Bridge of Reason

Pompey   The first permanent stone theatre in Rome was built by the Republican general and political leader Pompey in 55 BC. The Theatrum Pompeii was the biggest of three theatres built in the Campus Martius . It was described as wanton, licentious, the stronghold of every vice. The censors of the day, concerned for the moral welfare of the public, often sought to close down shows, even close the theatres. Pompey, concerned for his legacy, attempted to get around the censors by building a temple to Venus over his theatre, ‘under which,’ he said, ‘we have put rows of seats for the shows.’ A newly converted Tertullian wrote: ‘Thus did he cloak this damned and damnable work under the name of a temple, and by the aid of superstition eluded the rule.’ (From De Spectaculis , or Treatise on Public Shows ) It seems to me that many churches today have followed the example of Pompey. The sense of the sacred has been replaced by the call of the carnal as clowns and jesters roam the court...

  It is popularly believed that Christians, when we go to church, hang our brains up at the door. Yet it is my experience that when I try and engage unbelievers in intelligent conversation about great issues of faith, it is so often they who shut down their thinking, who refuse to intelligently engage. This is because they have already decided faith has nothing to offer by way of intelligent conversation. Of course, this is a poor caricature of faith as being by nature unreasonable, like superstition. You either have it, or you don’t, and who can explain it? It’s rather embarrassing, and who would admit to it? An example I think of is that of creation. However you understand the Bible creation narrative, one thing is certain, the universe had a beginning. Science tells us that space, time, and matter came into being at the same moment. There was nothing, then there was...well, everything. That makes the universe contingent. Think of oak trees. If you see an acorn, you would be f...

I recently watched an interesting discussion between Kris Vallotton, a senior leader at Bethel Church in Redding, California and a young female student enrolled on the church’s School of Supernatural Ministry. What was interesting about this exchange was that the student was a Roman Catholic. Jessica Bond happily announced that Pope Francis was her pastor, and this prompted Vallotton to share his story of when he met the Pope. Vallotton said that he was part of a group of 40 charismatics that had been invited to the Vatican to meet the Pope. He recalled how Pope Francis told them about the time that he was baptised in the Spirit. This prompted Jessica to say how much she loves the Pope. When Vallotton met the Pope back in 2016, he posted about the event on his social media. He said this: ‘I had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis today with some other pastors. He is really a great man; I love him a ton!’ I am pretty sure that if social media existed at the time of Luther, Calvin, Cra...

  Cult victim found alive after three days in Malindi grave ‘ Detectives under the homicide unit have found one person alive after exhuming a grave linked to Shakahola church members.’ It’s a shocking headline, hardly believable, but there it was in the Star of Kenya . The story has been unfolding on our screens, in our news feeds, across the world as we have looked on incredulously at the horror unfolding . How does it come to this? Who is Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and what drove him to insist his followers go to such extremes of fasting that it brought many to the grave? P aul Mackenzie, pastor of Good News International Church, is widely reported to have encouraged his congregation to extreme fasting in order to ‘meet Jesus’ or go to heaven. As with all such things, this ‘starvation cult’ has an origin story. Mackenzie is said to be a devotee of William Branham’s ‘the Message’ cult, having been radicalised by the Latter-Rain version of Branham’s message . Branham referred to ...

  I used to play this trick where I took a handful of change from my pocket and asked someone to count it for me before I used it as an illustration. They would come back with a number and I would look puzzled and ask, ’Are you sure?’ I would then count the change for myself, taking out all the foreign coins that looked like British currency. ‘That,’ I would say, ‘is how easy it is to fool someone. With blinding familiarity and an unsuspecting mark.’ So it is that along comes a Jehovah’s Witness, pointing out the Bible clearly says, ‘You are my witnesses,’ declares Jehovah.’ Isaiah 43:10, and our mark, thinking this an insight, and feeling how clever of him to see it, says, ‘Oh, yes! Tell me more.’ So, too, a Mormon comes along and says, ‘The true church is built on a foundation of apostles and prophets.’ Eph esians 2:20; 1 Co rinthi a ns 12:28; Eph esians 4:11-14, and our mark, thinking he knows something now, and how clever he is to know it, says, ‘Oh, yes! Tell me more.’ ...

  Under the heading RELIGION in Reasoning From the Scriptures, p.326, the Watch Tower asks, Is belonging to an organised religion necessary? They write: 'Most religious organizations have produced bad fruitage. It is not the fact that groups are organized that is bad. But many have promoted forms of worship that are based on false teachings and are largely ritualistic instead of providing genuine spiritual guidance; they have been misused to control the lives of people for selfish objectives; they have been overly concerned with money collections and ornate houses of worship instead of spiritual values; their members are often hypocritical. Obviously no one who loves righteousness would want to belong to such an organization. But true religion is a refreshing contrast to all of that. Nevertheless, to fulfill the Bible’s requirements, it must be organized.' Quoting 1 Corinthians 1:10 they say: “ Now I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you ...

  ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not see itself as one Christian denomination among many, but rather as God’s latter-day restoration of the fulness of Christian faith and practice. Thus from its earliest days LDS Christians sought to distinguish themselves from Christians of other traditions.’ (Encyclopaedia of Mormonism 1:270) When LDS leader Brad Wilcox told the youth, and the assembled adults, that O is for Only True Church, I wonder what they thought? Older Mormons perhaps felt like giving Brad a hearty ‘amen’, after all he was declaring the historical Mormon position that the LDS church is the only true church. What Brad said clearly lines up with the Mormon past, with Mormon doctrine and with the Mormon scriptures, but it doesn’t quite square with what I constantly hear from Missionaries. Missionaries have often told me that I am a Christian, but I am missing some pieces of information, namely, the doctrines and gospel ordinances found only in the...