Phil Steiger
Is the call of God opposed to a Christian or a pastor being a public intellectual? One man on my Facebook page says that calling a pastor a public intellectual is an insult to the call of God. God does not need educated people to speak through them. This is the kind of anti-intellectualism I... Continue Reading →
A few years ago, I was asked to be part of a brainstorming tour a few of our denominational leaders hosted. The problem that precipitated the tour was the discovery of how few Christians in our pews were biblically literate. Most people who went to church, the study showed, lacked even the basics of biblical... Continue Reading →
In a Start Trek: The Next Generation episode titled, “Chain of Command II,” Picard, captain of the Enterprise, is held captive by a Cardassian inquisitor. Picard is shown four lights and told to say he sees five. Every time he says there are four, he experiences growing levels of torture. The Cardassian torturer hates Picard... Continue Reading →
One of the more dynamic corners of the evangelical world right now can be found by searching for the hashtag, #deconstruction. Over the past few years a few relatively famous Christians have announced that they are deconstructing their faith or have left the faith altogether as a result of the process. A tour through the... Continue Reading →
Job’s three friends are infamous. They go on and on about how Job is supposed to interpret his suffering, returning over and over to the same trope: if you were righteous this would not have happened. Most of the book is devoted to those conversations and Job’s responses. But before we get into the meat... Continue Reading →
Job is not, contrary to popular opinion, about why bad things happen to good people. It is about a sovereign God and the struggle to be faithful in the most difficult of circumstances. If you search for answers to the first question, you will hunt in vain and walk away frustrated by the book. If... Continue Reading →
In hearings in the Supreme Court on January 7th, 2022, Justice Sonya Sotomayor asked counsel this question: “How are human beings different from a machine?” The context was the administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses over 100 employees to be enforced through rules written by OSHA. OSHA has near impunity with regulating the safety and use... Continue Reading →
“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” John 10:3b This really is an incredible thing. It is not incredible that your parents or siblings know your name. It is not surprising that your friends and coworkers know your name. But the God who is greater... Continue Reading →
I just don’t think the love of God should be linked to known falsehoods. It has been popular over the last several years to support various political and social causes by telling Christians that supporting the cause is the same thing as loving your neighbor. This takes one of the two Great Commandments given by... Continue Reading →
“Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God” It is a provocative phrase, but if Benjamin Franklin had his way, it would have been on our national seal, complete with a scene from the book of Exodus. Thomas Jefferson liked the sentiment so much he used it as his personal seal. It isn’t surprising that a... Continue Reading →
Every Thought Captive 