Dr Paul Allen

Tom Gilson Pressure can take you out — but it doesn’t have to. There’s a lesson for Christians on that in recent events. The U.S. Navy submersible vehicle Alvin has made more than 5,000 deep water dives as far down as 18,500 feet, and has always returned intact. The Titan sub was less than 70% that deep when it failed. It’s possible to dive that deep, but it’s possible to fail, too. The difference is in the quality of the vessel. The Titan’s pilot and passengers thought they were safe, and indeed, in shallower waters they would have been. Under enormous deep water pressures, however — well over 2 tons per square inch — that trust tragically imploded. I trust that learning from them does them honor in their tragedy, because pressure on Christianity in the West is becoming enormous, too. Will we hold firm? Persecution is nothing new to Christians. Even today, hundreds of millions of believers face pressures we Westerners could hardly imagine. The difference here in the West is in the rat...

Radical liberal theologians such as Rudolph Bultmann maintain that Scripture is not revelation—that neither words nor nature reveal God. We must look to wordless “encounters” or mystical experiences. God reveals himself in many ways. First, let us focus on the necessary relationship between God’s acts and God’s words. Perhaps the best illustration of this relationship is the crucifixion of Christ, which surely is the central event of history. But what do we know about this event? What does it mean? Here is a Jew being crucified outside Jerusalem. How would you interpret this event? How does the Man on the center cross differ from those crucified on either side of him? Does his death differ from theirs? The Roman interpretation is that this man has been charged, probably falsely, with insurrection. To prevent trouble, however, they will play along with the Jewish leaders. The Jewish Sanhedrin is partly concerned that this Man’s teaching will bring down Roman wrath upon Israel. The...