Breakpoint

Today, January 13, we remember the Hussites who, on this day in 1501, published the first hymnal in history written in the language of the common people. The descendants of the Hussites are known as the Moravian Brethren, who carry on the rich tradition of hymns and church music today. Christians have good reason to commemorate this event. After all, ours, like Judaism, has always been a singing faith. The longest book in the Bible, and the one at its center, is the Psalms, a word that means "songs." David's plans for the Temple included clans of Levites whose entire job was music. Choirs, soloists, orchestras, and antiphonal singing were prescribed parts of Temple life and practice, and an entire class of Psalms, the Songs of Ascent, were sung by the people as they traveled to Jerusalem for the annual pilgrimage festivals. Throughout the biblical texts, music is also connected to prophecy and to dealing with evil spirits. Jesus and the apostles sang a hymn after the Last Supper, according to two of the Gospels. The Apostle Paul specifically associates singing with being filled with the Spirit in his epistle to the church at Ephesus. And, in John's Revelation of what is constantly happening around the throne of God, there is lots of singing, sometimes accompanied by harps. Music also is part of the culmination of the creation story. When Eve is taken from Adam's side, Adam awakes and exclaims, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Many scholars believe this to essentially be a celebratory song. Eliminating the musical element from the text of Scripture would be to gut them and the practices that have emerged from them. Monks chanted the Psalms daily, in some cases covering the entire Psalter in a week. Medieval thinkers thought of the human heartbeat, respiration, and daily cycle of sleeping and waking as "music." They also believed the motion of the heavenly bodies was regulated by the "music of the spheres." To the medieval mind, music was a glue holding the universe together. These ideas shaped the imaginations of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, who used music as the agent of creation in their respective tales of Narnia and Middle Earth. In the Reformation, Martin Luther reintroduced congregational singing to the liturgy, an idea that spread through all the branches of Protestantism and, eventually, returned to the Roman Catholic Church. Reformed Christians focused on singing the Psalms and other songs from Scripture, though some also incorporated hymns in their worship. All of this points to a central truth of a Christian worldview, that God loves music. Because music has been so central to Church worship and the Christian imagination, the first common-language hymnal is a milestone to remember and an opportunity to reflect on how music serves Christian worship today. While I have no desire to reignite the "worship wars" of recent decades, Christians should not think of music as mere decoration to services that are really about teaching and preaching. The essential question, even as music styles change and new music is created and incorporated, is what is music in worship services for? The Psalms offer essential guidance. Some are songs of praise, others are confessions, but the largest category of Psalms are laments. In other words, the Psalms cover the full range of human emotions, bringing the totality of human experience into corporate worship. And yet, the Psalms always direct our attention to God. Even when talking about their own experiences and hardships, they always turn attention outward and upward, from self and toward God. And often, this is done by remembering what God has done and who He has revealed Himself to be. Too often, music utilized in churches fails to take us past expressing our own thoughts and feelings about God and, too often, only songs that elicit positive and happy emotions are sung. This does not follow the model of Scripture, a model that helps God's people see trouble and sorrow in light of God's faithfulness and character. This also misses what music is for. Music instructs. It is a tool of catechetical instruction, not merely a time of self-expression. In the end, songs centered on the subjective experience of Christians quickly become sources of bad theology. Another consideration is that music is for the entire congregation. When music in the church is primarily about the performance of professional musicians, the songs are unsingable to much of the congregation. This is not an issue of style or preference. I thank God for modern writers of hymns and songs committed to producing music that is true and excellent for the glory of God and the people of God. Music is a gift of God, a unique way of connecting His revelation with our hearts and minds. St. Augustine is thought to have said, "he who sings, prays twice." The Church must recover a more robust understanding and practice of music. Th

As we celebrate Christmas today, let's look back at the world into which the Word who became flesh entered human history. It was a world shaped by the worship of false gods, gods who didn't care about their worshippers with worshippers who didn't care much about each other. The God who became flesh changed everything. His life, death, and resurrection not only exposed the false gods for the counterfeits they were, but His followers demonstrated a new way. As historian Rodney Stark puts it, Jesus' followers offered "mercy and security" to a world filled with "squalor, misery, illness, and anonymity." What started in Bethlehem two millennia ago continues today. Jesus is still disarming false "gods," like money, fame, sex, and power, and His followers are still called to to offer a better way of being human than anything currently offered in contemporary society. This is the gift we have to offer the world. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org This Point was originally published on December 25, 2020.

As you enjoy this Christmas in the company of friends and family, be sure to reflect on how the babe in the manger reveals to us God's wonderful love. But even more, as Chuck Colson explained over a decade ago, remember the cosmic implications of the incarnation … that God would indeed become flesh. Here is Chuck Colson. "The manger scene inspires a sense of awe and comfort to the hearts of Christians everywhere. But we often forget the staggering implications of Christmas. What image does the mention of Christmas typically conjure up? For most of us, it's a babe lying in a manger while Mary and Joseph, angels, and assorted animals look on. Heartwarming picture, but Christmas is about far more than a Child's birth—even the Savior's birth. It's about the Incarnation: God Himself, Creator of heaven and Earth, invading planet Earth, becoming flesh and dwelling among us. It's a staggering thought. Think of it: The Word—that is, Logos in the Greek, which meant all knowledge that could be known, the plan of creation—that is, ultimate reality, becomes mere man? And that He was not born of an earthly king and queen, but of a virgin of a backwater village named Nazareth? Certainly, God delights in confounding worldly wisdom and human expectations. Thirty years after His humble birth, Jesus increased the Jews' befuddlement when He read from the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor … to proclaim release to the captives … to set free those who are downtrodden.' Jesus then turned the scroll back and announced, 'Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.' In effect, the carpenter's son had just announced He was the King. So yes, the birth of Jesus is a glorious moment, and the manger scene brings comfort and joy and Christmas cheer. But it should also inspire a holy terror in us—that this baby is God incarnate, the King who came to set captives free, through His violent, bloody death on the cross as atonement for us, His unworthy subjects. It's through the Incarnation God sets His grand plan in motion. He invades planet Earth, establishing His reign through Christ's earthly ministry. And then Christ leaves behind an occupying force, His Church, which is to carry on the work of redemption until His return and the kingdom's final triumph. Do we get this? I'm afraid most of us are so preoccupied and distracted by last-minute Christmas shopping and consumerism, we fail to see God's cosmic plan of redemption in which we, as fallen creatures, are directly involved. Well, the average Christian may not "get" this announcement, but those locked behind bars do. Whenever I preach in the prisons, and I read Christ's inaugural sermon, Luke 4:18, and when I quote His promise of freedom for prisoners, they often raise their arms and cheer. The message of Jesus means freedom and victory for those who once had no hope. They're not distracted by the encumbrance of wealth and comfort. People in the developing world get it, too. Whenever I've shared this message with the poor and oppressed people overseas, I see eyes brightening. Stripped of all material blessings, exploited by earthly powers, they long for the bold new kingdom of Christ. Today is Christmas. Go ahead, enjoy singing about and celebrating the birth of the Savior. Set up a manger scene in your home. But don't forget this earth-shaking truth: The birth of the Baby in the manger was the thrilling signal that God had invaded the planet. And that gives us real reason to celebrate Christmas. For all of us at Breakpoint, this is Chuck Colson in Washington, wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas." For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org This Breakpoint was originally published on December 23, 2020.

John and Maria discuss the inconsistencies and fallout from the Pope's decision to "bless" same sex "marriage". A New York Times op-ed criticizes a popular children's program for its dad-affirming story lines. Also, John and Maria take a look at the theology of Christmas. Recommendations A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens The Muppet Christmas Carol Let Our Gladness Have No End by Sara Groves Segment 1: Papal Blessing of Same Sex Marriage "After approving blessings for same-sex couples, Pope asks Vatican staff to avoid 'rigid ideologies'" "Pop Francis Allows Priests to Bless Same-Sex Couples" Segment 2: Bluey Under Attack "'Bluey' and 'Chip Chilla' Offer a Fantasy of a Fun TV Dad" Segment 3: Theology of Christmas For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

In anticipation of Christmas, let's revisit the account from Luke 1 of the angel Gabriel visiting Zechariah to announce the birth of his son, John. According to Gabriel, John's role was "to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." Karl Barth, the famous 20th-century theologian, was inspired by a depiction of John the Baptist by Renaissance painter Matthias Grünewald. In it, John stands to the right of the crucified Christ, pointing, as Barth put it, "in an almost impossible way" toward His savior. Barth had a print of the work hanging in his office. It reminded him that his job was not merely critiquing theology but always pointing to Christ. As we enter Christmas and the New Year, let's do the same—keep pointing to Christ. And as we point to Christ, we point to reality, because in Him, as the Apostle Paul says, "all things hold together." For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org This Point was first published 12.23.22.

One overlooked grace from God is that He, in His infinite wisdom, gave us four Gospels, instead of just one or two. For example, if it were up to only Matthew and Mark, we'd have the impression that John the Baptizer appeared out of nowhere and was more than a little weird. After all, it is from their accounts of John that we learn of his odd wardrobe and even odder diet. A point about John that every one of the Gospels emphasizes is that he was a fulfillment of a promise from the prophets Malachi and Isaiah: "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me" (Malachi 3:1). A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God" (Isaiah 40:3). Neither Matthew, whose Gospel begins with a nativity story, nor Mark, whose Gospel does not contain an account of Jesus' birth, include any details that connect John to the beginning of Jesus' story. Luke and John, however, do make that connection. Luke's Gospel contains the most details about John's beginning, specifically that, like Jesus, John's birth was miraculous and also involved a visitation from the angel Gabriel. But it is one particular detail, one often overlooked detail, that is especially remarkable and instructive for our cultural moment. Luke reveals that John the Baptist was the first person—other than Mary, who was told by the angel—to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. While Mary was still pregnant with Jesus, she went to visit John's mother Elizabeth, who was also still pregnant. Luke describes what happened, likely telling the story as he had heard it from Mary herself: "And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.'" So, Elizabeth then becomes the third person to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, and she seems to imply that her own preborn child had informed her about the identity of Mary's preborn child. This account, described in only six verses, speaks volumes about how God thinks of life in the womb, when life begins, when our unique identity as human beings begins, the value of preborn human life, and even how God's purpose for our lives means something from the start. In fact, the angel Gabriel had already informed Zechariah, John's father, about who his son would be: "[Y]our wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." In this interaction between Mary, Elizabeth, and their preborn children, John is already fulfilling the purposes God has for him, in utero. While still in her womb, John helped his own mother prepare for the coming of the Lord. She then encouraged Mary in her preparation for the coming of the Lord, the One she was carrying at that time. After Elizabeth's encouragement, Mary breaks out into song, the Magnificat, uttering words that have not only instructed and encouraged millions of people throughout Christian history as they prepare for the Lord, but which also definitively answer the question immortalized in another song, "Mary, Did You Know?" Apparently, she knew, and she composed a whole song about it. As we head to the end of 2023, would you keep Breakpoint and the Colson Center in mind as you plan your year-end giving? These daily commentaries reach and equip hundreds of thousands of people each week, carrying on the vision that God gave Chuck Colson 35 years ago. If Breakpoint has helped you think clearly in 2023 about this cultural moment, you can support the work at colsoncenter.org/give. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Back in 2016, Steve Tennes, owner of Country Mill Farms, posted on Facebook that because of their deeply held religious beliefs about marriage, the farm would continue to host weddings, but only between a man and a woman. In response, the city of East Lansing, Michigan, passed a regulation to prevent Country Mill Farms from participating in its farmer's market. This despite the fact that the Tenneses had participated for over five years without complaints. The Alliance Defending Freedom filed suit on their behalf. According to the judge's opinion, the city's policy was "veiled cover for targeting belief or a faith-based practice." Last week, the city of East Lansing agreed to settle and pay $825,000 to Country Mill Farms. According to the ADF press release, "as part of the settlement agreement, the city of East Lansing agreed that Tennes is free to continue running his business in accord with his religious beliefs about marriage without jeopardizing his ability to participate in the city's farmer's market." This is great news for people of conscience. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

