Volume 39:Issue 4 

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CONTENTS:

04 From the Editor
Why the Liberal Arts Matter

05 Response
Creeds: Relics or Relevant?

06 Effective Evangelism
What the Size of the Cosmos Doesn’t Say about Mankind

08 Practical Hermeneutics
Jephthah’s Bloodless Sacrifice

10 Doubt as Virtue: How to Doubt and Have Faith without Exploding
by Travis M. Dickinson
Critical Thinking/Christian Growth: An experience of intellectual doubt is often taken by Christians to be a sign of weak faith. When treated properly, however, an encounter with doubt is extremely valuable, since it can lead to knowledge and an even greater faith.

18 Anti-Intellectualism in the Church
by Michael W. Austin
Christian Growth/Critical Thinking: Our culture has exalted feelings above reason, pragmatism over wisdom, entertainment over intellectual engagement, and we’re now seeing the fruit of these choices. Because truth matters, followers of Christ must understand both the causes and consequences of anti-intellectualism in the church, and take deliberate steps to overcome it.

24 Philosophy, Politics, and the End of Liberal Arts Education
by Adam C. Pelser
Christian Growth/Critical Thinking: Philosophy and study in the humanities increasingly are being devalued in Western education as “fuzzy disciplines” of little practical use. But these very fields can lead students beyond the mesmerizing appeal of shallow entertainment and mere technical knowledge to the kind of deep understanding, wisdom, and clear moral vision that characterizes the best of our leaders and citizens.

30 The Origin and Insufficiency of the Black Hebrew Israelite Movement
by Jimmy Butts
Today’s Religious Movements: The Black Hebrew Israelite movement has infiltrated black communities on the basis of two principal claims: (1) All African Americans biologically descend from the ancient Hebrews, and (2) The means of salvation for African Americans is obedience to the Law of Moses. Although Black Hebraism addresses important issues in black communities, their worldview has no foundation in history or Scripture.

38 God and Relationships on the “New Kind” of Christianity: A Doctrinal Update on Brian McLaren and Other Emergents
by R. Scott Smith
Today’s Religious Movements: Over time, the views of Emergent church leaders have become clearer, more influential, and increasingly dangerous. Their embrace of panentheism and a view of human persons and creation as merely physical render interpersonal relationships with God and others impossible, both philosophically and biblically.

46 Francis Schaeffer: Pastor, Evangelist, Apologist, Prophet
by Douglas Groothuis
Philosophical Apologetics (Philosophers Series): From 1968 until his death in 1984, Francis Schaeffer wrote more than twenty books that introduced many Christians to philosophical apologetics and a penetrating Christian assessment of Western culture. The history of evangelicalism in the twentieth century cannot be written without careful attention to his body of work.

52 Reviews
A Summary Critique:Alex Mar’s Witches of AmericaA Summary Critique: Kathryn Applegate and J. B. Stump’s How I Changed My Mind about EvolutionMichael Denton’s Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis

58 Viewpoint
Social Movements and God’s Kingdom: Which Cause Matters Most?

60 Postmodern Realities
Youth, Suicide, and Our Success-Centered Culture

62 Ask Hank
What Is Replacement Theology, and Is the Pretribulational Rapture Theory Biblical?