AlbertMohler.com – Blog

The President, the Pill, and Religious Liberty in Peril

Albert Mohler — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:13:37 +0000

In 1808, President Thomas Jefferson stated the matter bluntly: “I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises.”

Fast forward 204 years and President Barack Obama has reversed that logic, ordering religious institutions to provide insurance coverage for employees that must include contraceptives, including those that may induce an abortion.

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the Department of Health and Human Services made the announcement January 20, stating: “Today the department is announcing that the final rule on preventive health services will ensure that women with health insurance coverage will have access to the full range of the Institute of Medicine’s recommended preventive services, including all FDA-approved forms of contraception.”

The ruling had been much anticipated as a consequence of President Obama’s health care reform. The new law required the administration to determine what elements would be included in the mandated coverage. The administration first determined that the preventative care provision would include coverage of contraceptives. The second step was determining that this coverage would include, as Secretary Sebelius restated it, “all FDA-approved forms of contraception.” These include drugs known as Plan B, which is taken after the possibility of fertilization, thus functioning as an inducer of abortion. The plans must also provide sterilization procedures for women without deductibles or co-payments.

The final step in the process was the decision to require all employers to provide this coverage, including church-affiliated institutions and organizations. The only exemption is offered to churches and religious bodies that neither employ nor serve any significant number of people who do not share their faith. As one church leader commented, this would not allow an exemption even for the ministry of Jesus and his disciples, who ministered to those outside the faith. Keep Reading

The Family Torn Apart — Richard Wolff on Economics and Family Life

Albert Mohler — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:51:01 +0000

Though this may surprise some readers, liberal and conservative economists often agree on the nature of the problems posed by various economic practices, even as they vigorously disagree about the solutions to those problems. Keep Reading

“Abortion is as American as Apple Pie” — The Culture of Death Finds a Voice

Albert Mohler — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:22:29 +0000

Abortion is now one of America’s most common surgical procedures performed on adults. As many as one out of three women will have at least one abortion. In some American neighborhoods, the number of abortions far exceeds the number of live births.

Most Americans will pay little attention to the 39th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision. In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a woman has a constitutional right to arrange the killing of the unborn life within her. Since that decision was handed down, more than 50 million babies have been aborted, at a rate of over 3,000 each day.

One of the most chilling aspects of all this is the sense of normalcy in American life. Abortion statistics pile up from year to year, and each report gets filed. Moral sentiment on the issue of abortion has shifted discernibly in recent years, as ultrasound images and other technologies deliver unquestionable proof that the unborn child is just that — a child. Nevertheless, the larger picture of abortion in America is basically unchanged. Keep Reading

The Chicken of the Sea: A Modern Tale of Fear, Failure, and Cowardice

Albert Mohler — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:24:14 +0000

The sight of the giant cruise ship Costa Concordia listing in the deadly embrace of the sea is now a graphic symbol of failure. Its timing is absolutely eerie, coming so close to the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. But, unlike the Titanic, this disaster did not take place in the middle of the ocean, far from the range of observation. The Costa Concordia appears to be almost touching the rocky Italian coastline. The digital revolution ensures that we are all able to see the wreck of the ship in living color. Keep Reading

The Supreme Court Speaks: A Major Victory for Religious Liberty

Albert Mohler — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:30:50 +0000

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down one of the most important decisions on religious liberty in recent decades. For the first time, the Court held that there is indeed a ministerial exemption that allows churches and religious organizations to discriminate in ways that other employers cannot. The Court’s decision was unanimous, and the affirmation of religious liberty and the right of churches to hire religious teachers without state interference is fundamentally important. Keep Reading

Learning from Christopher Hitchens: Lessons Evangelicals Must Not Miss

Albert Mohler — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:10:09 +0000

The death of Christopher Hitchens on December 15 was not unexpected, and that seemed only to add to the tragedy. His fight against cancer had been lived, like almost every other aspect of his colorful life, in full public view. He had told numerous interviewers that he wanted to die in an active, not a passive sense. Then again, there may never have been a truly passive moment in Christopher Hitchens’ life.

