RSS feed for ERIC METAXAS @ Florida Baptist Witness (FBW) Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0900 In the last week of April, two Orthodox bishops in Syria were kidnapped by rebels near Aleppo. Ironically, these same bishops “had warned of the threat to religious tolerance and diversity from the two-year conflict in their country.” Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 -0900 A few years ago I found myself on CNN, promoting a book I’d just written titled Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (but Were Afraid to Ask).”I was expecting some hardball questions, such as, “If God is good and powerful, why does He allow so much evil in the world?” But instead, to my great surprise, the interviewer asked me about William Wilberforce, the great British abolitionist. I’d almost forgotten I’d even mentioned Wilberforce in my book, but suddenly I was talking to a national TV audience about him. Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 -0900 Scarcely a day goes by without yet another reminder of the ancient Roman phrase, Homo homini lupus est: man is a wolf to his fellow man. The terrible bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon—which, at the time of this recording, killed three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and injured at least 140 others—is just the latest graphic piece of evidence. Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0900 My friend Karen Swallow Prior, an English professor at Liberty University, is making waves with an article called “The Case for Getting Married Young.” Her article, which ran in The Atlantic, got as much buzz as if she’d said something really revolutionary. And perhaps she did. Prior dared to suggest that deliberately delaying marriage, which has become the norm these days, may not always be the best option. Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0900 We’ve heard about different studies for years, that too much TV isn’t good for kids. Well, the latest study from New Zealand adds a new wrinkle: some disturbing correlations between excessive TV viewing and antisocial behavior in young people. Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0900 As you may have heard, DC Comics decision to have science fiction novelist Orson Scott Card write the initial episodes of the latest series of Superman comics has come under fire. Why? Because—GASP!—Card is opposed to so-called same-sex marriage. <br><br> Recently, National Public Radio weighed in on the issue. What follows is a kind of open letter from me to NPR. Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0900 The “biggest mystery left to science” is the fact that you are listening to this broadcast. Well actually, it’s that you’re aware that you’re listening to this broadcast.<BR><BR>You see science can explain or at least believes it can explain a great many things. But consciousness has it stumped. We can describe the brain in ever-increasing detail. We have a pretty good idea about which parts of the brain control certain actions and even emotions. Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0900 Most Americans have probably heard about Iran’s recent claim to have launched a monkey into space. But very few have ever heard of Saeed Abedini, and that’s just how the Iranian government wants it. Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0900 It sounds like the best news we could possibly hear: Media reports claim that China is going to phase out its One Child Policy and allow parents to have two children. Within eight years, the government will allow parents to have as many children as they want. Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0900 In the days following the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, there were those who spoke of a “turning point” in American politics and culture. Surely, they reasoned, the horror of what happened would alter the trajectory that, in their estimation, had led to the death of twenty little children and eight others. Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0900 One of my favorite quotes by Chuck Colson is one he might have spoken again after the November elections: “The kingdom of heaven will not arrive on Air Force One.” <br><br> In other words, if we want to change our culture for the better, we should not put all our eggs into a political basket. It’s a lesson we Christians must remember as we begin another year. Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0900 The Atlantic Monthly recently announced its “Brave Thinkers” for 2012. The designation “Brave Thinker” honors those who, in the Atlantic’s estimation, risk “their reputations, fortunes, and lives in pursuit of big ideas.” Mon, 10 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0900 Whatever your political persuasion, chances are that you believe in choice. Those who favor the right to kill unborn human beings in the womb, of course, characterize their position with the appealing vocabulary of “choice”—but ignoring the fact that the child has no choice in the matter. Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0900 Inside the Beltway, there’s a custom known as the Friday afternoon “news dump.” It’s when government officials and other newsmakers release news that’s likely to reflect badly on them. The hope is that by Monday the bad news will have made its way through the news cycle and been replaced by something else. Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0900 In August, Gary Ewing died at the age of forty-nine from pneumonia and colon cancer. Chances are, you’ve never heard of Ewing. Until recently neither had I. But his life and death are a kind of parable about the absurd lengths that fear and the desire to be safe at any cost will drive a society. Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0900 It was back in 1997, when I was practically a kid writer here at BreakPoint, that I first heard about Prison Fellowship’s amazing Angel Tree program. Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0900 In the second century, the Roman physician Galen named a common ailment whose symptoms included a burning sensation in the urinary tract and (forgive me) the release of pus. He combined the Greek word for “seed,” gonos, and “flow,” rhoia. Mon, 22 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0900 When Benjamin Franklin emerged from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, a lady asked him, “Well, Mr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us?” The old patriot gave his immortal reply, “Madam, we have given you a republic—if you can keep it.” Tue, 09 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0900 Recently, I discussed the cheating scandal at Harvard. In particular, I’m interested in what the alleged “unprecedented” cheating says about the state of our culture. Tue, 25 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0900 Suppose I told you that there was an institution where the mentally ill “interminably wail, scream and bang on the walls of their cells” and “mutilate their bodies with razors, shards of glass?” Where inmates ... “carry on delusional conversations with voices they hear in their heads,” and no one does anything to help. Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0900 Three years ago, a woman I’ll call “Mary” was stopped by a policeman for what initially appeared to be a run-of-the-mill moving violation. What followed was anything but routine, though. Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0900 A few weeks ago, I told you that, in my opinion, Lifeway bookstores made a big mistake when it removed copies of “The Blind Side” from its shelves. Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0900 For the past few months, the New York Times has been running a series on anxiety at its “Opinionator” blog. According to the Times, “for many,” anxiety “is not a disorder, but a part of the human condition.” The series’ stated goal is to explore “how we navigate the worried mind, through essay, art and memoir.” Mon, 16 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0900 Christians are often asked by gay activists why they oppose same-sex “marriage.” “How does our marriage hurt you?” they ask. <br><br> Well, I can think of one significant way it will hurt us: It will destroy religious freedom and free speech rights. Thu, 28 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0900 Back in April, India’s Supreme Court heard a case about a surgeon in the state of Bihar. This surgeon performed 53 operations in about two hours in conditions that can only be described as appalling: “assisted by unqualified staff, with no access to running water or equipment to clean the operating equipment.” Thu, 14 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0900 In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as “Flag Day.” Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the U.S. flag by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0900 The Trayvon Martin controversy has reopened some old wounds about race that never quite seem to heal, even in 21st-century America. While it’s clear that some public figures are exploiting the horrible death of Martin for their own ends, we cannot deny that the events surrounding his shooting are deeply troubling. Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:00 -0900 Not all New Yorkers sleep-in on Sunday mornings. Increasing numbers of them can be found in the churches popping up all over the city. Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0900 By now you’ve surely heard that Chuck Colson went to be with the Lord April 21. Those of us who knew him are sad, thankful, and hopeful: sad that he is gone; thankful to have known him; and hopeful that we will be reunited with him one day.