In December 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified by the United States. Though these 10 amendments to the Constitution are rarely mentioned after high school civics class, recent events here and abroad offer a glimpse of life without those rights and a reminder why they are so important as a defense against ideological overreach. If a proposed new law passes the legislative process in Ireland, the famous Irish gift of gab will require government approval. As Kristen Waggoner of Alliance Defending Freedom recently noted in Newsweek, this potential restriction is, at best, vague. Even though it targets "hate," it never defines what "hate" is. As she put it, "How is the public to know what kind of speech could be subject to prosecution? Given that "hate" is an impossible word to define in law (and is not defined in this bill), this paves the way for basically any expression considered unfavorable to be prosecuted in the future." Vagueness in a national law is, in practice, an open invitation for state-based abuse, yet that is not this particular law's only problem. If it goes forward, refusing to give the police your password if they have a search warrant will be treated as a crime, and merely possessing material that "is likely to incite violence or hatred" might get you two years in jail. In other words, according to this proposed law, a crime doesn't even have to involve actually hating anyone or saying something that could be hateful. Anything that the powers-that-be think could possibly be interpreted as hateful would be sufficient. It's no wonder Waggoner added, "[I]t's not hard to imagine Ireland rapidly descending into an authoritarian state with the passage of this law." Back in June, Pauline O'Reilly of the Green Party defended the proposed law with a line directly out of the totalitarian playbook: "We are restricting freedom, but we're doing it for the common good." This would include curtailing rights guaranteed in the Irish constitution "if people's views on others cause them deep discomfort." Again, under this view, no crime has to be committed, if someone is caused "deep discomfort." This kind of scrutiny will, of course, target some and not others. To paraphrase George Orwell's great line from Animal Farm, all discomfort is equally wrong, but some are more equal than others. The way this inverted logic most often plays out is by the argument that not all speech is protected speech. Typically, this reasoning is followed by the necessary caveat, "After all, you can't yell fire in a theater!" This logical-sounding and necessary exception, however, becomes less exceptional when it is applied to more and more speech that a select few deem dangerous. In practice, at least in the United States, appeals to burning theaters have rarely, if ever, held up in court. As Jeff Kosseff notes in his new book Liar in a Crowded Theater, "[O]ne reason that a wider swath of false speech does not fall within an exception to the First Amendment is because regulation is simply not terribly effective at achieving the government's goals." The First Amendment has, so far, been an effective barrier against unnecessary limits on freedoms, even when done "for our good." On the other hand, situations in European countries that lack anything like our First Amendment, not to mention the selective censorship at America's elite universities, expose how much can go wrong when there's nothing to limit the people in power from acting for our own good. As C. S. Lewis put it in God in the Dock: "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." The reason that the speech protections of the First Amendment, with its guarantees of liberty of conscience, do not exclude speech that is merely offensive is that inoffensive speech doesn't need protection. By allowing potentially and even truly wrong things to be said, the Bill of Rights ensures space for the truth to be heard, and for those committed to truth to make the case for it. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy Padgett. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

On Monday, a document released by the Vatican doctrine office announced what the Associated Press called "a radical change in Vatican policy." In it, Pope Francis formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples as long as it was not done "liturgically" nor could otherwise be confused with the Sacrament of Marriage. If he hoped to avoid confusion, he failed. Confusion is, unfortunately, a standard part of Francis' tenure, who tends to lead and speak in ways less than clear. In fact, the announcement took the same two approaches that have long characterized moves made to liberalize Christianity to a progressive vision of sexuality and marriage. The first approach is to separate doctrine from love, as if clarity on a doctrinal point is incompatible with love of God and love of others. The second approach is to separate doctrine from pastoral practice, as if telling the truth about something core to who we are as human beings isn't one of the most important aspects of pastoring. This kind of confusion never comes from God. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Nearly a year after COVID shutdowns began in the United States, the ABC affiliate in San Francisco ran this headline: "Private schools opening in-person where public schools aren't." In February 2021, while the majority of private schools in California were back in-person, most public schools were still "distance learning." Around the same time, the public health department in Toledo, Ohio, had ordered all schools back to distance learning for the winter. Local gyms, offices, and casinos were allowed to stay open. In response, a small private Christian school sued. The 6th Circuit decided in their favor, and the school stayed open while every public school in the area remained closed. Stories like this repeated all over the country from the fall of 2020 through the end of the pandemic. Public schools, under the direction of teachers' unions and, at times, overzealous public officials, stayed closed for weeks, months, and, in some cases, years longer than private schools. Now, the results are in from these experiments, and the data show a devastating effect on kids. Last month, The New York Times editorial board wrote that "The Startling Evidence on Learning Loss Is In." According to the piece, school closures set math and reading scores among 9-year-old students back by at least 20 years. "The challenges have been compounded by an epidemic of absenteeism," the editors wrote, "as students who grew accustomed to missing school during the pandemic continue to do so after the resumption of in-person classes." Tragically, too many public officials were taken in by the narrative that to contract COVID, even for kids at low risk for serious infection, was more dangerous than two decades' worth of learning loss. Unfortunately, kids are now paying the price. And as this generation of kids gets older, society will pay the price, too. The fact that so-called "distance learning" was mostly "no learning" says a lot about the kind of creatures human beings are. Kids, like all humans, are embodied beings, which makes being physically together with others a categorically different thing than only seeing faces on a screen. God made us for relationships. As helpful as computers and phones are, they are not substitutes for real people. In short, technology can enhance learning, but even the most sophisticated technologies should not shape learning. The data on COVID-era learning loss reveals something else about children. The terrible numbers were not nearly as terrible for kids with heavily engaged parents. This played out in multiple ways. In the cases of schools that reopened much earlier than others, it was often parents pushing local officials. For kids forced into prolonged distance learning, those with parents who made sure they showed up to Zoom class and helped with homework did best overall. Of course, the importance of parental engagement in education was another condition that pre-existed COVID. Still, data from before, during, and after the pandemic show that parents are the single most important factor in the education of a child and a healthy home the most important ingredient for a successful life. This is a remarkable opportunity for Christians. The Church has always cared about kids, and the Church has always cared about education. The state-centric way of trying to prepare a new generation of citizens is not fulfilling its promise. Thankfully, there are many Christians dedicated to serving kids as best they can in and out of public schools. Others are innovating new ways to do school, including starting Christian schools inside church buildings in struggling communities. Others are advocating for school choice so that every family can afford to send their kids to schools that will serve them best. And others are working to provide resources and opportunities for those kids who remain within the public system. This is why the Colson Center has doubled down on our investment in Christians who are called to the realm of education. To this end, we have developed resources to form teachers in a Christian worldview and help them apply it to their work. Find out more and access the free training resources at educators.colsoncenter.org. To support this work and resource more educators with a Christian worldview, give at colsoncenter.org/december. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

The Supreme Court has decided to hear a case about chemical abortion. The case will consider whether certain regulations for the so-called "abortion pill" (which is really a two-pill regimen) should have been jettisoned in 2021 when, using COVID as cover, the FDA removed the requirement of an in-person consultation before issuing a prescription. Chemical abortions are now accessed by mail and telemedicine across state lines. Unfortunately, the case won't consider the FDA's original approval of chemical abortion, which was rushed through two decades ago without adequate consideration of the risk to women. Now, without the supervision of a medical professional, the risk to women is even greater. In fact, chemical abortions carry a complication rate four times higher than surgical abortion. Of course, there are no safe abortions anyway. Every "successful" abortion always results in the loss of life. Abortion by mail only makes both the vulnerable and the guilty less accountable for a terrible decision. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

In the beloved movie The Princess Bride the character Vizzini frequently cries, "inconceivable!" about things that keep happening. Finally, another character observes, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." That scene comes to mind annually, when Merriam-Webster Dictionary announces its "word of the year." The announcement is intended to recognize words that have defined our cultural moment. In recent years, it has recognized words our cultural moment has redefined. For example, last year's word "gaslighting" describes unhealthy behavior in which someone tries to manipulate you into questioning your sanity. However, like the word "toxic" before it, "gaslighting" is now a catch-all term used by some to shut down pretty much anyone who disagrees with them. "They" was the 2019 word of the year, which, in ordinary English, is a third-person plural pronoun. In today's Newspeak, it's a mandatory way of referring to someone who claims to be "nonbinary," also a redefined word. This year's word is "authentic," which the dictionary defines as "not false or imitation: real, actual," or "worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact." However, the context in which this word is most frequently and passionately used is the debate over gender identity, as in "be your authentic self." So, it now refers to anything but reality or conformity to fact. To be "authentic" in 2023 often means stubbornly ignoring fact, hormonally masking or surgically reconstructing fact, and demanding that others also ignore fact, even in classrooms, competitions, locker rooms, and in print. In short, "authenticity" now means conformity with subjective internal feelings that are widely assumed to be the defining feature of individuals and the highest value in society. Theologian Carl Trueman documented how we got to this place—how the self became psychologized, how psychology became sexualized, and how sex became politicized—in his book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. This new definition of "authenticity" is part of that story—that living a fulfilling life consists primarily in looking within, discovering who you "truly are," and then projecting that identity into the world. These are all central to his account. Trueman explains: "Expressive individualism particularly refers to the idea that in order to be fulfilled, in order to be an authentic person, in order to be genuinely me, I need to be able to express outwardly or perform publicly that which I feel I am inside. … In a society where the expressive individual is increasingly the norm and increasingly presented as that which we should all be, then the idea of society itself forcing us to play a role that we don't feel comfortable with inside makes us inauthentic." This new definition of "authentic," that what I feel inside is the highest truth, would have baffled people in centuries past and still baffles many non-Westerners today. However, the real problem is that this new definition of "authentic" is utter nonsense. Truth is not primarily subjective but objective. Reality is not decided by individuals but given by a Creator. One of the things our Creator both demands of us and enables us to do through redemption is conform our inner selves to His will and design, which He reveals, objectively, in both creation and Scripture. To be authentically me is to be who God says I am. Our identity is established by, guaranteed by, and secured in Jesus Christ. Even more important than getting words right is pointing to the reality to which words refer and are permanently tethered. Words become nonsense otherwise, and that should make this practice of redefining words truly "inconceivable." Before I sign off today, I wanted to say thank you for making Breakpoint a part of your Christian worldview diet. Everywhere I travel, I meet listeners who share how these daily doses of clarity help them think biblically, have hard conversations, and disciple their kids and grandkids. If Breakpoint has been a help to you and your family, please consider making a year-end gift of support at colsoncenter.org/give. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Shane Morris. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

