I am an author, blogger, as well as a high school English teacher. In the course of my career, I have been as an English and Biblical Worldview teacher at various Christian high schools in California, Arkansas, and Alabama over the course of 16 years. I was also an adjunct instructor in Religious Studies at the University of North Alabama for 9 years, where I taught various courses in Old and New Testament, Early Church Fathers, and World Religions. I even taught English as a Foreign Language with the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan–I was part of the first Peace Corps team to go into Kazakhstan after the Soviet Union fell.
I hope to use this blog as a “hub” for all my writing projects. If you subscribe and follow my blog, you will soon find out that I like to write on a wide range of topics, from Biblical Studies, Church History, Theology, Cultural and Social Issues, as well as things like Literature and Poetry. This should not be surprising if you know me. I graduated college with a B.S. Ed. in English Literature from Northwest Missouri State University, and then went on to graduate school and eventually got an M.A. in Theological Studies from Regent College, another M.A. in Old Testament from Trinity Western University, and eventually a PhD in Old Testament from the University of Pretoria.
I have also written a number of books and Bible translations (admittedly most of them are self-published):
- Reader’s Guide to the New Testament (The Blue-Collar Bible Scholar’s Reader’s Guide to the Bible)
- The Heresy of Ham: What Every Evangelical Needs to Know About the Creation-Evolution Debate (Revised Edition coming later in the Fall of 2024)
- Getting Schooled: The Lessons, Plans, and Life of a Teacher
- The New Testament: JAV
- The Old Testament–Torah and Former Prophets: JAV
- The Old Testament–The Major and Minor Prophets: JAV
- The Old Testament–The Writings: JAV
- Up Until August: Selected Poems from my Inner Life
- Christianity and the (R)evolution in Worldviews in Western Culture
I grew up in Carol Stream, Illinois, and grew up in the Assemblies of God church in a thoroughly Evangelical subculture. Over time, I eventually found my way to Eastern Orthodoxy.
Some of my favorite writers are: C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Merton, Kathleen Norris, Kallistos Ware, N.T. Wright, Gordon Fee…the list can go on.
As for music, the two biggest influences have been Sting and U2. Having grown up a good Evangelical Christian kid in the eighties, I still have no shame in admitting I still listen to my Amy Grant, Keith Green, Phil Keaggy, Petra, and Bob Bennett.
I feel I am a poet at heart, but I have become what I call a “Blue-Collar” Biblical scholar. I think the most effective way to understand theology and the Christian hope is through poetry and literature. After all, the majority of the Bible comes in the form of poetry and literature…even when it is about historical events.
I love learning about Biblical Studies, Church History, and Philosophy, and I love the challenges of the academic world. At the same time, though, I have always felt I have a vocation to take what I’ve learned in the academic world and present it in a clear, easy to understand fashion to the majority of Christians who never will go to graduate school. In short, I want to take the world of academia and make it accessible to the laity.
Hi Joel,
I am looking for the origins of the story mentioned on your blog which comes from C.S Lewis’s book Mere Christianity of a man who wore a mask. I have heard this story as a child and I am trying to find the original story.
Story as I remember:
There was a very ugly looking king who never left his palace. Then a mask maker made a very handsome mask for him wearing which the king started going out. But the mask maker became greedy and started blackmailing the king for money or he will reveal the secret to the world. Once king was outside and the greedy mask maker snatched out the mask from the king’s face, but now the king became handsome from the outside as now he felt handsome from the inside.
Could you please help me with this.
Thank you,
Amrit
Hi Amrit, that’s an interesting question–I’m sure there is some way to find it on the internet. Here is a link I found that might help:
http://chinochurchofchrist.org/2012/10/the-happy-hypocrite/
Hello Joel, I have your New Testament the JAV. I have read quit a bit of it. It reads smoothly and I love many of your word choices. Thank you for your work. Have you made and revisions to it? And if so are they available? Thanks again.