Long before he was known as one of the world’s most ardent atheists, he was known as a world-class essayist and a hard-driving public intellectual. Born in England, he had made his home in Washington, D.C. for three decades. His range of interests was almost unprecedented. He wrote books on subjects as varied as Thomas Paine and the Elgin Marbles. He was a predictable man of the Left when he began his journalistic career in Britain, and he remained a staunch defender of civil liberties throughout his life. Nevertheless, he broke with liberals in the United States and Britain when he affirmed the Bush Administration’s decision to wage war against terrorism in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

He could write eloquent prose, but he could also write savagely. He was a self-described contrarian, even writing a book entitled, Letter to a Young Contrarian. In that book, he described this contrarian stance as “a disposition against arbitrary authority or witless mass opinion.” In practice, for Hitchens it seemed to mean the right to attack any idea, any place, any time, no matter who might hold it. Keep Reading

What Breathes Fire into the Equations? Professor Stephen Hawking at 70

Albert Mohler — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:28:27 +0000

Stephen Hawking celebrated his 70th birthday yesterday, though he was not able to attend the symposium held in Cambridge in his honor. Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, made the announcement that Hawking, the guest of honor, would not be present. Keep Reading

President Obama and Same-Sex Marriage — The Dance Continues

Albert Mohler — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:10:46 +0000

Some predictions are rather safe to make. 2012 is almost certain to be a determinative year on the issue of same-sex marriage. Multiple courts appear poised to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] and, even more urgently, the appeal on California’s Proposition 8 at the Ninth Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals will set up a certain appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court. Given the facts of this case and the significance of the nation’s most populous state, the Supreme Court is almost certain to take the case. This sets the stage for the courts to make some determinative statement on same-sex marriage within the next several months — a decision that will go a long way toward setting the direction of the larger culture.

At the same time, the same-sex marriage issue will play a part in the 2012 presidential campaign. The reason for this is quite simple. The issue of same-sex marriage is about far more than marriage as a legal institution and about more than sexuality and personal autonomy. It is the great inescapable issue, and we will know in fairly short order what all the candidates believe about the issue.

Then again, maybe not. Keep Reading

The Year in Review: The Ten Leading News Stories of 2011

Albert Mohler — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:14:31 +0000

And thus 2011 comes to an end, like every year before it. The year came with its own surprises and controversies, tragedies and headlines. And, with the closing of the year, we find the need to put the year into some kind of historical perspective. We are chronological creatures, and the span of year is enough to require some accounting. Keep Reading

Those Who Walk in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light: The Wonder of Christmas

Albert Mohler — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:10:04 +0000

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” [Isaiah 9:2] Those words from the prophet Isaiah told of the coming Prince of Peace, and of the light and life He would bring. Keep Reading

Must We Believe in the Virgin Birth?

Albert Mohler — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:33:02 +0000

In one of his columns for The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof once pointed to belief in the Virgin Birth as evidence that conservative Christians are “less intellectual.” Are we saddled with an untenable doctrine? Is belief in the Virgin Birth really necessary?

Kristof is absolutely aghast that so many Americans believe in the Virgin Birth. “The faith in the Virgin Birth reflects the way American Christianity is becoming less intellectual and more mystical over time,” he explains, and the percentage of Americans who believe in the Virgin Birth “actually rose five points in the latest poll.” Yikes! Is this evidence of secular backsliding?

Keep Reading

Appointed to His Service — The Gospel as the Foundation for Christian Ministry

Albert Mohler — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:53:39 +0000

Certain events require ceremony, and graduation is one of these events. In an institution like Southern Seminary, commencements seem to come with astonishing velocity. The school is 152 years old, and this is its 208th commencement ceremony. It marks my 37th opportunity to preside at this ceremony, and by the time students graduate from Southern Seminary, they are old hands at receiving diplomas and degrees.

Yet, at the same time, this experience never grows stale. Something too important is happening here, and happening once again. This is not just a gathering of graduates who are about to be recognized for their achievement. It is a final opportunity to gather an assembly of pastors, missionaries, ministers, and servants of the church as they are ready to go out to the ends of the earth.

