Blog - Page 132 of 318 - John H Armstrong

What Can We Do About the Young Leavers?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:04-05:00December 15th, 2010|Categories: Evangelism, Love, Postmodernity, The Church|

When you study why young doubters are leaving the church moral or doctrinal compromise is not the major reason. (It does play a part but not in the way most conservatives generally think!) Some who leave, for example, have distinctly postmodern misgivings. When one young adult left his father learned of his decision to leave the faith and rushed his son a copy of Mere Christianity, hoping the book would bring him back. But C. S. Lewis's logical style left his son cold. "All that rationality comes from the Western philosophical tradition," he told an interviewer. "I don't think that's the only way to find truth." I find this response very common myself.

Drew Dyck says that he has met many leavers who felt Christianity failed to measure up intellectually. Shane, a 27-year-old father of three (to use one example), was swept away by the tide of New Atheist literature. He described growing up a "sheltered Lutheran" who was "into Jesus" and active in youth group. Now he spoke slowly and deliberately, as if testifying in court. "I'm an atheist and an empiricist. I don't believe religion […]

Why are Young Doubters Leaving the Church in Large Numbers?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:04-05:00December 14th, 2010|Categories: Evangelism, The Church, The Future|

In a recent provocative article by Drew Dyck, a manager in the Church Ministry Media Group at Christianity Today, there are alarming indications that young adults are leaving the church in record numbers. Some question this type of data but increasingly it seems to be beyond dispute. (I have rarely heard discussion of the fact that only 10% of the population attended church in 1800 before the campus revivals of New England and the Second Great Awakening!)

There are some striking mile markers that appear on the road through young adulthood: leaving for college, getting your first job and apartment, starting a career, getting married—and, for many people today, you can add walking away from the Christian faith to this list. Drew Dyck says that sociologists are seeing a major shift taking place among young adults who are moving away from Christianity. Dyck believes: “A faithful response requires that we examine the exodus and ask ourselves some honest questions about why.”

Recent studies have brought this exodus trend to light. Among the findings released in 2009 from the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), one stood out more […]

How Do Unity and Truth Relate?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:05-05:00December 13th, 2010|Categories: Unity of the Church|

There is a real danger, often cited, that we will pursue unity with Christians at all costs. We will sacrifice orthodox Christian faith in order to find a way to “get along.” Indeed, this is the most common objection to ecumenism I receive from conservative Christians. They are rightly concerned that theological compromise can harm the witness and faithfulness of the Christian Church.

But unity and truth are not binary opposites. They are complementary truths, truths that can and should be maintained side-by-side. To compromise unity is to compromise truth, and vice versa. This is why I believe we begin with the Apostles’ Creed. It is a simple, accepted way of confessing our baptismal and common faith together. It includes those truths that are genuinely central to common Christianity. It does not address every biblical doctrine but if we begin here we can move into other areas with more confidence and hope.

This week’s video addresses this issue.

The Grace of God in Salvation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:05-05:00December 12th, 2010|Categories: Christ/Christology, Church Tradition, Personal|

I am working through several different resources during Advent this year. I decided to make more use of this liturgical time than I ever have in my lifetime. I have a book of Advent meditations called Light of the World. This is written by John Timmerman, a professor who teaches English at Calvin College. Anita and I read from this book each morning. Then I have a private book of Advent meditations including Scriptures, prayers and other readings, as well as information about special days in Advent. This is a compilation produced by Liturgy Training Publications, a Roman Catholic resource. It is called An Advent Sourcebook. These are both rich and valuable resources.

The second resource, An Advent Sourcebook, has some material in it for this weekend that includes the following statement from Reinhold Niebuhr, the famous Protestant theologian of the 20th century. Niebuhr wrote:

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true […]

How Much Do Christians Know About Faith and Religion in America?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:05-05:00December 11th, 2010|Categories: America and Americanism, Apologetics, Religion|

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, an incredibly valuable place to go for meaningful research, recently completed a massive survey regarding what people know about faith in America. There are some amazing results to be found in this survey at Pew’s web site.

Pew’s site tells the reader that:

The research indicates that on questions about Christianity – including a battery of questions about the Bible – Mormons (7.9 out of 12 right on average) and white evangelical Protestants (7.3 correct on average) show the highest levels of knowledge. Jews and atheists/agnostics stand out for their knowledge of other world religions, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism; out of 11 such questions on the survey, Jews answer 7.9 correctly (nearly three better than the national average) and atheists/agnostics answer 7.5 correctly (2.5 better than the national average). Atheists/agnostics and Jews also do particularly well on questions about the role of religion in public life, including a question about what the U.S. Constitution says about religion.