Felix Marin
Thank you for the compliment! As of yet I haven’t made revisions, (the same goes for my Old Testament). Having self-published it, I’m aware that there are random typos, etc. I think it will be awhile before I’m able to doing revisions. I’ll want to re-read the WHOLE thing, and then do the revisions all at once. So feel free to email me any typos you’ve noticed, and I’ll note them.
Thanks again.
We have much in common. I grew up in Batavia, IL and was an English Literature major. I grew up in the Catholic Church but left it after discovering the living Christ through a combination of charismatic Methodists, grizzled Pentecostals and old-fashioned Southern Baptists (in Jonesboro, AR). I became a Christian in college where CS Lewis played no small role. I read Tolkien with earnest as a young teenager. I ended up going to law school rather than into the ministry, to which I strongly tended before making that right hand turn. That was over 25 years ago. I am reminded here of something Christopher Hitchens said of his infamous brother that has relevance to our approach to truth and reality and to reaching those who are not followers of Christ:
“It is my belief that passions as strong as his are more likely to be countered by the unexpected force of poetry, which can ambush the human heart at any time…. [and] those who choose to argue in prose, even if it is very good prose, are unlikely to be receptive to a case which is most effectively couched in poetry.”
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1255983/How-I-God-peace-atheist-brother-PETER-HITCHENS-traces-journey-Christianity.html#ixzz4qycIBwnS
Although I am somewhat of a spiritual mutt, I don’t reject Catholicism as a whole or any form of orthodoxy, though I see some whitewashed tombs and dead corpses in those institutions. Yet, the light of Christ shines there, just as darkness casts shadows over Protestant circles. The wheat and tares have always coexisted and will continue to grow next to each other until the great harvest occurs. I love the scene C.S. Lewis paints in the final book of the Narnia series in which the stars are being plucked from the sky, the mountains are being leveled and he earth rolled up like a wrestling mat, as great lines are gathering in front of a doorway where Aslan, the Great Lion stands. And, as each individual comes to the Lion in that doorway, they are either attracted or repelled. It is not even a choice at that point, as the momentum of their life choices in that moment have determined for them whether they are attracted or repelled. And, many are surprised at who is attracted and who is repelled when those individuals come face to face with the Great Lion.
Hey there Kevin,
Interesting…Illinois, English major, CS Lewis lover, and apparently time in Arkansas too? It’s amazing we haven’t crossed paths earlier!
Joel, I just wanted to say a quick “thank you” for your blog. I stumbled onto it just a few months ago, and am so glad I did.
Like you, I grew up in an Evangelical home/church, but also like you, never gave much thought to the evolution/creation debate. I can’t remember ever being exposed to YEC growing up, and it has only been relatively recently that I have been confronted by it. About 3 years ago, my wife and I decided to start homeschooling our two young children. It was a great decision. We love the local community of which we are a part, and the kids are thriving academically and socially. However, pretty much from day one, we’ve been hit over the head with AIG’s brand of YEC. As popular as Ken Ham is within certain segments of Evangelicalism as a whole, he is pretty much a superstar within the larger homeschooling community, and the teachings of he and his AIG colleagues are, forgive the phrase, taken as gospel. It has been frustrating, perplexing, and frightening to see the influence he has in shaping the views of these kids regarding science and the Bible.
Folks like you, Joel Duff, and the staffs at Biologos and Reasons to Believe (to name just a few), have been extremely helpful as I try to educate myself more about the complicated issues surrounding the evolution/YEC debate, as well as biblical interpretation in general.
Thanks again, please keep doing what you do.
Thanks for the compliment, Jamie. If you’ve been reading my blog, you obviously know I have a bit of a problem with Ken Ham and AiG as well! And yes, it is both humorous and frightening to realize how much some people take him seriously and how much influence he has. It is just baffling to me. I think it is reflective of a larger trend in our country these days, where people are gravitating to the more extreme fringes in both religious and political circles. And sadly, within certain segments of Evangelicalism, there’s a new kind of syncretism going on with right-wing political ideology. I guess, for that matter, the same thing is going on with many Christian progressives.
