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Bible Truth or Tradition: Creation in Colossians 1:15 & 16

Columnists

There are times when we consult a dictionary to understand the meaning of a word and how it is used in different contexts. The same principle applies to Bible study. Examining the original Greek word can help us better understand a passage by revealing the range of meanings a word may have and how it was used by the biblical writers. This can also help us evaluate English translations, since a single original-language Greek word may be translated as multiple different English words. And, a translator's choice can sometimes reflect interpretive decisions (doctrinal or translation bias). ...

EMPTY NEST

Columnists

Being unable to keep up with a large garden anymore, I laid my latest brainstorm on our landscaper, 22-year old Caden. “Caden,” I said. “Tear out Buddy's dog pen that is right outside our kitchen door—we don't need it now that Buddy's in puppy heaven—and build us a raised garden.” “What kind of raised garden do you want, Curtis, on the ground or on legs?” he asked. “Build it on the ground, out of railroad ties,” I told him. “Two ties long, one tie wide, and three ties high. Fill it with black dirt. Try to get old used railroad ties, where the creosote is about ...

Lessons from the death of Jim Bakker

Columnists

In the 1980s the media gave them the name "televangelists." These were men (and a few women) who preached a "prosperity gospel," which claimed that God would reward donors who gave money to their "ministries." Jim Bakker, who died Monday at age 86, was among the most successful of the group, ...

The prosecutor's dilemma

Columnists

"That it is better 100 guilty persons should escape, than that one innocent person should suffer." -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) The hardest decision a government prosecutor may ever face is also one of the most important tests of the rule of law: What do you do when you believe a crime ...

The system worked in the Cornell 7 case

Columnists

We've heard it from politicians, celebrities and influencers -- the system failed the accuser in the Cornell 7 case. This near-universal view is advanced with great certainty and a sense of outraged righteousness, but mistaken nonetheless. Based on the information available to them at the ...

How death penalty opponents share the blame for botched executions

Columnists

"Botched" is a perfectly fine word for golf, cooking, or home repair. It seems inadequate for the taking of a life, even the life of Christa Pike, a heinous murderer. In 1996, a jury found Pike guilty of the torture and murder of her Jobs Corps classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Pike was sentenced to death. In the 30 years since, her case has gone through at least seven major rounds of appeal and judicial review, including four petitions to the Supreme Court. All were rejected. This doesn't even include the many more attempts to reopen or reverse her sentence that went nowhere. She is guilty, ...