A listener recently asked how to respond to the accusation that Christians are not free thinkers. One way is to go over the list of novelists, artists, scientists, and philosophers from the last two millennia and see how many of them were Christians or worked from a broadly Christian framework. Consider also how much art over the past 20 centuries can be called "sacred." Read Augustine of Hippo or Jonathan Edwards and see if they qualify as free thinkers. Learn about the lives of scientists like Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Galileo and others. And then look up how much science advanced before Christian civilization. Christians believe the world is knowable and that, made in God's image, we are knowers. There is no thinking without that basis. And then you need to be clear about the word "free." Historically, that meant the freedom to do whatever he or she wanted to do. Those people rarely made the world better. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Many Christians are familiar with the beautiful and tender words of the medieval theologian Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) in the hymns "O Sacred Head Now Wounded," "Jesus the Very Thought of Thee," and "Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts." Like other Church Fathers, he also preached on the topics of Advent and Christmas and had rich words to share. As well as a theologian, Bernard was a Church reformer, mystic, and abbot of the Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux. He played important roles in both ecclesiastical and secular politics, particularly as a preacher of the Second Crusade. Because of his eloquence and his emphasis on divine love, Dante made him his final guide of Paradise in his Divine Comedy. He was also cited by major Protestant Reformers such as Luther and Calvin as supporting justification by faith. Although Bernard is known for holding a very high view of Mary, the overall focus of his Sermon 9 on the Nativity remains squarely on Jesus. It was built around a repeated refrain: "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is born in Bethlehem of Judah." In the first part of the sermon, Bernard emphasized the absolute wonder of this proclamation: A voice of gladness has resounded in our land. In the dwellings of sinners a voice of joy and salvation has been heard. The good news has been announced, news of comfort, news of rejoicing, worthy of all acceptance. Rejoice and give praise, O you mountains. All you trees of the forest applaud before the face of the Lord, for now he is coming. Hear, you heavens; and you, earth, give ear. Let the whole of creation be astounded and give praise; but you, O humans, above all others. For "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is born in Bethlehem of Judah." Bernard described this news as the sweetest, the most delightful, and the best to ever come to Earth. Words were inadequate, he said, to express the love that wells up in his heart at the beauty of the message. He then explained that every word in the sentence is full of meaning. The name "Jesus" points to Him as the source of salvation. The title "Christ" points to His anointing and the healing unction He provides. The title "Son of God" points to His greatness and the gifts He gives. Bernard continued: Take courage, you who are lost, for to seek and save that which was lost Jesus now comes. Return to health, you who are sick, for with the ointment of mercy Christ comes to heal the contrite of heart. Rejoice all you who are ambitious for great things, for the Son of God descends on you to make you co-heirs of his own kingdom. … Why has the Son of God become Man but in order to make all men sons of God? Who, then, will resist his will? Jesus forgives us: who then will condemn us? Christ heals us: who will hurt us? The Son of God raises us up: who will put us down? Jesus is born: let the person whose sinful conscience deserves eternal damnation rejoice, for Jesus' pity exceeds all crimes, no matter how great their number or enormity. Christ is born: therefore, let the person who is tormented by deeply rooted vices rejoice. For no spiritual illness, no matter how chronic, can stand its ground before Christ's healing ointment. The Son of God is born: let him whose habit is to desire great things rejoice, for the giver of great things is at hand. Then Bernard explained "in Bethlehem of Judah." Bethlehem means "house of bread," and so we need to receive the food that comes from heaven in Scripture and in Christ, the Bread of Life. He noted that Jesus could have been born in a palace, but instead chose a small, poor village, because the only commodity absent in heaven and abundant on Earth is poverty. Citing Genesis 49, Bernard defined "Judah" as "confession," concluding that we need to become like Bethlehem in Judah, receiving Jesus by faith and confessing Him with our mouth so that we may be saved. Bernard's sermon reminds us how easy it is to miss the astonishing wonder of all that the Incarnation means. So, to celebrate Christ's birth, we must intentionally take the time to ponder the wonder of it, rejoice in it, and respond in faith to all that God has done for us. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

John Stonestreet and Maria Baer discuss prenatal genetic testing and Trisomy 18 after a Texas woman's request for an abortion was denied by the Texas Supreme Court. Also, Rob Reiner is releasing a negative documentary on Christian Nationalism, and SCOTUS will hear a challenge on access to the abortion pill mifepristone. Recommendations Colson Center National Conference Segment 1: Prenatal Genetic Testing and the Texas Abortion Case "TX Supreme Court Rules Woman Can't Get In-State Abortion" "5 Things to know about the latest abortion case in Texas" Segment 2: New Documentary on "Christian Nationalism" "Rob Reiner Takes on Christian Nationalism Threat in "God and Country" Trailer" "Rob Reiner is deluded about 'Christian Nationalism'" Segment 3: Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case on Abortion Drug Access "Supreme Court Agrees to Take Up Case on abortion drug access" "Appeals Court Rules FDA Must Restore Safeguards for Chemical Abortion Drugs" For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

According to conservative commentator Ann Coulter, the pro-life movement "has gone from compassion for the child to cruelty to the mother (and child). Trisomy 18 is not a condition that is compatible with life." She was referring to a Texas Supreme Court decision rejecting a woman's request for an abortion on the basis of a health exception. Trisomy 18 is a genetic disorder of which 50% of babies die within their first week of life and 90-95% don't survive after one year. But this shows why phrases like "incompatible with life" are so problematic. Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum responded to Coulter with a photo of his daughter Bella, who has Trisomy 18, and is now 15 years old. Trisomy 18 does not risk the life of the mom. And Trisomy 18 does not make a baby less human, and therefore no less valuable. But adopting language like "incompatible with life" will make doing the right thing far less likely. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Rob Reiner, known for his role as "Meathead" in the 1970s sitcom All in the Family and for producing movie classics like The Princess Bride, recently announced a new documentary he helped produce about the dangers of Christian Nationalism. According to Reiner, opposing abortion and the LGBTQ agenda are central tenets of Christian Nationalism. Several evangelicals, current and former, are featured in the documentary. It's always strange when a non-Christian explains to Christians what is and what is not true Christianity. Even stranger is when professing Christians who have abandoned Christian moral teaching about creation, sex, and marriage—as is the case with a few of the experts interviewed—are asked to define Christian faithfulness. All of this means that believers need to have a better understanding of this contentious idea, which has gotten so much attention in recent years. A helpful place to start is to understand the place of nations in the Christian concept of the world. The first use of the Hebrew word for "nation" appears in Genesis 10 in a listing of nations that descended from the sons of Noah. It's notable that this first reference comes before the Tower of Babel, when God created more nations by confusing the languages and scattering people across the Earth. Nations, it seems, were part of God's plan for humanity even before the rebellion at Babel. And, in that story, the dividing into tongues and scattering of people is described more as an act of mercy than judgment, to prevent humans from doing all that was possible as one people. In Genesis 12, God tells Abram that his descendants would become a great nation, and that, through them, all the nations of the world would be blessed. The Old Testament frequently refers to the Jewish people as a nation and uses the same word to describe the kingdoms and empires around them. In the New Testament, ethne, the Greek word for "nation," most famously appears in Jesus' instructions to make disciples "of all nations," which is a fulfillment of God's original promise to Abraham. Also interesting is that in the New Testament, language about nations seems to exclude "empire." Though ethne can be translated either as "people group" or "nation," the two are related. Historically, the word "nation" referred to a relatively homogenous group, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically. Each kingdom of the ancient world mostly consisted of people of a single nation. Thus, ethne can refer to a people group within an empire, but not to empires themselves which contain multiple nations. Nations are also present in biblical descriptions of the coming Kingdom. So, it seems that something of the nations will survive into eternity. For example, Micah 4:2 says: Many nations shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Also, Revelation 21:24 says that "by the light [of God and of the Lamb] will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it [the New Jerusalem]." Of course, because human beings are fallen, everything humans build is susceptible to sin, including nations. Just as sins characterize our lives as individuals, certain sins dominate nations, corrupting their cultures. And, just as humans must be cleansed of sin to enter the Kingdom, so must nations be cleansed from sins to have any place in the New Heavens and New Earth. The high views that J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis held of ancient northern European culture show up in their tales of Narnia and Middle Earth. They believed virtue could be found, but they also recognized the evils of Norse paganism. Thus, they argued for a recovery of a "northernness" cleansed of its paganism and Christianized by the Gospel. All that the cleansing of nations entails isn't clear, but the result is beautifully described in Revelation 7, where "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages" join together in worshipping the Lamb. This confirms that, at least to some degree, our nationality will accompany us into eternity. Rather than homogenizing us, God's Kingdom will be a glorious mosaic of people of different races, ethnicities, and nations. This makes sense given that God delighted in the diversity of His creation. Of course, all good loves, including love of spouse, child, family, community, or culture, can be disordered and even idolatrous. Nationalism becomes idolatry whenever love of nation devolves into an excessive or uncritical devotion, is confused with the Kingdom of God, justifies evil, or engages in a partiality that treats citizens of other nations as less worthy of love or justice or charity. However, the idea that nations should be defined, self-governing, morally upright, and the immediate object of Christian stewardship i

Right to Life News recently shared stories of couples in the U.K. who were pressured to abort their children after learning they may have Down syndrome. In fact, one of the mothers was reminded multiple times that she could legally abort her baby up until birth: "I was told that until my baby had started travelling down the birth canal, I could still terminate." In just the last two years, Scotland has seen an 84% increase in abortions where the baby had been diagnosed with Down syndrome. In the U.S., babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted 85% of the time. In some European nations, as many as 98% of children with the condition are aborted. Many believe that ending the life of a child with Down syndrome is mercy. Yet an overwhelming number of people with Down syndrome and their siblings report high levels of happiness and life satisfaction. Even if they didn't, every life is a gift and should be protected. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a famous twentieth century Christian, was a dynamic and occasionally controversial theologian who became a household name because of his character and courage. When it mattered the most, in a time when many of his fellow Germans—including pastors and priests—embraced Hitler and the Nationalist ideas of the Third Reich, Bonhoeffer stood with conviction. After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, the bulk of German Protestant groups submitted to the oversight of pro-Nazi leaders. These so-called "German Christians" compromised the eternal truths of God to a racist, statist, and eugenicist totalitarian regime. Because of their compromise, they were left free to practice their faith, as long they did not transgress Nazi doctrine. Bonhoeffer, with others such as Martin Niemöller and Karl Barth, did transgress. They also stood against compromising churchmen. Bonhoeffer helped found the dissident Confessing Church and underground seminaries and was among those who published the defiant Barmen Declaration. Rejecting his earlier pacifism, he took on an active role in resistance to Hitler's tyranny, eventually joining the plot to assassinate the madman. Though Bonhoeffer has been rightly praised for his faithfulness and courage in each of these activities, his most courageous act may have been simply going home. In the early years of the Nazi terror, Bonhoeffer went first to the United Kingdom and then the United States, taking up teaching positions in a free, safe part of the world. His conscience, however, did not let him remain in safety while his nation was facing and committing such evil. In 1939, just weeks before the war began, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany. Writing to the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, he explained, "I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people." Despite his courage, Bonhoeffer wasn't perfect. His theology, at times, strays and is puzzling. In fact, one of his most important co-laborers, Karl Barth, had his own theological complications and moral failings. This is a theme that frequently emerges in Christian history. Figures as prominent as Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr., though used by God in incredible ways, were flawed in behavior and belief. This fits well with the heroes described in Holy Scripture. The author of Hebrews, in chapter 11, offers a list of champions for God that is rightly described as the Bible's Hall of Faith. Even the best of the list, men like Abraham and Moses, are as famous for their flaws as their victories. In the cases of some who are included, like Samson, Gideon, and Jephthah, it's difficult to understand how they are even heroes. Yet there they are included among the others. The danger in refusing to honor the imperfect isn't just the temptation to whitewash others' sins while excusing our own. It's also the temptation to wait for an imaginary tomorrow when everything is just right rather than working today to oppose what's wrong. And it is here that we can learn another lesson from Bonhoeffer. In his book Ethics, he called on Christians to be faithful in the here and now, writing, Do and dare what is right, not swayed by the whim of the moment. Bravely take hold of the real, not dallying now with what might be. Not in the flight of ideas but only in action is freedom. Make up your mind and come out into the tempest of living. For Bonhoeffer, the Christian faith must be lived in the time and place in which God places us. In that sense, courage and faith are inseparable. We must do the right thing, even if the cost is great and even if we feel inadequate for the task. God has called you and me into this tempest of the living. As James instructs, Christianity is not merely believing the right things but doing them, empowered by the Spirit given to us in Christ Jesus. This will mean risk. It may mean failure. But it's through the imperfect faith of His people that God is at work renewing His world. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy Padgett. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

