pretty major error of fact in the post. It's in this statement: ‘every human being will ultimately be saved, and that none will experience Hell.’ That's not what Bell says in Love Wins.”