Homosexuality is condemned in all three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. While there are some similarities found on this issue in all three, there are also some major differences. Here I wish to focus on just one aspect of
Let me begin by saying that I actually do not like writing about this topic for the simple reason that the minds of far too many people – including otherwise good Christians – so often turn to mush whenever talk
Some years ago I wrote a two-part article examining the biblical and theological rationale for the death penalty (DP). Since then I have also penned a two-part article looking at the secular case for it, covering philosophical, social, political and
I refer here to the hyper emotionalism and cloudy thinking of way too many Christians in the case of two convicted criminals who met their end recently in Indonesia. I certainly did not plan to say anything further on all
With plenty of public discussion over a recent case of capital punishment, I have regrettably noted an incredibly high level of confusion, misinformation, illogic, and just plain biblical illiteracy about these matters. It seems that far too many Christians are
Does showing compassion make one a hypocrite? No, of course not – well, at least not necessarily. But I have seen far too many people just recently going on and on about compassion and mercy in a rather hypocritical fashion,
The last half of James 2:13 says this: “Mercy triumphs over judgment”. This passage is not so much a difficult passage as it is one which is regularly misused and abused. It is often hauled out to say something which
Ideally, controversial issues should be discussed with careful, logical assessment, with an eye to the facts, and in the case of Christians, with the biblical worldview fully in place. But sadly this is often not the case, and what we
My topic here involves how we are to understand the sword – and the state’s use of it – as found in Paul’s discussion of government authority in Romans 13:1-7. Many scholars understand this to be a reference to the
Capital punishment is certainly one hotly contested ethical issue. It draws passionate responses from all sides. Indeed, often there can be far more heat than light generated in this debate. Trying to calmly and rationally debate this topic is not
In Part One of this article I looked at three frequently-heard objections to the death penalty. Here I will examine three more. In each of these I seek to show that a strong case can in fact be made for
OK, I’ve got a beef. Hopefully it is a biblical beef, or a God-given beef – if not, don’t even waste your time reading any further. But I would like to think I have some biblical warrant for this particular
I think it is safe to say that there are probably as many Catholics who are unaware of what their own church teaches on a whole range of issues as there are Protestants who are unaware of what their own
A common argument made by pacifists and/or those who really do not know their Bibles very well is that all killing is wrong because it cuts short a person’s life, thereby possibly preventing them from hearing the gospel and repenting.
This is a famous passage, but one which can often be rather poorly interpreted. At least it is often used to support various agendas which the passage itself may never have had in mind. Pacifists for example are happy to
The throw-away term ‘compassion’ today covers a multitude of sins. It seems that any behaviour, lifestyle and belief system can today be justified by simply saying it is the ‘compassionate’ thing to do. We must be compassionate we are
Indonesia is this week free of three murderous thugs – and Australia does not like it. Australia is intent on lecturing Indonesia and the world about how wrong capital punishment is. Even though the three Bali bombers have been given
More than once I have been involved in debates with fellow believers over the broad issue of God’s forgiveness and what that entails. More specifically, some have argued that since Christ forgives us, we should not only forgive others, but
It is clear that the Old Testament has ordained the death penalty as part of criminal justice in a fallen world. Human life is so valuable to Yahweh that one who takes innocent life must lose his own life as
The recent squabble within Labor Party ranks as to whether the Bali bombers should be executed raises the old issue of capital punishment, and the biblical and ethical concerns surrounding it. How should the believer view this issue? Can a