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Yes, and people have been reading that rebellion and tribulation into the political and social events of their times ever since 2 Thessalonians was penned. For all we know the Lord may come back within the next two seconds or in another 2000 years. As for homosexuality: well, you believe it’s...

"Pope Francis has urged people to welcome refugees fleeing war and hunger in his first public words after arriving in Kraków, indicating that he would not duck the issue likely to be a significant cause of tension between him and the Polish government during the five-day papal visit. Speaking...

Well, if homophobia is an integral part of being a ‘true Christian’, I am probably doomed. How a ‘true Christian’ - in my definition of the term - can bask in the thought that the vast majority of mankind will be doomed while they themselves belong to the tiny elite club that’s going to be...

Yes indeed, the debate between Archbishop Rowan Williams and Dawkins, moderated by agnostic philosopher Anthony Kenny, is well worth a watch, not just because of the Archbishop’s cute joke about his own beard. For those who haven’t seen it already: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t090Fr7mfI In...

Funnily enough you just pretty much made the classical ‘Junia(s)-mistake’: the author of the article I linked is a she. :D However, I’m glad you found and took the time to read the article and very glad that you enjoyed it. As I see it the author considers 1 Cor. 11 to have more of a...

Hi there Wormwood, let's go for another controversial but amicable discussion then! A: "Should any roles exist?" Of course roles should exist. We should each serve the Lord according to the gifts He has given us. (1 Cor. 12) However, it is wrong to attribute certain roles and gifts to certain...

I’m afraid you still misunderstand my position: I don’t discard what Paul says as merely cultural, Taking his cultural background into account I think he must have meant something different than what you think he meant. As for the Bible: Being very much a fully blooded Lutheran I’m all for...

Well, I’ve noticed that I started repeating myself and if my arguments haven’t convinced you the first time around, they probably won’t convince you the second time. But if you still have new points you’d like to bring up, I’m all ears. But there are some new topics in your post that may...

I’m glad we’ve now come to the agreement that Paul doesn’t just randomly mention idol worship in one verse and men committing “shameful acts with other men” in the next. As for atheists: there weren’t that many atheists around in Paul’s day. The people he refers to “knew God” (Romans 1:21)...

Wow, I’m in for a bigger culture-shock than I bargained for when I entered this discussion! :D To give you the picture: I’m a bog-standard German Protestant, probably akin to what would be mainline in the US. For reasons of convenience I kept my maiden name, my husband would never want to be my...

I totally agree with you that we can’t know whether “it is good for a man not to touch a woman” is Paul stating his own view or citing that of the persons who wrote him about the issue. And just like you I lean towards the second option. However, that does not erase 1 Cor 7:7: ” I wish that all...

One thing I think Christians should never do is to whitewash our own history. Throughout its history Christianity as a whole has achieved a lot in terms of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. But of course Christians also have often erred. And as Christians we ought to own up...

I appreciate you went through all that trouble, but I’m afraid you somehow missed the Point (see my answers to you above). So let me stop you right here: ἀτιμία. The exact same word is used in 1 Cor. 11, where Paul devotes almost an entire chapter on why he thinks that women should cover their...

I already said that it is quite likely that Paul would also have had a problem with it otherwise. He did not like any kind of sexual passion and even advised married couples to refrain from it as much as possible. His ideal was asceticism – very probably also due to having grown up in Tarsus...

. It’s not sinful to hold convictions but convictions may be wrong. Christians may be in error and often have been. Paul himself admitted he wasn’t perfect (Phil 3:12-15). Hence me bringing up slavery: I’m very certain that you are not a member of the KKK and that you despise slavery just as...

I’m afraid I totally disagree with your statement that faith is a matter of choice. I’m of the old-school protestant opinion that faith is a matter of God’s grace. It’s an undeserved gift (Eph 2:8). Nothing in our salvation is of our own doing and it is Him who plants the seeds. As for...

Well, Aquinas always presented all objections to an argument, that is what scholasticism is all about, isn’t it? Actually I was seriously contemplating to take Village Atheist’s thread as an occasion to brush up on the whole ipsum esse subsistens and actus purus stuff. Even though reading...

Don’t worry, of course we’ve all got our daily duties and I appreciate you take the time to discuss this at all. Quite frankly I’m quite happy to take this at a slow pace myself. With English not being my first language it probably takes me twice as long to formulate my thoughts as it would do...

I agree. Alas, it seems the thread he tried to start on this has been deleted. If I were him I'd probably see such unwillingness for debate as a sign of insecurity. Not exactly the way to promote our faith. Surely Christian apologetics can do better than this.

If you can spare the time, here’s a (imho) brilliant and mind-boggling lecture of Keith Ward about the “religion and the quantum world”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4VjaoVHqNk ​The short summary - and I hope I got it right: Ward thinks that the findings of quantum physics do indeed...