But in any case, it’s weird how things like YECism are somehow seen as “fronts” on the cultural/political front. And I just don’t get that. I’ve always been more moderate/right-leaning, but I’ve been called “secular liberal” by some because I don’t accept YECism. Well, what does YECism have to do with politics? It’s just bizarre, period.
I guess that just shows you that the syncretism we see in the history of ancient Israel is still alive and well in America–but instead of Baal and Molech, we have a variety of modern “gods” ourselves.
Thanks for the note.
Joel, I would like to invite you to be interviewed at Peaceful Science in an Office Hours thread. https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/what-are-office-hours/563 Would you be willing to talk to use about the Heresy of Ham? Thank you for you consideration.
Sure….just tell me the details, and we’ll see if we can do it.
Can you send me an email, and we can work it out? My last name at gmail. Thanks.
Hello Joel,
I have been looking into orthodoxy recently and really confused! You and Hank Hanagraff were some of the reasons I decided to take a look. Is there anyway I can contact you through email maybe? Thank you for your time.
Sure thing: joelando11@yahoo.com
Thank you!
Liking your site, discussions and logic.
I heard Ken Ham speak this past weekend. Prior to his speaking our pastor encouraged us who have not visited his theme park in Kentucky to fly out there for a visit. Apparently our pastor and his assistant recently visited the park. I guess this trip was funded by myself and the rest of the church? Sad!
Ken started off by telling us about the top notch theme park he had created that was better than Disneyland. Okay, I this point I was turned off by whatever else he had to share.
I think he may not be strong in faith and is digging up whatever he can to feel secure in his beliefs? I don’t know. I do know one thing, the congregation didn’t sing “Cornerstone” this evening. “Christ alone, cornerstone, Weak made strong, in the Savior’s love, Through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all.”
As I mentioned, I pretty much shut him off, what a waste of time for the church. Afterwords the foyer of the Church was full of Ken’s merchandizing, books, magazines, CD’s, …..
Come Quickly Jesus!
Hi, Joel.
Is this the Orthodox Church you beleong to?
https://www.oca.org/about/mission-vision
Sure
As you deleted the relevant comment that included a link do you agree that the Massacre of the Innocents involved the slaughter of 14,000 children as laid out by your church?
And if not what are your reasons for disagreeing?
No…Bethlehem was a small town of a few hundred in the early 1st century. At most, that would mean there would be only a handful of children under two.
Agreed.
So why does your church state there were 14,000 kids slaughtered?
No clue. It’s wrong.
Did you read the link I provided on the post you deleted my comment?
yes
And yet you deleted it?
Are there other things set out by your church you consider are also wrong?
Not in the mood for trolls today. But of course, I don’t blindly agree with everything in the Orthodox Church.
Who’s a troll? You write the posts I read them.
Seriously, what is the point of you hosting a blog,( where you receive almost no comments ) if you can’t respond to questions an genuine inquiry?
Obviously you don’t agree with everything your church lays out, this is why I asked what else you don’t agree with?
You are a troll, as your snarky comment shows. Your questions are NOT “genuine inquiry.”
Much of the content of your 13 Coyne part book review was at times heavily biased and often snarky, as are many of your comments directed at Ken Ham and his YEC crap.
You berate Coyne regarding what is history and what is not, yet when I pointed out that many modern scholars now consider that gMark was never meant to be written as history and then asked how you knew the temple incident was history you deleted the comment.
How is that reaction not snarky?
And you refused to explain what you consider to be faith and deleted the comment. How is that also not snarky?
This link/article, translated from the Greek, explains the Orthodox teaching on the “14,000” Holy Infants and the theological meaning behind the otherwise huge number of slain baby boys.
https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2014/12/the-slaughter-of-innocents-by-herod-and.html?m=1
Thanks Nikat.
