Kevin T. Bauder The old dictum says that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I disagree. A friend is someone who values and honors what I value. An enemy is someone who destroys or debases what I value. It is quite possible for an enemy of my enemy to destroy or debase what… Continue Reading
Kevin T. Bauder The church’s place is not to address political questions. Rather, its work is to proclaim the whole counsel of God. Christian individuals, however, are responsible to act upon moral and spiritual concerns before they address merely temporal ones. Matters of principle should take precedence over matters of preference. Therefore, part of the… Continue Reading
Kevin T. Bauder In my first presidential election—that is, the first one I voted in—my guy lost. Since then, the people I voted for have lost presidential elections more often than they have won them. In the process I have gained decades of practice at living under presidents whom I did not choose. The first… Continue Reading
I just completed last week a series of posts explaining what I believe to be a biblical doctrine of the differing responsibilities individual Christians and corporate churches have toward culture, and the distinct role government authority has in ruling civil matters. Contrary to many within evangelicalism today, it is very important to recognize these differences;… Continue Reading
Kevin T. Bauder [This essay was originally published on February 27, 2009.] Conservative Christians recognize that they have received a doctrinal and moral patrimony. They wish to leave this legacy to be enjoyed by their children for generations to come. In order to conserve their heritage, they must pledge themselves both to guarding the integrity… Continue Reading
Politics have always been divisive, and it is always especially sad when Christians allow politics to cause them to behave in un-Christian ways. Yet what is also problematic is when Christians take Scripture out of context in an attempt to defend their political views. I’ll give you two examples, one from the right and one… Continue Reading
The current presidential election in the United States has presented a conundrum of sorts for conservative Christians. My aim here is not to defend any position or support any candidate. Rather, I would like to answer the question, why should a Christian vote in this presidential election? But first, I need to address bad reasons for Christians to… Continue Reading
The current political season has revealed that many avowed conservatives are less driven by ideas than they are by resentment and ambition. The turn from thoughtful conservatism to a conservatism of bitterness is unfortunate. Conservatism begins with ideas before it moves on to policies and then political candidates. Sadly, few today who label themselves conservative… Continue Reading
The year was 1986. Even though Ronald Reagan was in his second term, abortion-on-demand remained big business in every state. That was when Randall Terry decided to initiate a more vigorous kind of anti-abortion activism. He chained himself to a sink in an abortion clinic, effectively preventing access to abortions until he was arrested and… Continue Reading
Controversy over Islam is increasing both within American religion and among American political candidates. On the one hand, a Wheaton College professor was recently disciplined for suggesting that Christians and Muslims really worship the same God. This action has sparked a robust dispute among evangelicals. On the other hand, some office seekers have demanded a… Continue Reading
The state of Israel is in the news at least weekly, sometimes daily. The United States is still the greatest supporter of Israel, but public perception is that the Obama administration’s backing is less than enthusiastic. In spite of this assessment, the Obama administration was the first to sell bunker-buster bombs to Israel, and it… Continue Reading
On Monday of this week, Albert Mohler, Jr. delivered an address at Brigham Young University. Mohler is the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the largest Baptist seminary in the world. If one reckons Baptists as Protestants, then it would be the largest Protestant seminary in the world. Brigham Young University is the most prominent… Continue Reading
The word paradigm is used literally as a grammatical term, but it can also be used metaphorically to refer to a shared set of basic assumptions. A paradigm shift occurs when a community rejects its old assumptions in favor of a new set. The perspective of the community changes and it sees the world differently… Continue Reading
As conservatives, it can be easy to grow discouraged. There are very few of us. It seems that all of American Christianity (sorry, David de Bruyn) is abandoning the way of worship that we understand to be reverent. The good, the true, and the beautiful rarely brings in an audience. Our churches are shrinking. Fundamentalism… Continue Reading