There's more than one recent example of DINKs, or "Dual-Income-No-Kids" married or cohabitating couples, boasting online about their double salaries and lack of responsibilities. DINKs, we are told, eat when and what they want, sleep as late as they wish, and pretty much follow whatever impulse arises. If a movie began with a character going on this much about how life is all about him, or how she only worries about herself, or how happy he is not to care about anyone else, or how she goes after whatever she wants, you'd know up front that this is not the good guy (or girl), or that they were destined to be visited by three ghosts before the next morning. The idea that nothing's better than absolute freedom, and nothing worse than having to rely on others or have others rely on you is a lie. I suspect that if they make another video when they're 80 or 90, it will be quite different. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Last week, the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT refused to condemn calls for Jewish genocide as bullying or harassment. While horrible antisemitic speech and behavior have long been defended on their campuses, this debacle occurred before the United States Congress. The presidents attempted to appeal to free speech rights, differentiating between speech and conduct via statements obviously crafted by lawyers. Their comments shocked and outraged many. UPenn's president resigned, after initially attempting to walk back her comments. Harvard's president quickly apologized, while the MIT board of directors issued a statement in support of their president. Recently, the pseudonymous Tyler Durden documented the scope of the left's stranglehold on academia at the ZeroHedge website. A new survey by The Harvard Crimson found that more than three-quarters of surveyed Harvard faculty identified as "liberal" or "very liberal," while just 2.9% identified as "conservative" or "very conservative." Another study by Kevin Tobia at Georgetown University and Eric Martínez of MIT found that just 9% of law school professors at the nation's top 50 law schools identify as conservative. A survey conducted last year by The College Fix found that 33 out of 65 academic departments across the nation lacked a single Republican professor. Given this virtual monopoly, progressive academics should be confident enough to allow dissenting voices on campus every now and then. However, after years of conservative speakers being canceled and shouted down, it is clear that many progressives only wish to hear their own voices. Some professors have even resorted to denouncing free speech as a threat to their campus dominance. Recently, a pair of faculty members from Arizona State University wrote an essay in The Chronicle of Higher Education entitled (I am not making this up) "Dear Administrators: Enough with the Free-Speech Rhetoric! It concedes too much to right-wing agendas." In the piece, Richard Amesbury and Catherine O'Donnell argue that "calls for greater freedom of speech on campuses, however well-intentioned, risk undermining colleges' central purpose," which, according to them, is "the production of expert knowledge and understanding." Not all opinions ought to be heard, they argue, even opinions from dissenting experts, because "not all opinions are equally valid." The timing of their piece, just prior to the testimonies of the three Ivy League presidents, must be divinely determined. According to these professors, opinions that are valid are "the product of rigorous and reliable disciplines" like the humanities, which include and often prioritize "the study of race and gender." These departments, insist Amesbury and O'Donnell, are not part of the "public sphere," a "speaker's corner," or even a "marketplace of ideas." Instead, these departments and their campuses are sites of production for "expert knowledge and understanding," and should therefore be exempt from free speech, democracy, and public debate. We should no more expect humanities departments to hire dissenting voices, they argue, than "a biology department to hire a creationist or a geography department to host a flat-earther." In other words, woke ideologies are above questioning, according to these professors. In the article, they express outrage that the "knowledge" produced in these fields is not "publicly perceived as authoritative." That loss of credibility, they claim, is not because their ideas are absurd, but because of the "political efforts to delegitimize certain disciplines." As Durden wrote in his ZeroHedge piece, "many ... academics would be outraged if conservatives were to take hold of faculties and start to exclude their views as 'unworthy.'" Yet progressive faculties and administrators aggressively redefine "expert opinion" as those who agree with them, silencing those who disagree on the grounds that they're not experts. The result is an echo chamber, not an education. Last week, the three Ivy League presidents discovered just how disconnected their echo chambers are from the rest of the world. Well, two of them did, anyway. Polling confirms that institutions of higher learning suffer from a public credibility crisis. According to a recent Gallup poll, just 36% of Americans hold confidence in higher education, down 21 points since 2015. It's impossible to look at what has happened on campuses in the last decade, or before Congress last week, and not conclude that this has more than a little to do with the "products" of left-wing "experts." Ideas have consequences, and bad ideas have victims. Few institutions have propagated as many bad ideas and spat them into society as our universities. Among the needs of the hour is the proliferation of Christian scholarship and Christian colleges and universities. I'm hopeful that last week's debacle before Congress is for Christian higher education what the 2020 school board

The Colson Center was among the original signatories of the Promise to America's Children and the Promise to America's Parents. A recent incident in Colorado shows why these promises are so important. An 11-year-old girl on a school trip was assigned to share a bed with a male student who identified as female. Her parents were not given notice that this bed- and room-sharing would even occur. Thankfully, her mom was also on the trip and intervened when her daughter called in a panic. Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the parents to hold the school district accountable. No school should ever enforce ideology at the expense of a child. Parents must protect the minds, bodies, and essential relationships of their children. This means that parents must never be kept in the dark, especially by schools and doctors. To read, sign, and share the Promise to America's Parents go to promisetoamericasparents.org. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

A new documentary entitled 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture claims that the mistranslation of a word in the 1946 Revised Standard Version Bible led to the rampant "homophobia" that now infects the Church. In the film, a Bible researcher and an author claim that a Greek word found in 1 Corinthians 6:9 should not have been translated "homosexuality." Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality … will inherit the kingdom of God. The film claims that the word translated to "homosexuality" is a compound Greek word that combines the concept of an effeminate man with a man sharing a bed with another man. Though that sounds exactly like the definition of "homosexuality," scholars in the film assure viewers that a "historical context" is being missed, and Paul was condemning sexual predation and pederasty rather than homosexuality. This claim is not new, nor is it or the film "groundbreaking," as some have claimed. The normalization of homosexuality has long included efforts to square the behavior with biblical morality. These efforts have taken various forms, such as appealing to the "truly loving God" who "would never" require people to deny their desires; or claiming a moral trajectory to the Bible so that prohibitions against homosexuality no longer apply. Of course, some simply reject the Bible as no longer relevant to our lives, while others employ this strategy of claiming the Scriptures were mistranslated. What is clear from how often these arguments surface, how quickly they are embraced, and how passionately they are defended is that many people really, really wish that the Bible said something different about homosexuality than it does. Also clear is how unprepared many Christians are to respond to the latest reincarnation of one of these arguments, even when they are obviously untrue or, well, silly. While it can be difficult to remain confident in our convictions as the truth grows more unpopular, shaken confidence typically leads to either an embarrassed silence or a loud anger. Either way, it leaves those who need the truth without it. This documentary is the latest example of pulling and positing arguments for LGBTQ affirmation out of thin air and then treating these arguments as legitimate. The trend began roughly 10 years ago, when Matthew Vines gave a speech in a Kansas church that went viral. Citing his personal struggles with same-sex attraction, Vines claimed that the Bible didn't prohibit homosexual activity, because it couldn't. If it did, he said, it would be too painful for gay people, and that pain would be the "bad fruit" about which Scripture warned. Despite a 2,000-year history of Christian belief, tradition, and exegesis to the contrary, many found Vines' assertions to be compelling, a fact that said far more about the sad state of Christian discipleship than his theology. Of course, twisting Scripture to justify belief or behaviors is not new. At no time until now did anyone attempt to claim that the Bible did anything but condemn homosexual acts, a historical fact that undermines the claim made in the documentary that Christian morality on this point dates back only several decades. At the same time, this historical consistency exposes just how serious a problem it is when Christians find these new assertions so compelling. With few exceptions, the questions and complexities of Christian theology have been thoroughly explored and settled. Most challenges to Christian belief and morality leveled by cynics and skeptics have been answered. There is, however, a dramatic gap between the answers that are there, and the answers Christians know. The result is that even absurd assertions, like the one made in this new documentary, confirm the beliefs of the already convinced and convince many who should know better but don't. In fact, the strangest assertion in this new documentary is not even the claim of mistranslation. It's the assertion that Christian opposition to homosexuality began in 1946. The opposite is, of course, true. Despite all the theological squabbles about all sorts of things among various Christian groups throughout Church history, only in recent days and only in a very narrow part of the Western world has anyone doubted that the Bible rejects homosexuality. Christians believe that God has revealed Himself in the world He made and in His Word. On this issue, both clearly tell the same story. In fact, they are the same story. Christians who know this will not be "tossed to and fro" by every wind of false doctrine or by the silly claims of a documentary. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

In a commentary last week, I discussed the tragic popularity of the new 988 national suicide hotline. Dramatic spikes in suicides and suicidality make this kind of intervention (and others) sadly necessary to prevent people from making an irreversible decision. I am thankful, however, that friends at the Restored Hope Network let me know that the hotline directs those who identify as LGBTQ to the Trevor Project, a radical advocacy group whose aim is to push young people toward sexual confusion. In this way, the new suicide hotline is undermining its own ends. Teens who identify as LGBTQ are four times more likely to contemplate and attempt suicide and more likely to struggle with other mental illnesses. The Trevor Project claims this is due to stigma, not mental illness, but that assertion doesn't make sense. The suicide rate has continued to rise as cultural acceptance of LGBTQ ideology and identity has. Christians must take the lead in suicide prevention. To learn how, go to colsoncenter.org/hopealways. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

From the earliest days of the Church, Christian theologians have marveled at the paradoxes found in the incarnation. Among the earliest expressions of this marveling comes from St. Augustine, the most influential theologian in Western Christianity. Augustine was born in 354 in Thagaste, a Roman city in modern Algeria. A brilliant thinker, he initially rejected Christianity as an intellectually empty faith, despite the faithfulness of his mother. After wandering through various pagan philosophies, the equally brilliant St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, showed him how Christianity was superior to pagan philosophies. Augustine became a Christian, and eventually returned to Hippo, where he was elected bishop. Augustine was an expert orator. He had been a teacher of rhetoric in Milan when he met Ambrose. As a Christian, he used his intellectual abilities and communication skills to address both the pressing theological issues and conflicts facing the Church in the late fourth and early fifth centuries as well as the challenges brought by opponents of Christianity. He also employed his impressive skills in his preaching. In his many years as bishop at Hippo, Augustine preached many Christmas sermons that discussed various aspects of the incarnation. One of his most striking sermons addresses the many paradoxes involved in God taking on human flesh. For example, in what is known as Sermon 184, which Augustine delivered sometime before A.D. 396, he pointed out the paradox of God's sovereignty with the vulnerability of becoming a child: "The one who holds the world in being was lying in a manger; he was simultaneously speechless infant and Word. The heavens cannot contain him, [yet] a woman carried him in her bosom. She was ruling our ruler, carrying the one in whom we are, suckling [the bread of life]." In Sermon 191, delivered years later in either A.D. 411 or 412, Augustine was even more pointed about the paradox of the incarnation: "The maker of man, he was made man, so that the director of the stars might be a babe at the breast; that bread might be hungry, and the fountain thirsty; that the light might sleep, and the way be weary from a journey; that the truth might be accused by false witnesses, and the judge of the living and the dead be judged by a mortal judge; that justice might be convicted by the unjust, and discipline be scourged with whips; that the cluster of grapes might be crowned with thorns, and the foundation be hung up on a tree; that strength might grow weak, eternal health [might] be wounded, life [might] die." Like his listeners then, Augustine would want us to consider in the incarnation that which we so often overlook in our familiarity with the story. He also encouraged a response appropriate to the great mystery of the incarnation. In Sermon 184, he said: "So then, let us celebrate the birthday of the Lord with all due festive gatherings. Let men rejoice, let women rejoice. Christ has been born, a man; he has been born of a woman; and each sex has been honored. Now therefore, let everyone, having been condemned in the first man, pass over to the second. It was a woman who sold us death; a woman who bore us life." As Augustine explained, Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh so that our sinful flesh might be cleansed and purified. This shows that it is not the flesh itself at fault, but the sin that corrupts it. That sin must die so that we might live. Thus, Augustine affirmed the created goodness of the body, and with it, the goodness of Creation. He also reminded his listeners that Jesus was born without sin so that we who have sin might be reborn through faith. Not everything in Augustine's Christmas sermons is as theologically clear, but we would do well to ponder his words on the wonder and the many paradoxes of the incarnation and join him in celebrating and rejoicing in the birth of our Lord. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Three presidents of America's most elite universities raised eyebrows this week in their testimony before Congress when they refused to denounce antisemitic hate speech on their campuses. And John and Maria discuss the ethical implications of homosexual couples having children via surrogates. Recommendations The Promise: A Celebration of Christ's Birth by Michael Card Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West Segment 1: University Presidents and Antisemitism "WATCH: Safety First on Campus. Except for Jews" Segment 2: Guy Benson's surrogacy firestorm "Conservative media figures are using homophobia and misogyny to attack surrogacy and IVF" Segment 3: Stories of the Week Hiding the Stats on MAiD For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Late last month, the Vital Statistics Council for Canada released new data about the country's 2022 death rate, citing cancer, heart disease, and COVID-19 as the leading causes of death. Conspicuously absent was the number of Canadians killed under their country's "Medical Assistance in Dying" program, which was 13,241 deaths last year. When the public noticed the omission, Canadian officials clarified: MAiD deaths are officially attributed to whatever ailment the person cited as the reason for their suicide. Given how expansive MAiD has become, that means there will be deaths attributed to autism, anxiety, and other non-fatal conditions. Not only will this hide the skyrocketing numbers of people in Canada dying by state-assistance, it will distort the data public health officials need to track diseases and health trends. Worst of all, it sends the message that disabilities, mental illness, and suffering in general can be as fatal as cancer if we're not strong enough to handle them. That is, like this "official report," a lie. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