That was a fascinating read. Let’s see if Ark responds!
Joel
Ark, I FINALLY found this blog. I’ve read this About page and noticed your comments.
Does Mr. Anderson also heavily moderate comments like many other Xian blogs? And I’ve noticed I can’t even “Like” a comment if I find no need to contribute to the thread/discussion. Grrrrrrrr. Censorship. It’s a real pain in the buttocks, huh? 😉
P.S. I hope this comment doesn’t get deleted. 😬 I’m not a Troll either.
You can’t “like” a comment?
No, I normally don’t censor comments, but I have censored and barred Arkenaten for being belligerent, vulgar, and rude.
Now I can via the WordPress Reader, but not on the actual blog. But it doesn’t matter; you don’t show people’s “Likes” on your actual blog. WordPress sometimes makes all of this way too complicated. Lol
Re: censoring. Well, that is certainly everyone’s individual choice to decide who can comment and who cannot based upon the content submitted. Is there any degree of hyper-sensitivity on your part? Even a half-degree? Maybe?
No. It took me a good year of abuse from Arky before I finally hit the censor button.
Seriously, if you just type in joeledmundanderson.com you should be able to access it.
When I check it, I see “likes.” I don’t know what you’re referring to.
Don’t worry about it. It is just annoying software coding, programming, and techy-gibberish that today requires Users/Us to work full-time now and overtime sometimes—notice how much TIME is used/wasted? 😄 —as Software Engineers and Programmers to efficiently use our many ultra max’d out bells-n-whistles electronic devices! Gets insane doesn’t it?
I just found your blog tonight. I have been praying for many weeks about things that are heavy on my heart and wondering if I am the only one that thinks these things. Sometimes I feel so alone. I started a blog with the desire to write about them but I haven’t found much courage to write them down. I suppose I fear backlash. But I discovered tonight that I am not alone and it was an answer to prayer.
Your writing about Ken Ham and YECist is very interesting. I am a former history teacher turned homeschool mom. It’s VERY hard to find good science curriculum that doesn’t lean too far in either direction and allows for a thoughtful investigation of both sides. I even enrolled my children in a hybrid school for science and math this past year and it was heavy in the direction of YECism. I guess I just don’t see how anyone can know either way. In my mind, as I read Genesis, God was establishing himself as Creator, man fell, and we were given the blessed promise of the Messiah. Then we get the fascinating journey through the Old Testament of tracing the Promise all the way to the Gospel where the Promise is finally realized. Science can be flawed in many ways. Perhaps that is evidence of the fallen state of man. But science can be a blessing in many other ways as we learn about the fascinating ways that God created His world. I see His world as a place to worship Him and stand in awe of Him and his love for us. I don’t necessarily need to know how old it is to do that. I am fascinated my the creative process in the human mind. We are created in His image and thus have the capacity for creating beautiful art, music, literature, poetry, making scientific discoveries, etc. I wish the Christian community were more committed to excellence and living with the heart of Christ for the dying world.
I actually found your website when I did a search for Jean-Jacque Rousseau. My daughter and I are discussing his influence on western culture, especially as it pertains to feminism. I appreciate you putting it out there and can’t wait to go through more of your Worldview articles.
Oh, and by the way, I still listen to a good majority of the 80/90s Christian music that influenced me as a teenager. My favorite has always been Rich Mullins.
I appreciate your writing and will be following you now.
God Bless your ministry and work.
Hi Karen,
Thanks for the kind words. First off, as a matter of self promotion, I actually wrote a book about the creation-evolution debate entitled, “The Heresy of Ham.” I also put all those Worldview posts together into a book: “Christianity and the (R)evolution in Worldviews in Western Culture.”
It is funny that I ended up writing those two books, given that neither is in my area of “expertise” (although the Genesis 1-11 material in the “Heresy of Ham” book is up my alley). I’m finally getting around to writing some books on the Bible.