The formality of the occasion marks this as a part of our academic heritage. These graduates join a long line of those who have received the blessings of education and learning and are now to be recognized for their achievement by the awarding of degrees. The faculty and guests gathered here testify to the worthiness of these graduates and their new stewardship of knowledge. Anyone familiar with higher education would recognize almost everything that will take place here today, right down to the details of the ceremony and the patterns of the regalia.

But, then again, they could miss the whole point. That outside observer would assume that we are now setting these graduates loose to make their mark in the world, to make their profession proud, and to earn the respect of the age. That is what most schools do at this level of higher education, but that is not what we are about. This commencement is not about something less then those aims, but something far greater. We are here because we believe that God is soon to bring glory to his name through the Gospel service of these ministers who will graduate today. Keep Reading

For Christian Men: The Lessons of Herman Cain

Albert Mohler — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 07:33:36 +0000

Herman Cain “suspended” his campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination on Saturday, ending one of the most interesting political campaigns of recent years. Cain’s energy and ideas had catapulted him into the front ranks of Republican candidates, even though he had never previously run for any national political office. This unlikely candidate ran an unconventional campaign that collapsed under the weight of unusual developments. In a matter of minutes, it was over. Keep Reading

The Emergence of Digital Childhood — Is This Really Wise?

Albert Mohler — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:49:03 +0000

The easiest way to infuriate the young is to lean into nostalgia. Nevertheless, it’s hard not to be nostalgic for a childhood in which the basic equipment for elementary school was pretty much limited to notebooks, pencils, and an occasional ruler. Those days are long gone. Keep Reading

The Cain Mutiny — Character Doesn’t End at the Bedroom Door

Albert Mohler — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:40:55 +0000

Just a few months ago, Herman Cain was unknown to most Americans. The former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza and former head of the National Restaurant Association caught the attention of the public with his entry into the 2012 race for the Republican presidential nomination. Cain, who was written off by party insiders and political analysts, defied predictions by rising fast in the polls, driven by his personal energy and conservative message.

His life story is a quintessential American tale. His father, Luther Cain, was once a chauffeur for iconic Coca-Cola president Robert Woodruff. Cain graduated from Atlanta’s Morehouse College and then earned a graduate degree from Purdue University. He rose to prominence in the restaurant business and then, later in life, decided to enter electoral politics by running for president.

Cain’s performance on the political stage and in the series of Republican debates captured the attention of many conservatives. His positions on the issues placed him within the conservative wing of the Republican Party, and a significant number of likely Republican voters indicated their interest in his candidacy. The simplicity of his 9-9-9 tax reform plan caught attention. At one point, Cain led in at least some polls — a very unexpected development. Keep Reading

My Letter to the Southern Seminary Community: Our Duty to Report

Albert Mohler — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 07:20:33 +0000

This letter to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Boyce College community was released in the wake of the tragedy and scandal at Penn State University, and in honor of all those who have experienced such abuse. Keep Reading

We’re All Harry Blackmun Now — The Lessons of Mississippi

Albert Mohler — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:40:54 +0000

When voters in Mississippi voted down the human personhood amendment last week, they sent a clear and undeniable message — the pro-life movement is not as pro-life as it thinks it is. The truth is that, even in what may be the most pro-life state in the union, the most basic moral logic of the pro-life movement is not fully embraced or understood.

The voters spoke loudly. Statewide, 58 percent of voters cast ballots against the amendment. This came after polls had indicated that the amendment, once thought almost certain to pass, was fast losing support among Mississippians in the last days of the campaign.

The idea behind the personhood amendments is clear. Proponents frame the constitutional amendments as a moral statement, as a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, and as a means of prompting legislation that will defend unborn life. Similar efforts failed twice in Colorado in recent years, but Mississippi looked like a sure thing. The state is already, as one leading pastor there told me, “the safest place in America to be an unborn child.” The state adopted pro-life legislation in the wake of Roe v. Wade, and there is only one abortion clinic in the state. The candidates for governor nominated by both major parties both supported the amendment. Keep Reading

The Tragic Lessons of Penn State — A Call to Action

Albert Mohler — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:03:20 +0000

No one thought it would end this way. Joe Paterno, the legendary head football coach at Penn State University heard of his firing by the school’s board of trustees by phone last night. Just two weeks after achieving the most wins of any NCAA Division One football coach in history, Paterno was fired. His firing — a necessary action by the Penn State board of trustees — holds lessons for us all. Keep Reading