It's not uncommon to hear that the divorce rate is the same inside the Church as outside. Though it's not true, even Christians tend to repeat it as if it were. Both the kind of church a married couple attends, and how faithfully they attend, make a notable difference in marital stability. In her new book, The Toxic War on Masculinity, Nancy R. Pearcey, professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University, refuted another widely held misnomer. "Many people assume that most theologically conservative men are patriarchal and domineering. But sociological studies have refuted that negative stereotype. Compared to secular men, devout Christian family men who attend church regularly are more loving husbands and more engaged fathers. They have the lowest rates of divorce. And astonishingly, they have the lowest rate of domestic violence of any major group in America." The research Pearcey is referring to here was first published by sociologist Brad Wilcox in 2017. As Pearcey notes, this research seems unknown, especially by Christians quick to self-flagellate. For example, Pearcey continues, the "Christian" men with the highest divorce rates are those who are not actually in church. She explains: "Most of these men are nominal Christians, which means they are not particularly devout and attend church rarely if at all. They are prone to pick up terms like headship and submission but interpret them through a secular lens of power and control. Surprisingly, research has found that nominal Christian men have the highest rates of divorce and domestic violence—even higher than secular men. … Nominal men skew the statistics, creating the false impression that evangelical men as a group are abusive and domineering." When Pearcey shared these stats online after her book came out, it elicited a cynical and even angry reaction. Pearcey responded by insisting that she did not share the data in defense of complementarianism. "I simply report what the psychologists and sociologists find in their studies of complementarian men. I was totally surprised at how positively they test out. I've been asked why I focused on complementarian couples—the answer is that they are the ones being studied. They're the ones being attacked as inherently oppressive, abusive patriarchs." Unsurprisingly, many responded with stories of bad behavior by men in conservative churches. But, of course, Pearcey was not asserting that abuse never occurs in conservative churches among those with conservative views about men and women. In fact, she opens her new book with the story of her own abusive, churchgoing father. Rather, what Pearcey is arguing in The Toxic War on Masculinity is that a man's conservative views about gender roles aren't as important as his views of the importance and centrality of the family. These husbands, Wilcox has reported, "believe marriage is not primarily about individual fulfillment but about forming a stable, loving home to raise a family. They hold to an ideal of fidelity and permanence." It is because of this view that conservative husbands tend to care about their family the way they do. And, among the positive outcomes are wives who tend to be "the happiest of all wives in America." Once again, Christianity proves to be good. It makes better humans, both men and women. It matters whether or not husbands and wives take the family seriously. It matters whether they think it's important to fulfill the creation mandate of Genesis 1, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." It matters whether they take seriously the words of Jesus when He quoted Genesis 2, that the husband and wife "are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." Apparently, it really matters what men think about themselves, about women, and about families. Though men are often told there is something inherently wrong with being male, as Pearcey writes, "The evidence shows that Christianity has the power to overcome toxic behavior in men and reconcile the sexes—an unexpected finding that has stood up to rigorous empirical testing." Pearcey's The Toxic War on Masculinity is especially important right now, given all the myths and the lies about men that are so often repeated in our world. It's thoughtful and sound, carefully researched and well-written. Even more, it's profoundly helpful. As Pearcey exhorts us in her book, "We should be bold about bringing [the truth about men] into the public square." Thankfully, her book equips us to do just that. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Heather Peterson. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Late last month, Hungarian national Dániel Karsai, who has a progressive neurodegenerative condition, challenged Hungary's ban on assisted suicide before the European Court of Human Rights. Alliance Defending Freedom International has intervened in the case, standing up against the so-called "right to die." In a recent press release, they described the current European landscape when it comes to assisted death: "Of the 46 Member States of the Council of Europe, only six have legalized assisted suicide. The practice has been rejected by legislators in the vast majority of countries. … Countries that have legalized euthanasia now allow the intentional killing of children, those who are physically healthy, and those who have not given their consent." Historically, the "right to die" quickly devolves into a "duty to die" and compromises the conscience rights of physicians and caretakers. Christians must stand for life whenever and however we can. We must always be those who work to heal and never to harm. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

In the competitive world of online status-mongering, courage involves little more than clicking "like" or earning a "mention" in a post that could risk losing a follower or two. Real courage is, of course, something else entirely. It's about doing the right thing when there are real costs. It's taking an unpopular stand, even a dangerous one when sitting back and doing nothing would be far easier. During the dark days of Communist tyranny in Europe, governments spouted their dangerous nonsense, and citizens were expected, often by intimidation, to act as though their folly were true. Refusing meant social ostracization, police supervision, the loss of opportunity and freedom, and the compromise of personal safety. Most citizens ducked their heads and did what they could to survive. Others, however, made the difficult choice to stand up. Their courage entailed not taking up arms or taking to the streets but, in a world where dissent was costly, a simple refusal to go along. Among those who showed this kind of courage was the Bendová family of Czechoslovakia, a family featured in the book Live Not By Lies by Rod Dreher. Kamila Bendová will be a featured guest at the Colson Center National Conference, along with Rod Dreher, to tell the story of her family's courage, even when that courage brought suffering. As Dreher wrote, "She too was a dissident. She kept the family together when the communists put her husband in prison. When Vaclav was tempted by an offer to accept exile in exchange for liberty, she bucked him up, and told him that the things they were fighting for were worth suffering for too." Or, as Terry Mattingly put it, "It didn't matter if the Communists had imprisoned her husband — the late Vaclav Benda, a leading Czech dissident and Catholic intellectual. It didn't matter that state officials had bugged their flat near the medieval heart of the city. It didn't matter if a friend showed up after being tortured at the secret police facility a block away." Faithfully, through years of pressure, threats, and fears, Kamila Bendová showed her children, local students, and fellow citizens that resistance is not futile. Her life is a lesson to us in this cultural moment. Though what we face is less openly dangerous, it is confusing and consequential. As Mattingly wrote, "Traditional families now face threats that are harder to identify than those of the Communist era, said Kamila Bendova. Warning children about the secret police is one thing. In a way, it may be harder for today's parents to convince their children to be truly countercultural in an age of social-media narcissism, gender confusion, online pornography and credit-card materialism." In his book Live Not by Lies, Dreher tells story after story of courageous Christians from the recent past. Their courage can inspire and inform us in this moment, Dreher thinks. "Should totalitarianism, hard or soft, come to America, the police state would not have to establish a web of informants to keep tabs on the private lives of the people. The system we have now already does this—and most Americans are scarcely aware of its thoroughness and ubiquity." Though we do not face the exact tactics of Marxist regimes, we face the expansive power of a de facto social credit system, where holding the "wrong" opinion comes with a social cost. In Britain, railing against the Jewish people and the whole of Western civilization is acceptable, even encouraged, but silently praying outside an abortion clinic brings a visit from the police. Social pressure and government pressure, heightened by corporate pressures, have brought radical and dangerous ideologies into the mainstream. So, now is a time for courage, the kind that refuses to go along with dominant paradigms when it would be easier to be quiet. The Bendová family knew that their children would require tools to think critically and carefully. Ours will too, especially in this age of expressive individualism and ever louder propaganda. We can learn from Kamila Bendová what this kind of intentional parenting entails. How Christians can have a courageous faith is the focus of the 2024 Colson Center National Conference, to be held May 30-June 2 in Arlington, Texas. Joining Kamila Bendová and Rod Dreher are Dr. Albert Mohler, Fr. Calvin Robinson, Dr. Sean McDowell, Dr. Kathy Koch, and author Dr. Neil Shenvi. Only a few hundred spaces remain. To register, go to ColsonConference.org. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy Padgett. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Once again, a media outlet has discovered that Christian people believe Christian things. Recently, CNN unearthed audio of new House Speaker Mike Johnson saying things like abortion is a holocaust, people are "inherently evil," homosexuality is wrong, and government should work to restrain evil. In other news, my 6-year-old likes pizza and Spider-Man. Part of what's going on here is how far apart a progressive, secular vision of the world is from a Christian one. Part is that, at root, our national divisions are personal divisions, and many media elites simply do not know a Christian, despite the willingness to often assure us of what a real Christian would say or believe. The bigger part, in my view, is a failure on our part to be consistently clear about what we believe with the courage to say it out loud when called upon. But remember, the first Christians and our Savior were misunderstood and maligned also, so we are in good company. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Last month marked the one-year anniversary of a mass shooting at the "Club Q," a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. The shooter, who killed five people and wounded 19 others, received multiple life sentences in June for his crimes, as well an additional sentence for "bias-motivated" crimes. This seemed to confirm the popular narrative that the shooter targeted the LGBTQ community out of hate. That narrative was quickly and deliberately spread almost immediately after the shooting. In fact, just days after, The New York Times not-so-subtly suggested a connection between the murders and several conservative Christian ministries headquartered in Colorado Springs, including Focus on the Family. Other media outlets and voices were not as subtle in leveling that accusation. Days later, vandals spray-painted the words "their blood is on your hands" on the entrance to Focus on the Family. The Club Q shooting was a horrible act of evil. Every one of the victims were made in the image and likeness of God and bore the inherent dignity and value that means. Not one deserved to be reduced to their sexual identity, not by the man who committed these crimes and not by those who would use the victims as pawns to push a false narrative. In this case, the narrative is a fable that goes back at least as far as the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. Almost immediately after the teenager was brutally killed outside of town, his murder was framed in both national and international media as a clear, cut-and-dried hate crime. In 2009, Congress passed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Last year in her dissenting opinion in the 303 Creative case, in which the Supreme Court upheld a Colorado web designer's right to free expression, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that Shepard's murder was the result of a "social system of discrimination" that "created an environment in which LGBT people were unsafe." In fact, just last week, a memorial service was held for Matthew Shepard at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where his ashes are interred. The real story of Matthew Shepard, however, is anything but clear and cut-and-dried. In 2014, after more than a decade of researching the incident, a gay journalist named Stephen Jimenez released a book that revealed Shepard's long history of drug use. He had, in fact, been selling crystal meth at the time of his murder. He'd also engaged in prostitution and had a sexual relationship with at least one of the men who killed him. The police who intercepted the killers shortly after they fled the scene believed they were heading to Shepard's house to search for drug money. In other words, this murder was not a hate crime. It likely had nothing to do with Shepherd's sexuality. Many of the tragedies that have been made part of this narrative have similarly inconvenient details. For example, the convicted shooter in the Club Q massacre last year identified himself in court as "nonbinary" and had visited the nightclub multiple times. Though he posted anti-gay slurs online, he seemed quite fascinated with the Christchurch, New Zealand, shooter who targeted religious communities. He also came from an abusive background and exhibited significant signs of mental illness. Justice Sotomayor also mentioned the 2016 shooting at Orlando's Pulse Nightclub in her dissenting opinion in 303 Creative. The shooter, who killed 49 people, was a Muslim man who claimed "solidarity" with Al-Qaeda and ISIS. His wife testified that his original plan to attack Disney World was abandoned because of the police presence at the amusement park. It's not clear that the shooter was even aware that the Pulse was a gay club. Nevertheless, that shooting is now cemented in cultural memory as a hate crime against gays. While there is little evidence that "anti-LGBTQ hatred" has led to many mass shootings, there is more evidence that suggests the opposite. The shooter at Covenant School in Nashville, for example, identified as transgender and seems to have targeted the Christian school on purpose. In August 2012, an LGBTQ activist stormed the headquarters of the Family Research Council with a gun and a Chick-fil-A bag and yelled "I don't like your politics" before shooting a security guard. At least two other mass shooters identified as trans or nonbinary, though it is not clear that their identity motivated their actions. The problem isn't just that re-writing history is wrong, or that it often misplaces blame on some people while excusing others. It's that the myth hurts everyone, including those it's supposedly trying to protect, by ignoring the problems ailing the LGBTQ community. For example, members of this community have disproportionately high rates of substance abuse, childhood sexual abuse, mental illness, family breakdown, violence, and deaths of despair. Suffering people need help. Conditioning them to be afraid of a nonexistent threat or to view their suffering as only someone else's fault is cruel.