For my money, early 80s Christian music was incredible: Amy Grant, Keith Green, Phil Keaggy, Petra, Sweet Comfort Band, Bob Bennett…the list can go on. I still listen to them from time to time.
In any case, feel free to drop a comment in a thread to any of the posts!
Your About page does not specify exactly what colleges/universities you attended for your B.A. and M.A. Would you mind sharing that/those please? Thank you sir.
I just updated it.
👍🏼
Before I made final adieus, I wanted to checkout your colleges/universities.
There are (2) two Regent Colleges/Universities, one in Vancouver, BC and the other in Virginia Beach, VA. Which one? Or I guess you could’ve gone to both, huh? 😉 😛 Do you want to update the page again, make it more precise?
I see Trinity Western University is in BC. It’s also a private Christian liberal arts university; something to note.
The University of Pretoria in SA. Ahh, near our friend Arkesatan. 😉
Have you ever checked out the various ranking systems of Universities/Colleges? They do it to help high school grads decide what campuses, staff, and curriculum/degrees are high quality, reputable, and very well established on those measurements. It’s one of several gauges, litmus-tests to measure education from an institution. 🙂
Regent College is in Vancouver; Regent University is Pat Robertson’s university in VA Beach.
TWU had some of the top Dead Sea Scrolls scholars in academia when I was there.
👍
Wow, an Orthodox guy who is interested in apologetics! I followed my wife in Orthodoxy about 5 years ago and am doing a 6 week apologetics series for the teen class at my church (St Mark’s Bethesda MD) called “Towards An Adult Faith” and you are the very first decent Orthodox apologetics resource I’ve bumped into. A protestant gal from our local Hugh Ross “Reasons To Believe” chapter meeting gave me a link to your site.
I’ve been mostly just harvesting the best Evangelical apologetics material (Habermas, Ross, C.S. Lewis… ) for my class. Can you recommend any other good Orthodox apologetics resources?
The Orthodox of tonnes of resources about why Orthodoxy is better than (or the only authentic) Christianity but I haven’t bumped into any good material about why anyone should think Christianity itself is true.
Hmmm….let’s see…
I think Bishop Kallistos Ware’s “The Orthodox Way” is phenomenal. I also really like “Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A Western Perspective” by Daniel Clendenin, and “Eastern Orthodoxy Through Western Eyes” by Donald Fairbairn.
And although I haven’t gotten it yet, “A Basic Guide to Eastern Orthodox Theology” by Eve Tibbs looks interesting. But those first three were really key for me as I investigated Orthodoxy. Another one, just for more Orthodox Christian spirituality that I loved was “In the Spirit of Happiness” by the Monks of New Skete.
Now that I’ve shared these literary treasures, you must now share my blog with at least ten other people! haha…
Thanks for getting back to me. I think I read some of “The Orthodox Way” a long time ago. It seemed to be a Orthodoxy is THE AUTHENTIC Christianity aimed at Western Christians rather than here’s some good reasons to believe the Orthodox world view aimed at modern secular folks. Did I get that wrong?
Yeah, I didn’t get that vibe from the book. What impressed me was how Ware drew upon writers like CS Lewis to show that the basics of Orthodoxy really can be see in the other branches and denominations of the faith.
Hello and good day.
I realize that this may be an odd place to ask these, but you have made your own translations, and I may as well get it out here if you would answer these:
The first and likely the most commonly asked among these: Which (publicly available) Bible translation would you recommend?
Second: Are there any “proof text” passages by which you can determine with reasonable speed whether or not an overall translation is any good or good enough?
Third (and probably the oddest): Say for example, you find that certain aspects of a given translation are becoming troubling (be it the text itself or the things in the footnotes that attempt to “help” the reader), and the experience of reading far enough into it becomes a roller-coaster of “neat, that’s actually interesting” or “no. what? no. that’s… not a good way to put it!” Should one just stop right at that point and move on at the same spot on a different translation, start over in different translation, or keep going with the troublesome translation and see how it ends up being overall?