A Tale of Two Colleges

Albert Mohler — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:21:38 +0000

Shorter University and Mercer University are institutions of higher education in Georgia, and both have been historically related to the Georgia Baptist Convention — the state’s largest Baptist group. Both schools have been in the news in recent days over the issue of homosexuality. Seen together, the actions taken by the schools point backwards to critical decisions made in the past, forward to issues that will be faced by every college, and directly to the present, where the future is taking shape before our eyes. Keep Reading

Does Joel Osteen Not Know, or Does He Not Care?

Albert Mohler — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:57:08 +0000

Here we go again. Joel Osteen is in the news once again, this time for saying that Mormonism is just another form of Christianity. Osteen, pastor of “America’s largest church,” as the media repeat over and over, was speaking to The Washington Times in an interview that covered a variety of issues. It was the quintessential Joel on display. Keep Reading

Total Capitulation: The Evangelical Surrender of Truth

Albert Mohler — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:47:12 +0000

Evangelical Christians are not surprised to find themselves analyzed and criticized within the pages of the secular press. After all, the truth claims that characterize authentic evangelicalism are increasingly seen as unusual (and perhaps even dangerous) by the secular mind. Nevertheless, evangelical readers of The New York Times recently found themselves taken to task by writers presenting themselves as fellow evangelicals. Their essay reveals the central question that evangelicals must now answer: Do we really believe that the Bible is the Word of God? Keep Reading

In the Danger Zone: Raising Our Children in the Age of the Screen

Albert Mohler — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:02:59 +0000

We are now the people of the screen. We are surrounded by screens, monitors, and other flickering devices, and each demands our attention. What began with the television has now spread to a host of other technologies. Our minds are increasingly shaped, entertained, informed, stimulated, and perhaps even altered by the Age of the Screen — and so are the minds of our children.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, meeting this week in Boston, expressed concern about the effects of exposure to screens on children. Over a decade ago, the academy proposed that pediatricians should ask questions about screen exposure when conducting routine medical exams and evaluations. Just this week, the groups adopted a new set of guidelines, calling upon parents to put severe limits on the exposure of young children to television. Keep Reading

Would You Attend a Same-Sex Wedding?

Albert Mohler — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:06:36 +0000

Would you attend a same-sex wedding ceremony? That question was posed recently to Houston pastor Joel Osteen, and Osteen said that he would attend, if the wedding involved friends. This came just after Osteen indicated that he could not perform a same-sex marriage ceremony, since he believes that homosexuality is a sin. Keep Reading

My CNN Column: Are Evangelicals Dangerous?

Albert Mohler — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:00:06 +0000

My column at CNN.com, “Are Evangelicals Dangerous?,” was posted there on Sunday’s front page. By mid-Monday, there were 75 pages of comments at the site. That tells us something about the volatility of the question. Keep Reading

Mormonism, Democracy, and the Urgent Need for Evangelical Thinking

Albert Mohler — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:51:40 +0000

Predictably, Mormonism is in the news again. The presence of two members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints among contenders for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination ensured that it was only a matter of time before Evangelicals, along with other Americans, began to talk openly about what this means for the nation, the church, and the stewardship of political responsibility in the voting booth.

There are numerous ways to frame these questions wrongly. Our responsibility as evangelical Christians is to think seriously and biblically about these issues. The first temptation is to reduce all of these issues to one question. We must address the question of Mormonism as a worldview and judge it by the Bible and historic Christian doctrine. But this does not automatically determine the second question — asking how Mormon identity should inform our political decisions. Nevertheless, for evangelical Christians, our concern must start with theology. Is Mormonism just a distinctive denomination of Christianity? Keep Reading

Should Pastors Perform Marriages for Cohabitating Couples?

