Jun 14th, 2014 |
By Dr. Jim Eckman
Steven Wise, a 63-year-old animal rights legal scholar, and the Nonhuman Rights Project (Nh.R.P.) are seeking to establish the legal personhood of animals. It has only been in the last 30 years that the distinct field of animal law (i.e., laws and legal theory for and about nonhuman animals) has emerged.
Posted in Culture & Wordview, Featured Issues, Politics & Current Events |
4 comments
Jun 7th, 2014 |
By Dr. Jim Eckman
Bart Ehrman, religious scholar, bitter critic of biblical Christianity and former evangelical, has written, ?The God I once believed in was a God who was active in the world.
Posted in Christian Life, Culture & Wordview, Featured Issues |
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May 31st, 2014 |
By Dr. Jim Eckman
May 22, 2014, marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s ?Great Society? address, delivered at the spring commencement for the University of Michigan. Johnson?s speech remains the most ambitious call to date by any president to use the power of the national government to effect a far-reaching transformation of American society.
Posted in Culture & Wordview, Featured Issues, Politics & Current Events |
2 comments
May 24th, 2014 |
By Dr. Jim Eckman
In 1796, when George Washington decided not to seek a third term as president, he warned the young Republic about the dangers of foreign entanglements. His counsel produced the policy of isolationism.
Posted in Culture & Wordview, Featured Issues, Politics & Current Events |
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May 17th, 2014 |
By Dr. Jim Eckman
Nearly two years ago, a well-known historian of early Christianity from Harvard Divinity School, Karen L. King, argued that a scrap of papyrus of a Coptic gospel text [30 Coptic words in eight fragmentary lines of writing] was authentic and raised the possibility that Jesus was married.
Posted in Culture & Wordview, Featured Issues, Politics & Current Events |
1 Comment »
May 10th, 2014 |
By Dr. Jim Eckman
About two years ago, Vladimir Putin began his third term as President of Russia, with his declared objective being to launch a 21st century resurgence of Russia. Rhetorically, he has embraced Russia?s imperial past, which has brought him into conflict with the West, especially the United States. Ukraine is the most recent manifestation of this resurgence. There are two key elements of his worldview that are germane to his actions in Ukraine and to his vision of a resurgent Russia.
Posted in Culture & Wordview, Featured Issues, Politics & Current Events |
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May 3rd, 2014 |
By Dr. Jim Eckman
That we are free in Christ is a central teaching of genuine biblical Christianity. In the non-moral areas of life, we have the responsible freedom to choose. Christians have often not appreciated this freedom, choosing instead to universalize their convictions in certain entertainment areas of life, as well as in leisure time activities. The result has usually been some form of legalism that ignores God?s grace and the freedom it brings.
Posted in Christian Life, Featured Issues |
2 comments
Apr 26th, 2014 |
By Dr. Jim Eckman
One of the most fundamental of all biblical propositions is that humans are created in God?s image: That humans both resemble God (e.g., attributes such as intellect, emotion, will) and represent God (i.e., as His theocratic stewards, Gen. 1:26ff) provide the basis for the worth, value and dignity of humanity.
Posted in Ethics, Featured Issues |
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Apr 19th, 2014 |
By Dr. Jim Eckman
Over the last twenty years especially, homosexuality has been reframed as an issue of rights. The debate over same-sex marriage has been redefined that way as well. Overall, both issues are now viewed exclusively as a civil rights issue. One of the primary results of viewing these as civil rights issues is the tendency to limit First Amendment rights, especially the freedom of speech and the freedom of religious expression. In other nations, we are already seeing this occur. In England, a Catholic school was forbidden to fire its openly gay headmaster. In Canada, the Alberta Human Rights Commission forbade a Christian pastor from making ?disparaging? remarks about homosexuality or even repeating biblical condemnations. Such blatant challenges to free speech are not quite yet occurring in America, but we are almost there.
Posted in Culture & Wordview, Ethics, Featured Issues, Politics & Current Events |
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Apr 12th, 2014 |
By Dr. Jim Eckman
Since America was founded as a nation, religious liberty and freedom of conscience have been cherished values. In many ways, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is testing those cherished values. For that reason, Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. is challenging one of the key parts of the ACA on the basis of religious liberty. The Supreme Court recently heard the case and will hand down its decision no doubt sometime in June. What is behind the Hobby Lobby challenge of the ACA?
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