Dr Paul Allen

Truly understanding someone you deeply disagree with is exhausting. It’s a labor of love. A friend with different politics recently brought up a subject about which I know “my side’s” position but not my own. I sensed he was attacking my tribe, but I couldn’t speak intelligently enough about the topic to have a worthwhile debate. I found my mental energy flagging as soon as this friend brought up the topic. The same fatigue occurs sometimes when it comes to biblical and theological questions. I sometimes sit staring at myscreen wondering whether I have the energy to tackle a given question. I take comfort from two proverbs: Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. (Prov  17:27 –28) In other words, I don’t always have to have an answer. I cannot have a well-considered and widely-read case for every view in my colle

Of the 47 statements included in The State of Theology study for 2016, undertaken in partnership with LifeWay Research , the responses to one statement stood out. Most of the responses tended to even out over the spectrum. Each statement tended to garner slight majorities. The results show slight majorities either getting a belief right or, in most cases, getting a belief wrong. But not statement 17, "Even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation ." This one sparked a reaction. Glancing at the graph of the data shows this response not to be a simple majority , but rather a whopping majority. 61% strongly disagree. Another 12% disagree somewhat and 7% are not sure. That leaves only 21% agreeing with this statement. We need to interpret this data. Eight out of ten Americans have an incorrect view of sin. As an implication, we could say that eight out of ten Americans do not know the biblical God. More on that later. The responses on this particular statement get even mor