Albert Mohler — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:14:45 +0000

Should Christian pastors preside at marriage ceremonies for cohabitating couples? That is not just a theoretical question — it is a pastoral dilemma faced by almost every pastor. Given the rising rates of cohabitation, this question will only grow more pressing. Keep Reading

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

Albert Mohler — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 07:15:50 +0000

The death of Steve Jobs, founder and iconic leader of Apple, is a signal moment in the lives of the “Digital Generation,” which Jobs, along with a very few other creative geniuses, made possible. Few individuals of any historical epoch can claim to have changed the way so many people live their lives, do their work, and engage the products of the culture. Keep Reading

Dragged Kicking and Screaming into the Modern Age? Lessons from Piers Morgan’s Interview with Joel Osteen

Albert Mohler — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 05:55:42 +0000

An interview that begins with a statement like, “Well, Piers, to me, faith is all about learning to be happy where you are,” is probably not going to end well. Piers Morgan’s interview with Joel and Victoria Osteen Tuesday night was very revealing about the Osteens — but little Christian truth was revealed. At the same time, the interview deserves closer attention than you might expect.

After introducing the Osteens, Morgan let Joel talk about his latest book, Every Day A Friday, How To Be Happier 7 Days a Week. Like the book itself, Joel’s presentation could be reduced to his own brand of highly therapeutic prosperity theology. For Joel Osteen, it’s not a theology that is reducible to money alone. Instead, his focus is more on individual happiness and self-fulfillment. In his rendering, God might not want everyone to be rich, but he does want his creatures to experience every day as . . . a Friday?

Then, the conversation shifted to issues in the news, such as abortion and capital punishment. On both topics, Piers Morgan pressed Joel to speak clearly, which he was clearly reluctant to do. On both topics, Osteen steered clear of disaster by saying as little as possible, in what can only be described as a garble. Keep Reading

A New Third Way? Reformist Evangelicals and the Evangelical Future

Albert Mohler — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:37:18 +0000

Who is and is not an evangelical? With whom should evangelicals cooperate in gospel efforts, and with whom not? Which theological expressions are truly evangelical, and which are beyond the pale?

These questions are central to the ongoing crisis of evangelical identity. In 1989, Carl F. H. Henry spoke to the urgency of answering these questions:

“The term ‘evangelical’ has taken on conflicting nuances in the twentieth century. Wittingly or unwittingly, evangelical constituencies, no less than their critics, have contributed to this confusion and misunderstanding. Nothing could be more timely, therefore, than to define what is primary and what is secondary in personifying an evangelical Christian.”

Just a year after Henry offered those words, Robert Brow called for a complete transformation of evangelical theology — and did so within the pages of Christianity Today, the flagship periodical once edited by both Carl Henry and Kenneth Kantzer. Brow’s manifesto was a clarion call to abandon the Augustinian-Reformation model in favor of a new Arminian and postmodern model. Brow declared that the intellectual context of postmodernity made such an exchange necessary. He argued that doctrines such as the omnipotence, omniscience, and sovereignty of God would have to be radically reinterpreted in light of current thinking. He explicitly rejected doctrines such as the substitutionary atonement, a penal understanding of the cross, forensic justification, and imputed righteousness. With remarkable boldness, he called for the rejection of the traditional doctrine of hell, and he denied both a dual destiny after judgment and the exclusivity of the Gospel. As he made these demands, he informed his readers of the inevitability of an evangelical “megashift” because, “a whole generation of young people has breathed this air.” Keep Reading

Terror Revisited — Truth Revealed

Albert Mohler — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:23:13 +0000

On September 11, 2011 — the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States, I preached the following message at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky [East Campus]. The message, “Terror Revisited: Truth Revealed,” looks to John 16 and the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Keep Reading

Thrown Over the Fence — Infanticide, Canadian Style

Albert Mohler — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:17:28 +0000

Mark Steyn hit the nail on the head when he accused a Canadian appeals court of allowing for a “fourth-trimester abortion” — that’s right, the killing of a baby that is already born.

The case emerged from the Court of Queen’s Bench in Alberta, where a judge faced the fact that a woman had been convicted of strangling her newborn son and then throwing the baby’s body over the fence into her neighbor’s yard.