According to a recent study, nearly one-third of Gen Z women now "identify as lesbian, bisexual, or something else." To be clear, these numbers only indicate how young people are identifying, not behaving, since Gen Z'ers are not as sexually active as previous generations. At the same time, these numbers do reflect how many teenage girls who are experiencing normal adolescent changes are being told they're transgender. Is it any wonder that so many young women think being "straight" and "cisgender" is outdated, or even bad? Consider all the media messaging that depicts "traditional guy[s]" as undesirable long-term partners, encourages relationships that are inherently sterile, discusses fertility as a disease, and refuses to call women women. The erasure of women altogether is a strange, tragic, but consistent end for a culture that once claimed to fight for women. As young women search for meaning and identity, Christians should safeguard the truth and beauty of what makes a woman special and valuable: being made in the image of God, female. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

One of the best features of our smartphones is the ability to apply a few tweaks to our photos before sending them to relatives or sharing them on social media. Using a phone's built-in tools, we can bump up the brightness or fix red eye, with the desired result of a photo that looks more like the real-life moment when we snapped it. Of course, these same tools can now deliver photos even "better" than what we saw in real life. We can even create moments that didn't happen in real life. Is it okay to pass those off as real? What is the boundary between fiddling with a photo and faking one? Does it even matter? Such questions will soon be forced on us through the integration of artificial intelligence with smartphones. Popular figures on Instagram have already demonstrated how easy it is to alter a mood or look, airbrushing a photo of a crying woman, for instance, into a beaming and happy version of herself. Images entirely generated by AI, often incorporating real people's likenesses, are becoming nearly indistinguishable from photos. Writing recently at The New York Times, tech editor Brian Chen described how devices like Google's Pixel 8 come with an AI-powered "Magic Editor," a tool that can remove and add objects, move subjects around, and even stitch together elements from multiple photos into a new one. The result is imagery that is partially make-believe and, though it comes from the camera app and is stored with other "photos," can no longer strictly be called photography. These snapshots of alternate realities fudge the truth in front of your lens, which is the point, since they're closer to "exactly the photo you want." According to Ren Ng, a computer science professor at Berkeley, this means that "[a]s we go boldly forth into this future, a photo is no longer a visual fact." AI-powered photography and editing means that people will "increasingly have to question whether what they see in their images is real—including photos from loved ones." Of course, this goes further than just personal photos, and will contribute, Ng thinks, "to the spread of fake media online when misinformation is already rampant and it's hard to know what to trust." Last month, in fact, Hamas falsely accused Israel of faking images of atrocities using AI. It doesn't take much of an imagination to see how future conflicts will be sparked by a convincing image posted online. Increasingly, the fundamental worldview question of our age is "What is real?" Fake photos, artificial wombs, and AI chatbots posing as friends are just a few examples of technology that is challenging our understanding of reality, including our understanding of who we are and why and even whether we need each other. Christians should have a clear answer. Nonnegotiable purposes and relationships have been built into creation by God, things humans were designed to pursue and steward in particular ways. This is not an infinitely malleable world. We are not infinitely malleable creatures, able to invent and reinvent ourselves as technology permits. This applies both to big changes like amniotic pods replacing mothers as well as seemingly trivial changes like "photography" tools. Here are two principles to keep in mind as we "go boldly forth into this future" of AI, smartphones, and photography. First, we should never lie, not even with AI. That means we need to define the term "photograph." Is it a shared visual fact, a representation of reality that can establish everything from family memories to journalistic truth, or is it an idealized digital painting? We shouldn't get in the habit of passing one off as the other. Second, we shouldn't look to technology to replace human ability. Somewhere between using AI to edit out a trash can in a family photo and using it to create a fake family member for Instagram, a moral line is crossed. That line is on a slope, and we are about to find out just how slippery it is. Planting your feet firmly and intentionally now is a good idea. Christians should be pro-technology and pro-human. God gave humans the ingenuity to make such tools, and they can be used to glorify Him and love others. However, tools–like their users–need a purpose grounded in God's design for reality. The moment our tools begin using us, or severing our relationship with that reality, something has gone wrong. We need wisdom in the days ahead, not just artificial intelligence. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Shane Morris. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

The three-digit number 988 is quickly becoming as much a part of our shared life as 911. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a national hotline that provides 24/7, free, and confidential mental health support to anyone in need. Within the first year, 5 million contacts were responded to. The numbers are staggering, and the hotline continues to find high-risk populations, including indigenous people, people with disabilities, and rural men. But this remains a culturewide problem. From 2021 to 2022, the suicide rate increased by 2.6%. Christians have a significant role to play in offering hope. Parents, teachers, pastors, and other mentors need to be equipped to spot vulnerable young people and to connect with them, ultimately pointing them to Jesus Christ, the source of all hope. The "Hope Always" course featuring Dr. Matthew Sleeth is available online, can be accessed anytime, and can be studied alone or as part of a community committed to providing healing to hurting neighbors. Go to educators.colsoncenter.org for more information. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

A few years ago, my colleague Dr. Glenn Sunshine wrote an introduction to one of the greatest works of Christian antiquity, Athanasius' On the Incarnation of the Word. Athanasius (born in Alexandria in the 290s) is best known for defending the divinity of Christ against the heresy of Arius, who taught that Jesus was not equal with God the Father but a lesser, created being. Arianism had gained significant ground in the Church, but Athanasius fought to preserve the biblical view that Jesus is "in very nature God." In the process, he became known as Athanasius Contra Mundum: "Athanasius Against the World." In his introduction, Dr. Sunshine describes Athanasius' teaching: "[T]he Image of God made it possible for us to know the Word of God; with sin the Image was defaced, and we lost the knowledge of God. But since the Word is the perfect Image of God (Col. 1:15), He was able to renew that Image in us, and by His life, works, and teaching to renew and restore true knowledge of God. His works of power revealed Him as the Word of God, the Lord of all Creation and thus the one through whom true knowledge of God comes." That the Word of God came, not just to live, but to die for our sins is another important theme of On the Incarnation: "How could He have called us if He had not been crucified, for it is only on the cross that a man dies with arms outstretched? Here, again, we see the fitness of His death and of those outstretched arms: it was that He might draw His ancient people with the one and the Gentiles with the other and join both together in Himself. Even so, He foretold the manner of His redeeming death, 'I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men to Myself.'" By becoming fully human, the incarnate Word of God draws fallen human beings to Himself, forging them into a new humanity: "He manifested Himself by means of a body in order that we might perceive the Mind of the unseen Father. He endured shame from men that we might inherit immortality. He Himself was unhurt by this, for He is impassable and incorruptible; but by His own impassability He kept and healed the suffering men on whose account He thus endured. In short, such and so many are the Savior's achievements that follow from His Incarnation, that to try to number them is like gazing at the open sea and trying to count the waves. One cannot see all the waves with one's eyes, for when one tries to do so those that are following on baffle one's senses." On the Incarnation can speak to the heresies of our time, too. For example, Arianism lives on in Mormonism, the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, and any teaching that denies the Trinity. It also is reincarnated among those who label Jesus as merely a good teacher who came as an example for us, but not as our Savior. C.S. Lewis famously encouraged his readers to balance the reading of new books with old ones. As Dr. Sunshine reminds us in his introduction to On the Incarnation, Lewis wrote this in his own introduction to Athanasius' work: "Naturally, since I myself am a writer, I do not wish the ordinary reader to read no modern books. But if he must read only the new or only the old, I would advise him to read the old. And I would give him this advice precisely because he is an amateur and therefore much less protected than the expert against the dangers of an exclusive contemporary diet. A new book is still on its trial and the amateur is not in a position to judge it. It has to be tested against the great body of Christian thought down the ages, and all its hidden implications (often unsuspected by the author himself) have to be brought to light." So, Lewis said, "The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books." On the Incarnation of the Word is an especially helpful read during Advent and Christmastide, when we celebrate again the coming of the Incarnate Word of God, who became flesh and dwelt among us. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Kasey Leander and Dr. Glenn Sunshine. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Since the horrific attacks by Hamas on Israel, there has been a noticeable increase in antisemitism in America. John and Maria will look at the reasons. Some are claiming that abuse is more prevalent in marriages involving evangelical men. Is that true? And a new theory claims homophobia can be blamed on a faulty translation of scripture. Segment 1: Rise in Antisemitism The World and Everything in It: December 1, 2023 The Global Resurgence of Antisemitism Israel, Hamas, and Just War: Interviews with Joel Rosenberg and Eric Patterson Segment 2: Evangelical Marriages The Toxic War on Masculinity by Nancy Pearcey Prepare the Way of the Lord – Advent 2023 Segment 3: Homophobia in the Bible Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible? What Would You Say? videos For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, died this week at age 100. He was the last of a controversial group of leaders from the Watergate era. Chuck Colson once described that at staff meetings, "Kissinger would always be the last one to arrive. And he would sit down at the end of the table and say, 'Mr. President, the decision we are going to make today is going to change the whole future course of human history.' I mean every day of the week for five days ... we thought we really were doing things that were of great significance. And in many respects, I suppose, looking back, they were." Chuck was right. Nixon, after all, signed Title IX, supported the desegregation of schools, and provided aid for Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Kissinger, Nixon, and Chuck are reminders that in His providence, God uses even people with deep flaws. They are also a reminder that we will all, one day, meet God. Will we be ready? For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Since October 7, the world has seen a resurgence of antisemitism, open and raw. In America, this has come especially from institutions of higher education though also from secondary schools and at city council meetings in Oakland. In New York, highschoolers brandished signs that read "keep the world clean" with an image of a Star of David in a trash can. If anything, the past few weeks should put an end to our decades-old illusion that history won't repeat itself. Looking back on the horrors of the Holocaust and the historic sickness of antisemitism, we asked questions like, "How could anyone, let alone an entire culture, be overtaken by Jew-hatred?" Many assumed that kind of evil could never happen again. We now know that assumption to be wrong. According to University of Massachusetts professor of criminology Arlie Perliger, "The U.S. is currently experiencing one of the most significant waves of antisemitism that it has ever seen." This wave predates the October 7 massacre that initiated the war between Israel and Hamas. In 2022, "[i]ncidents of harassment rose 29 percent compared to 2021; acts of vandalism surged 51 percent; and physical assaults jumped 26 percent" to an average of 10 reported incidents a day. The week after Hamas terrorists attacked Israeli civilians, antisemitic incidents tripled compared to the same week in 2022. Even among historically high immigration numbers in those countries, the immediate plight of Palestinians in the Middle East can hardly explain attacks in Europe, Russia, Africa, and America. This contemporary crisis is the latest chapter of a hatred that goes back centuries, even millennia. Today, what's often called the world's "oldest hatred" is found at both ends of the political spectrum. We certainly should not overlook the power of envy. Setting aside the irrational claims about Jewish wealth over the centuries, a simple glance at Nobel Prize winners displays the cultivating power of Jewish culture. While envy might explain some of the insanity, there's more to it. No other groups have faced so many attempts at eradication by so many: Persians, Romans, Crusaders, Nazis, and Islamists. How did the Jewish people survive when history is filled with tribes, nations, and peoples that endured for a time, only to disappear, some with barely a trace of evidence that they'd ever existed? The Jews were already an ancient people by the time of ancient Rome. Yet they remain, though what was considered at the time to be an eternal empire is now a relic. A Christian worldview offers additional resources by which to understand historical developments. Beyond sociological and anthropological realities are unseen ones. Whatever one's views of the end times, the Jewish people embody the promises of God to redeem His world and destroy the works of the devil. They are a painful reminder to Satan that his spoiling efforts to mar God's good creation will inevitably fail in the end, and that he will be defeated. The prince of darkness can never win his fight with heaven, but in defiant desperation, he incites people to commit evil and inflict pain, especially on those through whom God works His redemption. The Jews are also a tangible reminder that humanity's story is not ultimately a tragedy. They are a link to the apostles and the prophets, to King David and the deliverance from bondage in Egypt. Even when rejecting the Messiah that fulfills God's promise to them, they're a reminder to the world that God wins. Especially as we approach Advent, the continued existence of the Jews is a powerful witness of God's faithfulness to His world and to His promises. These promises, given in Eden to our first parents and reaffirmed in Revelation to the saints, declare that He is making all things new, and that nothing, even the insatiable hatred of hell itself, can stop His restoration of all things. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy Padgett. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

