Dr Paul Allen

Author: Denny Burk. I' ve been reading through Helen Pluckrose’s and James Lindsay’s new book  and  I thought I would highlight one particular item that the authors address in the early chapters— research justice . In  Cynical Theories , the authors demonstrate that modern Critical Theory is essentially applied post-modernism. Applied post-modernism involves a number of ideological commitments including: Scepticism about whether objective knowledge or truth is obtainable. A belief in cultural constructivism. A belief that society is formed of systems of power and hierarchies, which decide what can be known and how. These commitments lead to the conclusion that reason-based and evidence-based arguments are culturally constructed ways of knowing that should  not  have priority over other ways of knowing (e.g., emotivism, spiritism, superstition, experience, etc.). In fact, reason-based and evidence-based arguments are just one more way that a white majority impose...

  As #BlackLivesMatter, White-Fragility, and White-Privilege become flashpoints in our society, and as entire organizations have grown up around the concept of “racial reconciliation” it is critical to remember that Christians should think differently than the world on the topic of race.   The world is fully embroiled in this issue. The phrase “Black Lives Matter” gets painted on the streets, while others explain why they reject the organization. The problematic book “White-Fragility” becomes a best-seller, but there are enough secular take-downs of the book that its effect seems to be sufficiently blunted (although I’m sure evangelicals—often a year-late to cultural parties—will still entertain it for a while). I don’t know if this is true for all pastors, but I have had more conversations and emails on race than I can recall having on any other contemporary issue. It seems like daily I am asked about my understanding of race and racial reconciliation within the church. ...

In conversations about race, too often we treat disagreement as evil, and we attribute the worst motives to those who disagree with us on complex issues. This is the way the world responds to disagreement, but Christians should be different. What follows are some balancing principles to remember in the wake of George Floyd’s tragic death, and the current turmoil that has come as a result of it: To grieve and lament over the tragic death of George Floyd is not an affirmation of the cultural narrative .  Jesus wept over Lazarus but for different reasons, which were unbeknownst to the on-looking professional mourners (Jn 11:35).  The issue is how and why we grieve.  Satan has always attempted to infiltrate the Church and lure her away at points where the world seems to share a common cause (2 Cor 11:14-15).  He is both a liar and a murderer from the beginning (Jn 8:44).  He is behind George Floyd’s death, and he is also behind the cunning cultural narrativ...

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians  9:24 –27) Corinth was the host city to the Isthmian games, where elite athletes from all over the ancient Greek-speaking world gathered to compete in years between the quadrennial Olympiad. So Paul’s analogy was particularly powerful for his Corinthian readers. And what Paul was saying would have been just as convicting to the affluent, indulgent First Century Corinthians as it is to us affluent, indulgent 21st century Christians in the West: the Christian life should be lived with the ruthless focus and discipline of an elite athlete. But let’s ...