As CBC News reported, the woman was given a three-year suspended sentence and will spend no time in jail for the killing of her baby. Katrina Efferts “will have to abide by conditions for the next three years but she won’t spend time behind bars for strangling her own son.” Keep Reading

The Devil is in the Details: Biblical Inerrancy and the Licona Controversy

Albert Mohler — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:29:39 +0000

The affirmation of biblical inerrancy is nothing more, and nothing less, than the affirmation of the Bible’s total truthfulness and trustworthiness. The assertion of the Bible’s inerrancy — that the Bible is “free from all falsehood or mistake” — is an essential safeguard for the Bible’s authority as the very Word of God in written form. The reason for this should be clear: to affirm anything short of inerrancy is to allow that the Bible does contain falsehoods or mistakes. Keep Reading

Truth-Telling in a Time of Tragedy: September 11, 2001

Albert Mohler — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 07:09:35 +0000

[This message was preached on September 13, 2001--two days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011. It is republished in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of those attacks. An extended reflection on these events from the perspective of 2011 will follow.]

Preachers are expected to speak when no one else has any idea what to say. This is not an enviable position. Standing at the graveside, the dying bedside, the scene of the accident, the preacher is supposed to know what to say, when nothing seems right to say.

Sometimes, saying nothing is best. We can be too hasty to speak, too eager to explain, too superficial in our answer, or too arrogant in our presumption. At other times, silence would be mere cowardice and the abdication of calling and responsibility. To fail to speak in these moments is to deny one’s calling and to fail the supreme test of authentic ministry. Keep Reading

Terror, Theology, and the Passage of Time: September 11, 2001 in Review

Albert Mohler — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:00:26 +0000

On Thursday, September 8, 2011, I was joined by Russell Moore, Zane Pratt, and Heath Lambert for a public discussion of the theological lessons of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The video of the event is made available here, in hopes that the discussion will be of help to others attempting to put these events in theological perspective. Keep Reading

What Makes Evangelicalism Evangelical? A New Book Joins the Argument

Albert Mohler — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:49:54 +0000

The evangelical movement in America emerged in the twentieth century as conservative Protestants sought to perpetuate an intentional continuity with biblical Christianity. While the roots of the movement can be traced through centuries prior to its emergence in twentieth century America, its organizational shape appeared mainly in the years after World War II. And, as anyone who considers the movement with a careful eye understands, evangelical definition has been a central preoccupation of the movement from the moment of its inception.

The word “evangelical” long predates the coalescence of the evangelical coalition of the last century. The word has been applied to Methodism in the eighteenth century, to nonconformists and low church Protestants in Great Britain in the nineteenth century, and to a host of groups, churches, and movements ever since. As early as the nineteenth century, frustration and confusion arose over the use and misuse of the term. The seventh Earl of Shaftesbury expressed the late-nineteenth century frustration when he declared, “I know what constituted an evangelical in former times . . . I have no clear notion what constitutes one now.”

In this light, one is tempted to identify with the late Justice Potter Stewart, who during deliberations of the U. S. Supreme Court in a 1964 case concerning pornography, simply declared: “I know it when I see it.” Keep Reading

Adam and Eve: Clarifying Again What Is at Stake

Albert Mohler — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:26:47 +0000

Recent evangelical discussion concerning Adam and Eve has served at least one good purpose — it has helped to clarify what is theologically at stake in the debate. The recent report by National Public Radio [NPR] alerted the larger secular culture to the debate, but the debate is hardly new.

What is new, however, is the candid admission on the part of some that the denial of a historical Adam requires a new understanding of the Bible’s basic story — and thus of the Gospel as well. Keep Reading

A Laboratory for Christianity’s Destruction

Albert Mohler — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:41:35 +0000

As the BBC reports, some church leaders in the Netherlands want to transform their small nation into a laboratory for rethinking Christianity — “experimenting with radical new ways of understanding the faith.”

Religious Affairs Correspondent Robert Pigott tells of Rev. Klaas Hendrikse, a minister of the PKN, the mainstream Protestant denomination in the Netherlands. Pastor Hendrikse doesn’t believe in life after death, nor even in God as a supernatural being. He told the BBC that he has “no talent” for believing historic and orthodox doctrines. “God is not a being at all,” he says, but just an experience. Keep Reading

Is God a Problem? Modern Theology Faces its Alternatives

Albert Mohler — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 07:48:37 +0000

The Christian Century, the venerable voice of liberal Protestantism, juxtaposed two significant obituaries in its August 23, 2011 edition — and both on the same page. The magazine published a respectful obituary of evangelical titan John R. W. Stott, identifying him as “a renowned and prolific author credited with shaping 20th-century evangelical Christianity.” After reviewing his 90 years of life and ministry, the magazine quoted S. Douglas Birdsall of the Lausanne Movement, who described Stott in this way: “The church was his great love. World evangelism was his passion. Scripture was his authority. Heaven was his hope. Now it is his home.”