When it comes to public controversies, a handful of phrases have become de facto "conversation stoppers." One of these is "scientists say ..." Well, last year, a quantum physicist named John F. Clauser won the Nobel Prize. If anyone has earned the right to make debate-stopping claims about science, it's a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. However, according to The Washington Post, Clauser does not believe humans are facing imminent extinction due to fossil fuels. This view puts him at odds with what the Post calls the "scientific consensus," implying that he's lost all authority as a scientist. This is the danger of the postmodern habit of making truth claims dependent on the community that makes them. "The science says" isn't a mic drop if a scientist says something else. Consensus, even scientific consensus, should not shortcut the pursuit of truth. A better and more honest approach is the scientific method, in which our theories and ideas are constantly questioned and tested to discover what is true. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Gen Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2010, has a distinct reputation different from baby boomers, Gen X, and millennials. Exactly what the differences are and why they exist is a growing area of interest in research. For example, a new report from the American Enterprise Institute's Survey Center on American Life analyzes data collected from a survey of baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z about their experiences during adolescence. One finding is that Gen Z—or Zoomers—are less likely to hold a part-time job, attend religious services, have a romantic relationship, and use drugs. They also spend more time online, are more likely to identify as LGBTQ, and report being more lonely than previous generations. One factor behind these differences—and a defining difference itself between Gen Z and the adolescent experiences of previous generations—is the role and use of technology. Gen Z has never known a world without social media and smartphones. Seven out of 10 Zoomers report using social media daily (a number that still seems suspiciously low), and 56% of Gen Z adults report playing video games in the past week. Though increased social media and video game use does not necessarily mean that less time is spent with friends, it typically does. So, it is unsurprising that Gen Z, as a whole, reports greater loneliness and less time spent with friends during their teen years than older generations. Gen Z is also more progressive in political views and more likely to identify as lesbian, bisexual, gay, or trans than previous generations. Today, almost one in four Zoomer adults identifies as LGBTQ, which is about five times more than baby boomers. Additionally, about four in 10 identify as politically liberal, while only 26% identify as politically conservative. Given that virtually every social media platform champions LGBTQ images, behavior, and ideology and that LGBTQ ideology has become a defining creed of left-leaning politics, this is not surprising. Individuals who identify as LGBTQ are celebrated, especially online, whereas those who dissent from the reigning sexual orthodoxies are easily reported and often, quickly de-platformed. Having grown up more online than outside, Zoomers' politics, values, and loyalties have been shaped by the narratives preached in their social media worlds. At the same time, Gen Z avoids some of the risk-taking and moral vices of older groups. Perhaps because they spend so much more time online, only 32% of adult Zoomers reported drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, or smoking weed as a teenager, and only 56% reported having a boyfriend or girlfriend. Also, only 58% reported having a part-time job, the lowest number of the four generations surveyed. While less substance abuse is certainly better, when considered along with fewer part-time jobs and romantic relationships, this is likely not due to better morals but to an overall aversion to even healthy risk-taking. Finally, though Zoomers are the least likely to attend religious services, the common thread to church attendance across all generations continues to be family life. For all generations, the majority (68%) of those who grew up in a two-parent household, participated in religious life during adolescence, whereas those growing up in a single-parent household were less likely to attend religious services (53%). Among older generations, less troublemaking and risk-taking often coincided with more participation in religious services, but that statistical link is broken when it comes to Zoomers. Whereas 71% of baby boomers attended religious services during their teens, only 52% of Gen Z attended religious services during theirs. Gen Z's generational differences indicate that a shared way of life consisting of both physical presence and family life deeply matters. Unless these things are recovered, decreased religious observance and increased loneliness will only continue. Human beings, no matter the generation to which they belong, are embodied beings. None of us are our avatars, our online personas, or our social media feeds. When our lives are stripped of tangible connections with our neighbors, our neighborhoods, and our families, we lose sight of many things that matter. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Jared Eckert. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

A week before Thanksgiving, the World Health Organization declared loneliness a new public health crisis. While it's great that global leaders are recognizing the dangerous social and even physical risks of social isolation, this crisis is anything but new. The WHO's new declaration will lead to more research into the detrimental effects loneliness can have on our health and a new "Commission on Social Connection," to "promote social connection as a priority and accelerate the scaling up of solutions." Bureaucracy-speak aside, any successful efforts to "promote social connection" must take into account what it means to be human. We aren't defective machines or problems to be solved. We are persons created in the image of God, made for connection with Him and with one another. We need families. We need dads. We need to be the kind of people who bear with one another, even across distance and relational tension. This means we need hearts of flesh that only God–not statecraft–can give us. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

A few years ago, when professional athletes were criticized for kneeling during the national anthem, it wasn't always because critics disagreed with the cause that athletes were claiming or because of the irony of multi-millionaires denouncing the nation to which they owed their success. Many fans just didn't want to see football turned into yet another stage for political activism. Even when a cause is just, healthy societies have spaces where differences can be put aside in pursuit of a common experience, whether it's something as trivial as a televised sporting event or something as important as forming the next generation of civic leaders. High school debate has long served this second role. The National Speech and Debate Association is the largest league of its kind in the nation. For nearly one hundred years, it has trained students to reason and speak effectively about issues significant to people and society. According to its Wikipedia page, the NSDA serves more than 140,000 students and coaches each year. It would be reasonable to think that the debaters who rise to the top of this league have become masters of reason and argument, able to speak persuasively on a range of topics. That is no longer the case. In a clip that recently went viral, the final round of the NSDA's 2021 Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky featured two young women of Team A, one of whom identifies as transgender, and who apparently decided they would win the round by "out-woking" their opponent. They began the round by refusing to debate the resolution, which was about the costs and benefits of the International Monetary Fund. Instead, they highjacked the forum to protest the plight of transgender debaters, made the round "a debate about debate," and promised to "occupy the debate space until trans debaters can participate safely." In a saner time (and league), such behavior would result in an immediate loss. However, that did not happen at this prestigious tournament. Instead, the young men of Team B immediately conceded the round and joined a 45-minute discussion on how debaters who misgender their opponents should automatically lose. One even offered, "It's important to recognize that debate is not about winning an argument. It's about making sure everyone feels okay and making sure everyone feels safe." The judges then praised Team A for their "courage" and crowned them the national Public Forum Debate champions. It would be easy to criticize these students for making a joke out of a competition that generations of their peers worked hard to win. However, that would miss the point. These debaters didn't invent these tactics or the ideology upon which it is based. They were taught to turn every forum into an opportunity for activism, to dismiss and denounce anyone who questions their claims, and to play the victim to be rewarded. It's the same training that taught the "Just Stop Oil" activists to deface and destroy priceless works of art to draw attention to their cause. Most recently, a pair of Just Stop Oil climate vandals took hammers to a famous painting in the National Gallery in London. The painting had about as much to do with fossil fuels as the IMF has to do with transgender debaters. To activists, however, that irrelevance is irrelevant. Their ideology, they've been taught, is the only thing in the world worth talking or doing anything about, and they will actively hijack or destroy all other human pursuits until everyone shares their singular obsession. This reveals why such an all-consuming ideology is dangerous, no matter what you think of the causes behind it. The notion that no one should be able to do, pursue, appreciate, argue, or think about anything else but your cause is a form of intellectual tyranny that, if tolerated widely, can quickly erode the foundations of a free society. If everything must be sacrificed to your ideology, then it's much more than a cause that demands justice. It's an idol that demands worship. "Good philosophy must exist," wrote C. S. Lewis, "if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered." Such bad philosophy, he warned, doesn't always take the form of "cool intellect" arguing wrongly, but often manifests as "muddy heathen mysticisms which deny intellect altogether." I can think of few better descriptions of a debate tournament won by "out-woking" your opponent. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Shane Morris. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

If you find your mind darting from one thing to the next and struggling to concentrate for even short periods of time, there are two things to know. First, you're not alone and, second, it's probably related to technology. In an article published at Motherboard, Kaleigh Rogers described her experiment banning all screens from her home for a month: no TV, no tablet, no smart phones, no computers. The results were dramatic, and unlike with exercise or dieting, immediate. She experienced better concentration, found more time in her day, felt closer in her relationships, and gained a renewed sense of creativity. A Facebook commenter who conducted the same experiment described an almost "superhuman" focus and productivity. Screens have profoundly shaped our lives, especially our minds and relationships. We need not be Luddites, but we can create boundaries and stick to them. Rather than allowing notifications, games, and texts to control our schedules and attention, we can control them, making time for relationships, concentration, and creativity. That doesn't sound so superhuman... For the Colson Center, I'm John Stonestreet. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org This Point was originally published on February 14, 2017.