Thank you for your time and insight.
Hi there!
(1) I would say that either the ESV (English Standard Version) or NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) are the best. In addition, when it comes to the Old Testament exclusively, the Jewish Publication Society’s recent translation of the Tanakh (what Jews call the Old Testament) is a gorgeous read.
(2) I don’t have any specific texts I look at to determine that.
(3) Mmmm….I’m not sure. I think it would depend, if I came to that conclusion while still in Genesis, I’d probably start over. If I was in Obadiah, I might switch translations and continue from there. If I was really near the end of the OT, I might stick with the troubling translation and then start the NT in another! lol
Thank you for your reply! I’ll take you up on these recommendations.
I’ll come clean about the reasoning behind these: The NET is… as academically competent as many have said it is. Its footnotes are by and large very informative, and some of them have revealed some actually fascinating information.
But there is little to no poetic care going into the word choices of the writings and songs, and some of their word choices in the more historical texts have this odd hyper-authoritarian ethos behind them, which is something that’s more apparent in the study notes they give.
I almost get the sense that the authors of these notes are deliberately and carelessly doubling down on the negative stereotypes about the Bible’s message and God’s actions that really have no business being validated in any way, especially not by those seeking to clarify the Bible’s message with a new translation.
The way they handled Job and the Psalms I’ve gone through (and that’s where I still am) is ultimately what prompted these questions.
Hi Joel, I found you via Paulogia’s YouTube where you deconstructed Ken Ham’s ideology and spoke about your book, the heresy of ham. I enjoyed it, and it was a nice reminder that the loud creationist minority is the minority. Thank you.
I did have one question about something you said. You mentioned the common belief at the time (unsure which time span, the old testament covers a lot), was that the man injected a microscopic person into the woman, where they grew into a baby and were born. Could you share any sources for that? I’d never heard that before. It seems to conflict with the biblical laws governing restitution for causing a miscarriage. Not that what’s in the Bible is necessarily what was believed, it’s just the only ancient source on the topic I’m familiar with.
Thanks!
Alexis
Hi there Alexis,
It has been awhile since I came across that bit of information–it was 20 years ago during one of my grad programs. I think it was a book called, The Body and Society by Peter Brown (?). His focus was on the Greek view, particularly Stoic understanding. But it mirrored a general understanding of reproduction in the ancient world. After all, no one then would have known about sperm, eggs, cells, etc. All they knew was that the man “injects some stuff” into the woman and nine months later you had a baby!
Joel
I’m from Poland. I would like to ask you for a list of all the occurrences of YHWH in your NT-JAV, unless you can send me full text in Word/PDF. I need this this to my Appendix about God’s Name and the NT in Polish languages. My App on this moment contain 1072 translations of the NT in 268 languages.
The title is a bit provocative, but so was the title of your book which called out Ken Ham for heresy precisely where he wasn’t a heretic, and not where he was:
https://assortedretorts.blogspot.com/2023/03/dr-joel-edmund-anderson-fraud-or-dupe.html
Good evening, Dr. Anderson. I recently started writing an article on the significance of historical reliability to the Bible, and I’ve been pondering what points I could make to strengthen my main argument. I’ve seen and heard people repeatedly claim that the ancients didn’t practice history how we did, that they played more loosely with recording and describing what actually happened (I believe, IIRC, you’ve said this, too). I’ve seen the claim, but I can’t recall any sources for it. If you’re familiar with this line of argumentation, can you please direct me to an actual source? I appreciate it greatly.
– Evan.
an adjunct Old Testament instructor at “the University of North Alabama”
And you believe in evolution. May God have mercy on your students so they don’t believe a single word that comes from your foolish mouth.
Some Good Thoughts on Ro 9-11, appreciate your Journey, pastor of 28 years , 20 in search of Christs Church, many primary Orthodox sources, Monastery’s Seminaries, Lectures, Mt Athos, and many Orthodox friends. Christ is at work everyday everywhere, I’ve learned He is alive in the Body of believers in all Trinitarian Gospel centered ministries. I have good commentaries from good exegetical teachers , always look for feedback from Orthodox as well, Thanks again for your service to Christ!