The magazine’s other obituary marked the death of Gordon Kaufman, a professor of theology at the Harvard Divinity School for more than three decades, who died at age 86. Kaufman, the magazine reported, “had a profound influence on rethinking theology in naturalistic terms, arguing for a vision of God as the ‘profound mystery of creativity.’” Kaufman influenced generations of liberal theologians through his writings and teaching, serving as president of both the American Theological Society and the American Academy of Religion. Keep Reading

Video: “Little Children, Keep Yourselves from Idols”

Albert Mohler — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:00:47 +0000

This is my Opening Convocation message delivered Tuesday, August 23, 2011, to open the new academic year at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It is taken from 1 John 5:21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Keep Reading

False Start? The Controversy Over Adam and Eve Heats Up

Albert Mohler — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:57:51 +0000

Each generation of Christians faces its own set of theological challenges. For this generation of Evangelicals, the question of beginnings is taking on a new urgency. In fact, this question is now a matter of Gospel urgency. How are we to understand the Bible’s story, if we can have no confidence that we know how it even begins? Keep Reading

This Isn’t Meddling — It’s Murder

Albert Mohler — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 08:52:50 +0000

Euphemisms are the refuge of moral cowardice, and no euphemism is so cowardly or so deadly as “reduction” — a word that sounds like math, but really means murder. The August 14, 2011 edition of The New York Times Magazine makes this fact clear in its cover story, “The Two-Minus-One Pregnancy.”

Reporter Ruth Padawer first takes her readers into the examination room of an obstetrician who is about to abort one of two fetuses within the womb of a woman identified as “Jenny.” Padawer writes:

As Jenny lay on the obstetrician’s examination table, she was grateful that the ultrasound tech had turned off the overhead screen. She didn’t want to see the two shadows floating inside her. Since making her decision, she had tried hard not to think about them, though she could often think of little else. She was 45 and pregnant after six years of fertility bills, ovulation injections, donor eggs and disappointment — and yet here she was, 14 weeks into her pregnancy, choosing to extinguish one of two healthy fetuses, almost as if having half an abortion. As the doctor inserted the needle into Jenny’s abdomen, aiming at one of the fetuses, Jenny tried not to flinch, caught between intense relief and intense guilt. Keep Reading

Evangelicals and the Gay Moral Revolution

Albert Mohler — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:19:34 +0000

The Christian church has faced no shortage of challenges in its 2,000-year history. But now it’s facing a challenge that is shaking its foundations: homosexuality.

To many onlookers, this seems strange or even tragic. Why can’t Christians just join the revolution?

And make no mistake, it is a moral revolution. As philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah of Princeton University demonstrated in his recent book, “The Honor Code,” moral revolutions generally happen over a long period of time. But this is hardly the case with the shift we’ve witnessed on the question of homosexuality.

In less than a single generation, homosexuality has gone from something almost universally understood to be sinful, to something now declared to be the moral equivalent of heterosexuality—and deserving of both legal protection and public encouragement. Theo Hobson, a British theologian, has argued that this is not just the waning of a taboo. Instead, it is a moral inversion that has left those holding the old morality now accused of nothing less than “moral deficiency.” Keep Reading

Between Two Worlds: An Interview with John R. W. Stott

Albert Mohler — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 06:52:32 +0000

[The funeral for John R. W. Stott, one of the most famous evangelical preachers of the last century, will be held today in London at All Souls Church, Langham Place, where he served with distinction for so many decades of ministry. In honor of John Stott, I here republish an interview I conducted with the great preacher in 1987. The interview was first published in Preaching magazine, for which I was then Associate Editor.]