[…]

Money Does Corrupt Our Political System

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:05-05:00December 10th, 2010|Categories: Film, Politics|

Many of you know the name Jack Abramoff. The convicted super-lobbyist has been discredited and now has been released after serving three and half years of a six year prison sentence. But what do you know about his background, his politics, his scams, his influence on influencing members of Congress, mostly Republicans but not all? (Harry Reid and Patrick Kennedy, both leading Democrats, have strong ties to Abramoff if major sources are accurate.)

I decided to get into the Abramoff story a few weeks ago when I saw the recently released documentary film Casino Jack and the United States of Money. A dramatic film on Abramoff, titled Bagman and starring Kevin Spacey, will appear soon. As I’ve said more than once on this site documentaries always have a point of view. This is not so much art as it is a venue for politics. But the Abramoff story is intriguing to say the least. It involves international casinos, spies, sweatshops and even mob-style killings that […]

Letters to a Young Calvinist: An Opportunity for a Dialogue

By John Armstrong|2010-12-09T08:36:01-06:00December 9th, 2010|Categories: Books, Reformed Christianity|

Jamie Smith is answering questions on the Brazos Press facebook page this week regarding his new book Letters to a Young Calvinist, which I recently reviewed here. People (who are fans of Brazos Press as I am) can post questions. Brazos will choose the best for Jamie to answer. Those who have their question chosen will not only get an answer from Jamie himself, but a free copy of the book. That’s a good deal. Check it out.

Pope Benedict XVI: Ecumenism is Not Compromise

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:05-05:00December 9th, 2010|Categories: Missional-Ecumenism, Roman Catholicism, Unity of the Church|

On November 18 Pope Benedict XVI underlined the importance of ecumenical work in a statement issued from the Vatican. He also cautioned that ecumenism should not be seen as a political effort.

The Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, founded by Pope John XXIII in 1960, recently marked its 50th anniversary. Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, and Orthodox Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon, a top ecumenical representative for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, were both in Rome to share in this celebration. The Pontifical Council—originally known as the Secretariat for Christian Unity—was, according to Pope Benedict, “a milestone on the ecumenical journey of the Catholic Church.” Benedict added that its work over the last fifty years has been vital to “overcoming the sediments of historical prejudice.” I agree and have written elsewhere (Your Church Is Too Small) that the outcome of Vatican II impacted ecumenism as much as any single event in the last century. It really did open the window and allow us to begin to undo a great […]

How Market Economies Really Work

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:05-05:00December 8th, 2010|Categories: Economy/Economics|

There is a rising opposition, among some Christians in the West, to market economies. Social science, joined with various claims about the inherent dangers of globalization (rarely defined in a clear way), have made their way into the public dialogue of many Christians. Since I have devoted a great deal of time to exposing how ideologies pose serious threats to the church’s commitment to the gospel I have spent more than a little time exploring this supposed threat through the growth of economic markets. I am quite convinced that opposing free markets is not an issue related to the gospel. Let me explain.

What is related to the gospel is freedom and virtue. A market, properly understood, is part of a decentralized economy that allows people to take initiative in providing for their own needs and those of others. People exchange goods, services and capital in a system of co-operation. Since the industrial revolution it was not the better use of land or the exploitation of workers, both […]

The Deficit Reduction Commission’s Report to the President

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:18:05-05:00December 7th, 2010|Categories: Current Affairs, Economy/Economics, Politics|

President Obama, in one of his boldest leadership moves to date, appointed a bipartisan deficit reduction commission some months ago. We have known little about what this commission might propose until the first report was released on November 11th. What is interesting is that members of both parties howled and screamed at various parts of the proposal to deeply cut red ink from our nation’s spending. The plan targets $200 billions in spending cuts by 2015. Proposals include the elimination of all earmarks for pet projects, cutting the federal work force by 10% and reducing Pentagon procurement by 15%. These are great starters. Included, as well, is a plan to gradually increase the full retirement age for Social Security to 69 years around 2050. (I can assure you something like this must happen at some point and those who deny it are playing blind man’s bluff for political reasons!)

This commission is co-chaired by Erskine Bowles (photo left), a former Clinton chief of staff, and Alan Simpson (photo […]