Dr Paul Allen

Little is known about the extent of literacy among the ancient Israelites and other Near Eastern societies. For the most part, only scribes, certain religious and governmental officials, and some wealthy businessmen, along with other elite persons, could read and write beyond the basics. Possibly those with lower socioeconomic standing would have had basic literary training, but the evidence is small. The invention of writing appears to have occurred in Egypt and Mesopotamia at about the same time—​the late fourth millennium BC—​but neither of those writing systems is alphabetic like ancient Hebrew.  One must presume that some predecessor of ancient Hebrew, a Northwest Semitic language, is the language the Biblical text refers to in Ex 17:14 since the writing is to be preserved for future reference.  Ancient Hebrew and most other alphabetic languages (including modern languages such as English) all derive from the same alphabet—​likely a Semitic invention in the first half of the secon

The Innovation Era has brought about a lot of good. Technology has played a role in the growth of the kingdom of God by making it possible to reach many people with the gospel who were previously unreached. Christian colleges and seminaries that provide online learning are educating the masses.  Along with all the progress this age has brought, there has also been great harm. Pornography has ruined marriages and ministries. Work is much more difficult to turn off. Countless worldviews are being shared as anyone who can get online has a public platform to discuss their ideas. Unfortunately, many in our society are buying into these opposing worldviews and are drifting from the Lord and His church. The world I find myself living in is a world like Timothy’s, where “people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Tim. 4:3–4).

English: Abraham Sees Sodom in Flames, circa 1896–1902, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Reumah could hardly stand the racket. The pounding on the door and the shouting were deafening. It seemed that all the men of Sodom had gone mad and were pursuing their madness at her door! And these were her friends and neighbors! The men had first demanded that Lot should surrender the handsome visitors to them to get “to know” them, but now they were screaming for her husband’s head. Lot was terrified and frozen in shock. How could all this happen? Reumah wondered. She and Lot were influential leaders in Sodom. How could the Sodomites have turned on them so suddenly and so viciously? Reumah knew that somehow it was all tied to the visitors whom Lot had secreted in their home. These two men had come on a special mission to Sodom. Knowing Sodom’s reputation for sexual aggression, Lot insisted that they stay with him and Reumah rather than in the ci

Karen Percy from the ABC wrote the following article:  The way religion is taught in Victorian primary schools will be overhauled after a report found that volunteers from the state's key provider Access Ministries breached its guidelines. (based on the complaint of one person) A Department of Education investigation found that Access Ministries volunteers gave out between 16 and 18 copies of Refuel 2, a "Biblezine", at a Christmas performance at Torquay College in December last year.  Naja Voorhoeve complained to the department after her seven-year-old mildly autistic son, who was not enrolled in special religious instruction (SRI) classes, was given the Refuel 2 magazine by another student.  (So lets get some perspective here. A student hands it to another student then the parent demands the Education Department to overhaul the whole RE program? Does the Education department overhaul EVERY program when ONE parent complains? This response is out of pro

State school students have come home from religious instruction classes believing they would “ burn in hell ” or be “eaten by the devil”, according to a new book on secular education in Australia . The author, Cathy Byrne, a Southern Cross University research program manager, argues Queensland now has the least secular education system in Australia , in contrast with 19th-century state regulations restricting restricting religious instruction to before or after school hours. Byrne by using the words "19th-century state regulations" is seeking to do what many southerners did in the Daylight saving debate; namely turn back your clocks and lives as you enter Queensland. In a chapter on her research on Queensland, Byrne says six children from five schools reported “burn in hell” comments. One parent she interviewed about religious instruction classes said: “My child believed everything he was being told, including that he would burn in hell.” Six children out of a total of 10

Philip George Zimbardo in Warsaw, Poland - 07.04.2009 Polski: Profesor Philip G. Zimbardo w czasie seminarium Warszawie (GPW, 07.04.2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) According to psychologist Philip Zimbardo , young men in America are doomed–at least they are educationally , relationally, and sexually. As he says at the beginning of his recent TED Talks video, “The Demise of Guys,” Guys are flaming out academically, they’re wiping out relationally with girls, and sexually with women. Other than that, there’s not much of a problem. You may remember Zimbardo from his famous “ Stanford prison experiment ,” which divided students into “prisoners” and “guards” to study the effects of power relationships. Now he’s looking at why it is that young men in America seem to be performing poorly in so many areas. Educationally “girls now outperform boys at all levels from elementary school to graduate school .” And relationally guys are rather clueless. (That’s been true for a long time, bu

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Question & Answers Ligonier Conference Michael Horton , Stephen Meyer ,  R.C.  Sproul,  R.C.  Sproul Jr. and Del Tackett answer questions regarding the Christian mind, science, old and new earth, and more. Video Outline: 0:00-04:32   Does teaching a variety of scientific theories hinder students? 04:47-09:46  Can you explain the difference between presuppositional and classical apologetics ? 09:50-11:39  How do we explain why classical apologetics is not equated with rationalism? 11:56-25:22  Do you have any suggestions for Christians who attend a secular college or university in regards to ways of avoiding indoctrination? 25:49-32:14  The state of education of children has deteriorated in terms of a biblical worldview. Where do we go from here in the family and in the church? 32:24-36:43  What can the local church do to come alongside of families and equip them, to repair the ruins of education? 36:45-41:53  Does the expression “doctrine divides” come out

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia There are four widely recognized aspects to the biblical call to a teaching ministry in the church. Aspiration is the subjective part. “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task” ( 1 Tim 3:1 ). “Aspires” in Greek is “to reach out for.” Desiring the office is a part of the burgeoning call, but not the only one. Those who feel called to teach, can get frustrated when their spiritual leaders don’t immediately proffer the keys to the kingdom and a pulpit of their own. This happens when one ignores the 3 other aspects to the call. You’d be surprised how shocking it is for some to hear that they need to be skilled to do this job. They think that since the harvest is plentiful and the workers few, they are literally God ’s gift to the kingdom, and anyone offering preaching advice is a mere speed bump to their mega-church aspirations and must “get behind me Satan .” But “able to teach” ( 1