Volume 46 |Number 01/02 | 2023
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CONTENTS:
From the President:
by Hank Hanegraaff
Cultural Discernment (From the President): America is in the midst of a woke worldview war. An uprising against the Judeo-Christian ethic — against you, your children, and the very soul of Western Civilization. The woke worldview finds its roots in a contrived Marxist oppression dichotomy. In concert with previous insurrections, kids are the key targets. The new normal is extremism.
From the Editor:
08 A Fond Farewell, Not a Good-bye
by Melanie Cogdill
Feature Articles
10 Gender Ideology’s Attack on Our Humanity
by Jay W. Richards
Cultural Discernment/Ethical Discernment: The early chapters of Genesis express truth claims that have been known everywhere — in every time and culture. There are men and women. They’re both human, but they are different. Men aren’t women. Women aren’t men. But we live at a shocking moment in history when each of these claims is contested.
18 Three Dogmas of Wokeism: The Path to Authoritarianism
by Noelle Mering
Cultural Discernment/Ethical Discernment: Citizens of good will who want to understand our current cultural revolution need to start viewing the “woke movement” as a revolutionary religion with its own dogmas. Unlike orthodox Christianity, which seeks truth through science, reason, and revelation, wokeism is ideological, taking partial truths and totalizing them in ways that require manipulation, violence, and coercion.
26 Critical Race Theory: An Introduction and Critique
by Douglas Groothuis
Cultural Discernment/Ethical Discernment: Critical Race Theory (CRT) stood behind the George Floyd riots of the summer of 2020 and has seeped into many aspects of American society — media, politics, education, and even our churches. But CRT is an untrue and un-American ideology. It is the Christian worldview that offers a true account of race, sin, and society.
34 “The Defense Calls to the Stand…” Defining and Meeting the Upcoming LGBTQ Challenges
by Joe Dallas
Cultural Discernment/Ethical Discernment: Look for three LGBTQ-related trends in particular to escalate in the near future: an increase in the scope and strength of “conversion therapy” bans; increased government intrusion when parents object to children “transitioning”; and revocation of tax exemption or grant benefits to churches and Christian universities that are “non-affirming.”
40 The Inner and Outer Man: How Historical Christian Anthropology Addresses Transgenderism
by Benjamin Cabe
Historical Theology/Doctrinal Discernment: Are souls gendered? And if they are, can a man be born with a female soul — or vice versa? Historic Christian anthropology sets forth a clear vision of the human being as a microcosm of God’s creation — material and immaterial — and through analysis of the properties of body and soul emerges a remarkably clear answer to those questions.
48 The Floor Always Feels Safer: A Glance at Some Origins of the Modern Self and the Way We Live Now
by Anne Kennedy
Cultural Discernment: This is the age of the individual turned unfathomably inward. An age in which a person seeks to find answers about the world by looking deeper into herself. An age in which it is perfectly sensible to hear someone say, “I am a man trapped in a woman’s body.” How did we get here?
56 Christian Parenting and the Peril of Public School Education
by Matthew M. Kennedy
Cultural Discernment/Ethical Discernment (Viewpoint): Public school systems across the United States are adopting curricula and communicating ideas intrinsically antithetical to Christianity. From school sponsored drag shows and sexually explicit library books to the racialized reframing of American history, curricula may well be designed to undermine your child’s faith. What should the Christian parent do?
62 How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Soul: A Survival Guide for Diversity Training
by John Ferrer
Cultural Discernment/Ethical Discernment: On the surface, “diversity training” seems like a great idea. Everyone agrees that racism, sexism, and bullying are bad. But the diversity industry is rife with progressive neo-Marxism and diversity training activities are often modeled after “struggle sessions” from the Cultural Revolution (Maoist China). Should Christians participate?
70 Dances with Wolves: When ‘Woke’ Predators Invade the Sheep Pen
by Bob Perry
Cultural Discernment/Doctrinal Discernment: The tentacles of woke ideology are slithering into our churches through a redefinition of social justice, equity, inclusivity, tolerance, and love. But the head of the hydra is the same as it has always been — the notoriously self-focused human propensity to see the world through the toxically relativistic standard of our personal “lived experience.”
Postmodern Realities:
76 Advice from a College Student: Go to Church
Ask Hank:
78 Why Is the Redefinition of Marriage So Crucial to the Woke Revolution?
***Please note all original print articles are posted online at scheduled intervals based on original print date and/or availability of issue***