The United States has seen a dramatic increase in the number of syphilis cases among newborn babies, according to a recent report from the Center for Disease Control. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that can be passed from moms to babies in utero. Last year, more than 3,700 babies tested positive for the disease, a 30% increase in a single year and a tenfold increase in the past 10 years. According to the CDC, the situation is "dire." To reverse the trends, the report proposed, "[a]ddressing missed opportunities for prevention, primarily timely testing and appropriate treatment of syphilis during pregnancy." Likewise, a Houston-area doctor quoted in an NBC News article about the report said, "It is unbelievable how this could all be prevented if we just had patients get in for screening and treatment." During the AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s, some acted as if the HIV virus could infect anyone at any moment, as if how it spread was a total mystery. This mentality is even more common today, especially among drug companies promoting medication to treat HIV. The recent biopic Bohemian Rapsody takes a similar approach to the story of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the rock band Queen. Mercury hid the fact that he had AIDS from all but his closest confidants until the days before his death, despite continuing to have multiple sexual partners and possibly playing an outsized role in the AIDS epidemic. The movie, however, depicts Mercury as a hero of self-expression and a victim of horrible illness. His promiscuity is never morally evaluated and barely mentioned. It's considered immoral, in this cultural moment, to limit anyone's self-expression. The diseases and dangers linked to irresponsible sexual expression are disconnected from the behaviors. Instead, they're often treated as evidence of injustice, as if the moral duty of medicine is to free sexual self-expression from any consequences. In this framing, risky sexual behavior is inevitable. Not only is it immoral to suggest that people stop doing those things that spread HIV and infect babies with syphilis, but to do so would be to suggest the impossible. This pessimistic, deterministic view of humanity is demonstrably false. We often say politics is downstream from culture. The state has significant power to influence behavior. For example, in 1984, only 14% of Americans wore seat belts. I'm likely not the only one who remembers bouncing around unrestrained in the back of the family station wagon on long road trips. Just three years later, after 30 states enacted seat belt laws, that percentage tripled to 42%. Last year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 90% of Americans faithfully buckled up while on the roads. A similar phenomenon happened with drunk driving. Four years after the founding of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Congress raised the legal drinking age to 21. MADD then launched an effort to replace the word "accident" with the word "crash" in common parlance, predicting that this would reinforce in people's minds that drunk-driving collisions were crimes. These efforts to shift culture worked. Since 1982, the number of drunk-driving deaths in America has fallen by more than half. Despite this success, most government-funded efforts to combat the spread of sexually transmitted infections never mention risky sexual behavior. Creators of proven, effective abstinence education resources testify how oddly difficult it is to even gain access to public schools. Even doctors concerned about the spread of congenital syphilis cannot seem to bring themselves to recommend sexual risk avoidance. At the root of the selective outrage is a warped idea of what it means to be human. A worldview that says humans are fundamentally incapable of practicing sexual abstinence assumes that human beings are mere animals. This is a perfect example of what former President George W. Bush once called the "soft bigotry of low expectations." God's design for sex is good, and the boundaries He designed with it are also good. Not only is it possible for humans to abstain from acting on all their desires, but it's also best, spiritually and physically, when we are able to delay gratification for some higher ends. When we violate God's created boundaries, we violate the design and put ourselves and others at risk. Sadly, the skyrocketing cases of babies born with congenital syphilis are just the latest example of kids paying the highest price for adults' bad ideas. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Maria Baer. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

I didn't think cancel culture would ever come for Anne Frank, but here we are. Parents of a German daycare center named after Frank proposed a name change because, they said, it was too difficult to explain the significance of Frank to their children. The director of the school agreed, and explained that a name "without political background" would be better. After public backlash, the trustees reversed course, and for that we can be grateful. Anne Frank was a real girl who faced real horrors and met a real and horrible death. Erasing her memory helps no one. History should not be edited to fit our comfort levels. Like real life, history has hard edges and unpleasant elements that don't budge for contemporary fashion or fragile feelings. Its value lies in teaching us those hard lessons, not in conforming to what we wish were true. Anne Frank deserves better, and so do the kids learning her story today. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

November marks the death of Johannes Kepler, one of the most important figures of the Scientific Revolution and a scientist who was motivated by his Christian beliefs. The significance of Kepler's work can only be understood in light of what he faced and risked. The settled science of his day was that the Earth stood at the center of the universe. To challenge that meant to challenge the entire, accepted understanding of physics. When Copernicus published On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres in 1543, he argued that the universe was centered on the sun rather than Earth. His motivation was to preserve the idea that planets traveled at a constant velocity in perfect circles. In other words, his motivation was more philosophical and aesthetic than it was scientific. Few scientists accepted these ideas that contradicted settled science. As a result, there were only a handful of committed Copernicans prior to 1600. Johannes Kepler was one of them. Kepler was a devout Lutheran who planned to become a pastor. However, he excelled at mathematics and had an interest in astronomy. In seminary at the University of Tubingen, he became convinced by Copernicus and defended him on both scientific and theological grounds. After graduating in 1594, he took up teaching mathematics at the Protestant school at Graz (now the University of Graz) in Austria. While in Graz, Kepler began to develop a theory about the number of planets and the relative size of their orbits. He found that his theory worked for all planets except Jupiter. Though he adjusted the theory to make it work, he was convinced the problem would be solved with better observations. As it turned out, the best observational astronomer in the world, Tycho Brahe, lived nearby. In 1600, Kepler negotiated with Tycho for access to his data. Tycho recognized Kepler's genius and eventually agreed to work together. However, a year later, Tycho unexpectedly died. Kepler was appointed his successor as imperial mathematician, which enabled him to continue compiling and analyzing data on planetary motion in order to develop a more accurate model of the universe. Tycho's observations were as good as was possible with the naked eye, and Kepler was determined to use them. Initially, he could not find a formula, whether geocentric or heliocentric, that would work. Heliocentrism was close, but not up to the known margin of error of Tycho's observation. This led Kepler to give up on circles and try ellipses, which fit better, but not perfectly. After playing with some very complicated math, Kepler arrived at a solution that, in the end, proved Copernicus right about the Earth going around the sun. In the process, Kepler discovered his Three Laws of Planetary Motion which stand even to today. Kepler's work was motivated by his Christian faith. He believed that since God is rational, the universe must be as well. Because humans are made in God's image, we can, as he said, "think God's thoughts after Him." In other words, understanding the universe is possible. This commitment led Kepler to be a rigid empiricist. Because God had given him Tycho's data, he was responsible to use it as fully as he could. For example, the earth's orbit is less than .02% away from being a perfect circle. Even that small amount made Kepler willing to jettison the supposed perfection of circular motion favored by the scientists of his day. Though most others would have chalked that up to observational error, Kepler knew the margin of error of Tycho's observations and believed God expected him to honor the quality of the data, rather than conform it to his preconceptions about how it "should" be. Kepler knew his theories would be rejected by scientists, but he didn't care. It had taken eons before anyone discovered how God had structured the universe, so Kepler figured he could wait another century or so to be proven right. His faith in the intelligibility of the universe was grounded in his belief that the world was governed by divine reason, the Logos. This led him to examine the world systematically, to not take shortcuts, to use what God gave him and, in the end, to lay the foundations for modern astronomy and physics. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz recently conceded that the kingdoms of David and Solomon may have actually existed. New studies have revealed that "[r]emains of gates, defensive walls and a large administrative building at Gezer date to the early 10th century B.C.E., putting them in the right time frame to have been built by King Solomon, just as the Bible claims." In recent decades, skeptics suggested that these structures belonged to a later, supposedly more advanced time. Though the new studies don't prove the Bible's accuracy, the articles insist its reliability cannot be ruled out. In other words, the thing that pretty much everybody thought was true until just a few decades ago turns out to be actually true. The more we dig, in fact, the more archaeological evidence suggests that the facts are on the side of the Bible, not its critics. And the more we dig, the more that skepticism of the Bible is shown to be not a sign of open-minded intelligence, but of close-minded assumptions of disbelief. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

The Biden administration is accepting comments as it considers rule changes for foster care and adoption. The Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs was a year ago but the media keeps pushing a false narrative. And the devastating effects of the Covid lockdowns on education. - Recommendations - Submit a Comment on "Safe and Appropriate Foster Care Placement Requirements for Titles IV-E and IV-B" Prepare the Way of the Lord – Advent 2023 The Promise by Michael Card Joy of Every Longing Heart by Sara Groves The Advent of Christmas by Matt Maher Segment 1: LGBTQ Children and Foster Care "Non-Affirmation of Child's "LGBTQI+" Identity Is Abuse Under Proposed Foster Care Rule" Submit a Comment on "Safe and Appropriate Foster Care Placement Requirements for Titles IV-E and IV-B" From Gender Clinic Caseworker to Whistleblower: Jamie Reed's Story U.K. Transgender Clinic Forced to Close Segment 2: LGBTQ Hoax Crimes Segment 3: Covid and Education "The Startling Evidence on Learning Loss" New York Times 2020 article: "C.D.C. Calls on Schools to Reopen, Downplaying Health Risks" For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

In November of 1928, A.W. Tozer accepted a pastoral position at the Southside Alliance Church in Chicago, a move that launched a ministry career that would eventually impact thousands. A central theme of Tozer's work was recovering a sense of the holiness of God. In his book The Knowledge of the Holy, Tozer wrote, The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our religious thinking. Tozer's best-known quote is a fundamental premise of a truly Christian worldview: "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." Years ago, Chuck Colson urged his friend, author and speaker Ken Boa, to write condensed, accessible introductions to the greatest works of literature and theology. Boa, one of the finest Christian thinkers of our generation, accepted the challenge. In a Breakpoint commentary, Chuck commented on A.W. Tozer's The Knowledge of the Holy, and Dr. Ken Boa's introduction: Dr. Ken Boa speaks of A.W. Tozer as a man who "understood the ways of God." That understanding is amply demonstrated in Tozer's classic book The Knowledge of the Holy. "This is really a meditative and a devotional approach to the attributes of God," Boa says. Those include more attributes than we're used to thinking about all at once. For instance, Tozer discusses God's omniscience and omnipotence as well as His love and mercy. But Tozer doesn't just show us the reality of those attributes; he also shows how they work together to form a harmonious whole. They are not contradictory, but complementary. But our view of God, Tozer argues, is often "distorted" or "diminished" because we have embraced the prevailing mindset of our culture and imposed that mindset upon Scripture. So, we find ourselves unable even to begin to comprehend concepts like His holiness, power, and majesty. (Keep in mind, by the way, that Tozer wrote this nearly 50 years ago. The man wasn't called a prophet for nothing.) Tozer's desire was to expand our vision and thus our capacity to worship God rightly. If we fail to do this, Boa says, that's when our understanding of God becomes distorted, and we move away from Him. "Imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God," Tozer believed, are responsible for all our errors in doctrine and in faith. Thus, he defines idolatry as "assuming that God is other than He is." When you look at it that way, you can see just how widespread idolatry has become in our day and how much havoc it has created within the Church. Boa connects this kind of thinking to the modern prosperity gospel, which tends to turn our prayers into "strategy sessions" rather than true communication with God. Paradoxically, Tozer acknowledges the "incomprehensibility" of God, even as he is helping us to better understand His attributes. When we draw closer to God, you see, we begin to understand just how much greater He is than anything we can grasp. Our instinct is to make God into something "manageable" and "controllable." That was the sin of the Garden—to be like God. But if you could do that, you wouldn't need Him. So instead of trying to manage or control God, we must surrender ourselves and place our trust in Him even though we can't fully understand Him. And when we do this, we are not groping in the dark, for as Tozer tells us, "[God] in condescending love has by revelation declared certain things to be true of Himself. These we call His attributes." He has provided enough knowledge of these, Tozer says, "to satisfy our intellects and ravish our hearts." For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org