John R. W. Stott has emerged in the last half of the twentieth century as one of the leading evangelical preachers in the world. His ministry has spanned decades and continents, combining his missionary zeal with the timeless message of the Gospel.

For many years the Rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place, in London, Stott is also the founder and director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. His preaching ministry stands as a model of the effective communication of biblical truth to secular men and women. Keep Reading

The Culture of Death Grows Desperate: War Declared on Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Albert Mohler — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 08:15:29 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court’s declaration of war upon the unborn in its infamous 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, caught most conservative Christians unprepared and unaware. This shock to the nation’s conscience required Christians and other pro-life activists to develop arguments, strategies, and organizations in order to confront the Culture of Death and the legalized killing of the unborn. Keep Reading

Reparative Therapy, Homosexuality, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Albert Mohler — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:06:25 +0000

Each U.S. presidential election cycle brings its own set of unexpected issues, and the 2012 race already offers one topic of controversy that truly sets it apart — a debate over forms of therapy that attempt to change an individual’s sexual orientation.

Known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation conversion therapy, these approaches seek to assist individuals in changing their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. The cultural and political debate over reparative therapy emerged when a clinic run by Marcus Bachmann, husband of Republican candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, was accused of offering treatment and counseling intended to change sexual orientation.

Virtually all of the secular professions that deal with sexual orientation are stalwartly opposed to reparative therapy, or to any attempt to change one’s pattern of sexual attraction. Indeed, these groups hold to an inflexible ideology that insists that there is absolutely nothing wrong with homosexuality. These groups include, for example, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Association of Social Workers, among many others. Keep Reading

Ever Hear of the First Amendment? An Argument to Watch

Albert Mohler — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:32:28 +0000

There it was, plain as day. Monday’s edition of USA Today included an opinion column by a Muslim woman that argued–quite straightforwardly–that the United States government should force a nondiscrimination policy on gender in all places of worship. Keep Reading

The Empire State’s Moral Revolution: New York State Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Albert Mohler — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:17:01 +0000

The legal, social, moral, and political maps of America were redefined last Friday night as the New York State Senate voted 33-29 to legalize same-sex marriage in the state. The State Assembly had already approved the measure, leaving the Republican-controlled Senate the last battleground on the marriage issue. Shortly after the Senate approved the measure, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law. It will take effect in July, thirty days after the Governor’s signature was affixed. Keep Reading

When the Church Bows to the State: Gay Bishops in the Church of England

Albert Mohler — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:04:24 +0000

As if the Church of England does not have enough troubles, word is leaking out of Lambeth Palace that the church is about to allow the appointment of openly gay bishops, so long as those bishops remain celibate.

The news has emerged in the form of a leaked internal memorandum prepared for the Archbishop of Canterbury by the church’s highest legal adviser. The legal guidelines are intended to bring the church into compliance with Britain’s Equality Act of 2010, even as the church is considering new criteria for the appointment of bishops. That law prohibits discrimination on the basis of several characteristics, including sexual orientation. The Equality Act has already been used to force some British churches to hire youth ministers and other workers who are openly homosexual. Keep Reading

A June Surprise? President Obama and Same-Sex Marriage

Albert Mohler — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:05:13 +0000

Is President Obama about to endorse same-sex marriage? The possibility was the subject of open speculation on the front page of Sunday’s edition of The New York Times. Reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg quoted an unnamed Democratic strategist close to the White House, who said that the President’s advisers are considering the political costs, if any, of such an action. Keep Reading

Theology, Therapy, Twitter, and the Scandal of the Gospel

Albert Mohler — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 09:31:03 +0000

There is no shortage of perplexing realities in our world today, but counted among them must be the fact that many rather well informed people seem to be shocked that Christians believe the doctrines of Christianity.

Over the weekend, Rep. Anthony Weiner announced that he will request a leave of absence from the House of Representatives in order to seek professional treatment in the aftermath of his sexting scandal on Twitter. In the words of his spokeswoman, Risa Heller, the congressman left last Saturday “to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person.”

She continued: “In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well.”

That is a course now familiar to us all. As a matter of fact, it is now almost a reflex that people caught in moral trouble (especially related to sex) announce that they are seeking “treatment” for the problem. Keep Reading