Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson During this Christmas week, I have taken the time to discuss the theology of some of the Christmas hymns and carols that we sing. Today I would like to talk about The First Noel. It is an English song dating back to the sixteenth century. Some people believe that the First Noel was French because of the French spelling of Noel, but it is actually an English song. The French word Noël does mean “Christmas” and it is…

Kerby Anderson The carol “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is an English translation of a Latin hymn that is sung during Advent and Christmas. The text goes back to at least the 18th century (and perhaps much earlier) while the music put to it goes back to the 15th century. “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel. That mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.”…

Kerby Anderson It is estimated that Charles Wesley wrote over 6500 hymns. Perhaps his best-known hymn is “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” Over the years it has been edited slightly, but the meaning and theology remain as he wrote it more than two centuries ago. It begins with a proclamation of the birth of Jesus: “Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King; Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” The hymn reminds us why…

Kerby Anderson This is Christmas week, and I thought it might be worthwhile to spend a moment to reflect on the words to the hymn, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” It was written in 1867 by Phillips Brooks (an Episcopal pastor from Philadelphia). He had been in Israel two years earlier and had celebrated Christmas in Bethlehem. He wrote this song to reflect on what the night of the birth of Jesus might have been like. O little town of…

Penna Dexter On a recent Saturday, I traipsed up our attic stairs to retrieve my daughter’s childhood American Girl doll along with the accompanying furniture and doll clothes. It’s time, we thought, to pass the doll along to my 5-year-old granddaughter. Imagine our surprise when, just a day or so later, we began to see critiques of the brand American Girl appearing online concerning the release of its most recent “Smart Girl’s Guide” addressing the topic: “Body Image.” The Christian…

Kerby Anderson Progressive activists have invented a term that is used to criticize and condemn Christians and conservatives. The term is “stochastic terrorism.” As someone who has had numerous classes in math and science, I have never seen the word “stochastic” used in the social sciences, until now. The textbook definition of stochastic is: “randomly determined; having a random probability distribution or pattern that may be analyzed statistically but may not be predicted precisely.” Some examples of stochastic models would…

Kerby Anderson Merrill Matthews was in my radio studio recently to make the case that the “Axis of Evil” is now bigger, bolder, and more evil than twenty years ago. Back in 2002, President George W. Bush identified three countries during the State of the Union address that he designated as the “Axis of Evil.” Those countries were Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Merrill Matthews suggested that we now identify the countries that should be listed as part of the…

Kerby Anderson Doubt is a perennial concern for Christians. Every Christian has feelings of doubt at one time or another. Unfortunately, many Christians assume that doubt is the opposite of faith. They assume that wandering among the hard questions of faith will lead us further from a belief in God. Travis Dickinson is a professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University. His latest book is, Wandering Toward God: Finding Faith Amid Doubts and Big Questions. He was in my radio…

Kerby Anderson You have probably seen articles with provocative titles like: “How to Ruin Your Marriage in Seven Steps” or “How to Destroy the Country.” Recently, Victor Davis Hanson provided a list of things you would do “If You Really Wanted to Destroy the US.” First, you would surrender our prior energy independence. That would include reducing oil and gas leases along with canceling pipelines and energy exploration. Second, you would print trillions of dollars in the new currency at…

Kerby Anderson Can the state of Colorado tell a web designer what to say on a website? The answer to that question seems clear if you phrase it that way. But that really is the question brought before the Supreme Court. Lorie Smith owns 303 Creative, which is a Denver-based company that designs websites. She is also a Christian and would rather not design a website for same-sex couples. But the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act defines her business as a public…

Penna Dexter Two decades after the Clinton FDA approved the abortion pill, a lawsuit has been filed asking for the removal of these drugs from the US market. Alliance Defending Freedom filed suit in federal court on behalf of four medical organizations and four doctors who had treated patients with these drugs. The Department of Health and Human Services is also named as a defendant. The lawsuit claims that the FDA lacked the authority to approve the two-drug regimen known…