The bronze serpent challenges both iconoclasts and iconodules. The iconoclasts must wrestle with God commanding people to look at an image which is somehow connected to Christ. (Num. 21:8-9; John 3:14-15) Iconodules must reckon with the fact that veneration of the bronze serpent did turn into idolatry over time and Hezekiah was right to destroy it. (2 Kings 18:4) Images are not absolutely evil nor are they absolutely good. Sensitivity is needed to know if images are helpful or harmful. The church must use wisdom and cultural contextualization to determine the role images should play in the devotional life of each individual and congregation.

"Oneness just takes the Bible" The Bible translated by numerous scholars who translated based on critical editions compiled by numerous scholars who worked from numerous manuscripts copied and preserved by numerous Christians down through the ages.

Every time Brian Simmons, author of the Passion "Translation," attempts to explain the languages of the Bible, he does so in an unreliable and anachronistic fashion. Basically every statement in this "linguistic lesson" is either totally false or at least misleading as far as I can tell. 1. The distinction between "referring to a person, place, or thing" vs. "the action of a person, place, or thing" is nonsense. It's a false distinction. Every Hebrew speaker knew that the word "hand" corresponded to the thing with five fingers attached to your arm just as Greek speakers did. 2. "The Greek culture recognizes words such as...gift as nouns." But the word for gift in Greek (δῶρον) is likely derived *from a verb* (δίδωμι) exactly as the Hebrew word is. Many languages derive nouns from verbs and Greek is no exception. 3. The etymological fallacy rears its ugly head once again as Brian implies that the root of each Hebrew word defines how that word was understood after it evolved. 4. "Hebrew verbs and nouns have an actions associated with them, whereas Greek nouns to not." This is honestly just beyond parody. There are numerous Hebrew nouns that do not correspond to any primitive verbs as far as we can tell. mayim = water and has no verbal root. There are also Hebrew verbs which are commonly considered to have derived FROM nouns, the exact opposite process described by Simmons. In both languages verbs can be derived from primitive nouns and nouns can be derived from primitive verbs. Furthermore, the Greek language is even more apt to turn verbs into nouns: infinitives and participles, for example, though they are technically "verbs" can (and often do) function as nouns. 5. "Even the Hebrew nouns for father and mother are descriptive of action." The words for father and mother in most languages are not descriptive of anything. They are the noises children make when they first begin to utter sounds. Infants are not thinking, "How do I derive a noun from the action performed by my mother and father?" This is why the word in Aramaic (abba) is almost identical to the word in Tamil (appā) despite being from completely unrelated language families separated by thousands of miles. The rest of the explanation is "pictographic Hebrew" Gnosticism that attempts to read fanciful "secret meanings" into Hebrew means by referring to their original "pictographs." The irony is that none of the "pictographic Hebrew" proponents can agree on what the original "pictures" even meant. Are there differences between Ancient Hebrew and Ancient Greek thought? Of course. But those differences don't produce a chasmic disparity between languages that requires a kind of linguistic "secret knowledge" to understand.

Isn't it fascinating that many far left folks who talk about "wage slavery" and the "means of production" hate the one company that willingly sacrifices profit for the mental and spiritual well being of its employees?

Not going to lie, I love my Presbyterian friends, but "Directory for Public Worship" is the most dystopian name for a liturgical book.

We told you that if we couldn’t murder our children we would murder our children.

I just want to say that I hold Tim Keller personally responsible for my food allergies, my lack of fashion sense, and the way my cowlick refuses to sit properly on my head.

The proper response to goodbye is obviously, "And with thy spirit."

The inevitable result of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism/prosperity Gospel. If your entire view of God centers around "the Lord gives" and ignores "the Lord takes away," then you will naturally never arrive at the proper conclusion: "Blessed be the name of the Lord."

Many things can be true at once: 1. The material world is good, and we can joyfully receive the good gifts of creation given to us by God. (Gen. 1:31; 1 Tim. 4:4-5; Jas. 1:17) 2. The material world is tainted by sin, as is the human heart, therefore we should have a healthy (though not unnecessarily scrupulous) suspicion of our own desire for material things. (Gen. 3:17-19; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 8:20-22; 1 Jn. 2:15-17) 3. The Bible treats certain material things as more inherently dangerous than others. (Matt. 6:19-24; 1 Tim. 6:9-10) Many of those complaining about Tim Keller's teaching about money and its connection to idolatry will be upset to learn that the overall tenor of Jesus' teaching about money is one of warning. (Matt. 6:19-24; Matt. 19:21-24; Lk. 16:13) (e.g. "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed..." Lk. 12:15) This is true to such an extent that Jesus speaks of the idol of wealth/greed by personifying it as a pagan god (Mammon). (Matt. 6:24; Lk. 16:13) At the same time, Jesus' ministry is funded by well-to-do women. (Lk. 8:1-3) Jesus blesses the material world in the form of Bread and Wine in the sacrament of holy communion. (Matt. 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) Instructions are given for how the rich should steward their wealth. (1 Tim. 6:17-19) Contrary to the prevailing zeitgeist on X, all of these things can coexist when one refuses to cater to the "Tim Keller made me a homeless celibate" narrative that pops up every few months.

There was a year of my life when I would go to a sparsely populated location, read Buechner's "Secrets in the Dark," and weep uncontrollably. A perfect example of finding the right book at the right time. He was really wrong on some things, and a pretty lousy theologian. But he knew how to speak to the ache in the human soul like few others.

I especially hate the part of the book where Keller says, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Really bums me out and kills my ambition.

"Paul turns exousia on its head. Freedom is not to be for self but for others. The real question is not whether an action is “lawful” or “right” or even “all right,” but whether it is good, whether it benefits." - Gordon Fee commenting on 1 Corinthians 6:12

Recently saw a church sign that proudly announces that their gatherings are "encounters, not services." A fascinating inversion of ecclesiology has been happening for a generation. Our common oblation, our "service" to God is replaced by our experience of God. I am not against experiencing God, but to invert the very soul of the Lord's Day is dangerous indeed.

I formally call for a moratorium on terrible pro and anti death penalty arguments on X. Please cease and desist immediately.