Time to ask that question that divides Christians almost right down the middle: Should Christians have any participation in Halloween activities? Ben Witherington adds some thoughts on the matter. His post begins as follows: Ghosts and Goblins, tricks and treats, houses of horror and costumed heroes and villains. Should Christians have anything to do with … More Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
Here’s a repost from many years back. -JB “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14). Christians have always had a tough time with Halloween. The danger usually associated with the message of Halloween was its association with the occult — the glorification and celebration of evil, death, Satan, witchcraft, blood-sucking vampires … More Halloween and the Sexualization of Evil
Daniel Kirk highlighted this significant debate from the Twitterverse the other day. Here’s his thoughts — and I agree with him. -JB Daniel Kirk wrote: Yesterday in the Twitterverse the following quote was going around: The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays. … More What Does Prayer Accomplish? (D. Kirk)
Does Halloween have Christian origins, pagan origins, or both? I’ve heard much of the ancient celtic Druids and the pagan festivals of the dead, and so on. Yet, today I read another perspective that challenges the pagan origins and argues that Halloween has very pure, Christian roots. I highly recommend reading “Concerning Halloween by James … More The True Origins of Halloween
This is a repost from last year. -JB It’s that diabolical week again. This Sunday night many paranoid Christians will be once again hunkered down in their basements (if not at a “Harvest Party” at church) with their front porch lights off holding prayer vigils to ward off those sinners who participate in this evil … More Just Lighten Up & Give Them Candy
In Satan and the Problem of Evil: Constructing a Trinitarian Warfare Theodicy, Greg Boyd attempts to answer the question: “How are we to conceive of an all-powerful God creating beings who to some degree possess the power to thwart his will, and thus against whom he must genuinely battle if he is to accomplish his … More BOOK REVIEW: Satan and the Problem of Evil by Greg Boyd
Keri and I have spent some time this summer watching some movie series. We started the summer with the X-Men movies and are now working our way through the Harry Potter movie series. NPR’s All Things Considered recently ran a story that caught my attention. The piece focused on the mixed receptivity of Harry Potter … More Harry Potter Resurrected
From the DI archives. A while back I was researching the ways our brain processes messages in preparation for a series of messages I gave at a weekend youth retreat based on “The Matrix” movies. Here’s some of my reflections on our image-based culture. -JB “What we’ve introduced at MTV is nonnarrative form…We rely on … More A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Words (& Millions of Dollars)
Jeremy L. Berg 