Dr Paul Allen

As a citizen of this country, I was shocked and profoundly disturbed by the  murder of two police officers and an innocent civilian  by the Trains in Wieambilla in December 2022. This was a heinous crime that should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. As a Christian theologian, I was also startled to hear the Queensland Police describe this crime as  “a religiously-motivated terrorist attack”  on the basis that Nathaniel, Gareth, and Stacey Train subscribed to “a broad Christian fundamentalist belief system, known as premillennialism.” Listening to last week’s  press conference conducted by Deputy Police Commissioner Tracy Linford , it was hard to resist the impression that she was struggling to understand the belief system she had been tasked with explaining. For instance, she stated that “premillennialism” is the belief: "that Christ will return to the earth for a thousand days and provide peace and prosperity, but it will be preceded by … a period ...

Image via Wikipedia By Albert Mohler. The news that a huge stash of digital pornography had been discovered on the computers taken from Osama bin Laden ’s compound was big news, but it should not have been a big surprise.  As Scott Shane of The New York Times  reports, the discovery “could fuel accusations of hypocrisy against the founder of Al Qaeda , who was 54 and lived with three wives at the time of his death.” Well, he would hardly be the first married man caught with a porn stash, but in this case, Osama bin Laden had repeatedly accused the United States of immorality, with specific reference to pornography and sexualized images. In 2002, bin Laden released a ‘Letter to the American People,” in which he attacked American sexual mores. In his words: There is considerable truth in his criticism of America’s sinfully-sexualized and pornography-drenched culture, of course. Americans should be humiliated that we are known for such cultural exports to other nations. And ye...

Image via Wikipedia Since President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden was dead,  Internet skepticism  has been on a  steady and troubling rise . So much so that the White House had  considered   releasing  gory photos of bin Laden’s body before deciding yesterday  against it. It’s just as well. I am convinced providing such evidence would have done no good. Conspiracy theories and doubt would linger. It’s an unsettling phenomenon that raises questions not only about the lack of trust in government, but also about the distinctions that must be made between irrational incredulity and a Christian belief that rests on faith rather than evidence.  If I root my faith in emotional belief rather than cool-headed logic, how am I different from “birthers” and “deathers?” Two recent articles written before last weekend’s Pakistan mission have provoked me to thought. In the first,  Discovery Channel’s Benjamin Radford  addre...

Image via Wikipedia Common grace is more potent than we normally think. Special grace, on the other hand, is likely more nuanced than we tend to think. As these United States celebrate the just end to the life of Osama bin Laden , I’m afraid we are in danger of missing both of these truths.  First, common grace is keeping the world from being populated with nothing but Osama bin Ladens. The difference between bin Laden and Gandhi isn’t that bin Laden was evil enough to embrace an evil, violent religion while Gandhi was good enough to at least choose and teach a more gentle, false religion.  The difference is the amount of common grace given by the living God , the Father of our Lord Jesus .  Both men were sinners. Neither gave any sign of having turned to the cross and clinging to the finished work of Christ. And so both men find themselves well beyond the reach of any grace, in eternal torment. Both are receiving what they so richly deserve. The state itself ...