Would love your take on Bart Ehrman’s 2023 book Armageddon that pits the Jesus of the gospels and Jesus of Revelation. This reminds me of the 2 sided Eastern Orthodox Jesus icon, so I wonder about Orthodox’s solution of Bart’s perceived contradiction leading him to doubt that Revelation belongs to the canon (as did some in the early church and also Luther). I also wonder whether you could assess the scholarship of his many unconventional interpretations regarding the violence and gore in that book, giving them the treatment you gave to Francesca’s “God: An Anatomy” book. If you need a sponsor to send you a hard copy of the book, I’m willing.
Hi Grateful Disciple,
I haven’t read that book, but a few years ago I did a book review of his book, “When Jesus Became God.” Just type in “Bart Ehrman” in the search box and you should find the posts. Overall, I’ve never been impressed with him. I can only guess what his “Armageddon” is like. I’ll look into it.
Howzit, Joel,
I wonder if you are aware of the the youtube channel unherd – when he brought together Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali (a notable former atheist)? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBsHdHMvucs&pp=ygUVdW5oZXJkIGF5YWFuIGRhd2tpbnMg
In it Ayaan challenges him on the fact that atheism has nothing to offer, and (though not saying it specifically) nature abhors a vacuum, challenging him that the woke and antisemitism madness can be laid at atheists door.
Dawkins defends humanist rationalism (and the quest for “truth”), and then (rather pathetically), says, “then we must do more”.
When Dawkins focuses on the Christians “obsession with sin”, Ayaan quickly corrects him that no, Christians are actually obsessed with love, and Dawkins admits at one point that he has never met a vicar he has not liked.
So, how much “more” can he do, at his age? And how much have they achieved to provide an alternative to the abhorred Christianity and its founding OT theology?
Have he and the so-called “four horsemen” ever considered that most if not all his colleagues are a bunch of self-satisfied, super-intelligent academics whose statements and writings leave most “normal” humans cross-eyed and yawning after the first three pages (or 5 minutes of their “rational” arguments on youtube).
What people DO fear is to be mocked, especially by the intelligensia; and anyway this article reveals some of the less palatable effects of the move from Christianity: https://colinmathers.com/2020/09/30/global-trends-in-religiosity-and-atheism-1980-to-2020/
Here in Jo-burg, the most popular talk radio station is Radio 702 (and its sister Cape Talk in Cape Town). For a while, a philosopher Eusebius McKaiser had the mid-morning show from 9-12am. I really enjoyed listening to him.
I realised quite quickly that there was no way I would tangle with him, because he would rip me to threads for the simple reason that I am not as as quick on my feet as he was ( though still young, he has since died).
It would be like me getting into the ring with Mohammad Ali (now, why do they call it a ring?). On his subjects of choice he would have wiped the floor with me. This, I suppose is the key problem with radical activists.
Are you familiar with Thomas F Torrance (in fact the whole family) – I think you would find his books very worthwhile to create a new favourites list. He was close friends with Protopresbyter George Dion. Dragas.
Hey, I found your blog recently. You identify as Eastern Orthodox. Me too! Do you go to church? Where do you get your sacraments?
I’m asking because it looks like you have sympathies with Orthodox doctrine, but the site as a whole feels very off, and sometimes we tend to confuse the believing of orthodox doctrine with actually being an orthodox christian.
I’m not saying any of this to annoy, troll, or “getcha” either. Genuinely would like to encourage you to go to church if there’s one near you, and get the full experience.
Yes, I’m Orthodox and I attend the Divine Liturgy every Sunday. I grew up in the Evangelical world, in an Assemblies of God church, and got my graduate degrees in Biblical Studies at two Evangelical grad schools. So obviously, part of my faith is shaped by my upbringing.