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Let us be wary of the soothing narrative that downplays the seriousness of growing antisemitism. The belief that Jew hate will diminish once the Israel-Hamas war concludes may be misguided.

As I go about my daily life, antisemitism is still a thing of the past. Not so on college campuses and in some cities. Like Elon Musk, I am shocked by the exposure of rampant Jew hatred.

Last November, when our local farmer was closing for the season, he asked about our holiday plans. The farmer’s jaw dropped when my wife mentioned celebrating Hanukah and Christmas. Curious, he asked, “Which one of you is Jewish?” We’ve known this farmer for thirty years, and the question never arose. Why would it? He is an honest, hard-working man engaged in commerce, paying no attention to the superficial characteristics of his customers.

Intellectuals teaching a toxic mixture of identity politics, critical race theory, and Marxism have hijacked our educational and other institutions. “Liberatory Ethnic Studies (LES)” which make use of  “Marxist and Maoist-based liberatory model[s]” are being taught in some K-12 classrooms. What Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay call the “caste system of social justice” labels Jews oppressors because of their economic success.

In his book Marxism, Thomas Sowell points out Marx lived as an intellectual without “responsibility” for his livelihood and the “social consequences” of his “vision.” Sowell explains today’s “Intellectuals enjoy a similar insulation from the consequences of being wrong, in a way that no businessman, or military leader, or engineer or even athletic coach can.”

In his book Intellectuals, the late historian Paul Johnson describes Marx as a man with a “childish attitude” who “borrowed money heedlessly, spent it, then was invariably astounded and angry when the heavily discounted bills, plus interest, became due.”

In On the Jewish Question, Marx wrote, “What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God?… Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist.”

In his classic Russian novel, Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman observed that antisemitism was a “mirror for the failings of individuals.” He added, “Tell me what you accuse the Jews of — I’ll tell you what you’re guilty of.”

Marx was not merely a Jew hater. He was a hater. His antisemitism was part of a larger pattern.

Those who do not want to take responsibility for their choices gravitate to mass movements that promise to alleviate the consequences they face for their poor decisions. Should it come as a surprise that Marxist ideas helped to fuel communism, one of the most destructive mass movements in history?

Should we be surprised that the current eruption of antisemitism is concentrated on college campuses where anti-capitalism sentiment is the norm?

Today, on college campuses, “we” and “they” thinking seems to be a major part of the current curriculum. It’s assumed, if you can’t make something of your life it’s because “they” have stopped you. Historically, Jews have tragically found the unwarranted role of “they” thrust on them.

Today, college professors and administrators spare students from being exposed to ideas other than their own. Marx never wanted to face the consequences of his low emotional and moral intelligence. How many college students, like Marx, do not want to face challenges to their low emotional and moral intelligence?

Students pass through our educational system trained to have minds closed to rigorous exploration of ideas. Failure is a certainty when ideas are not challenged, and there must be a “they” to blame for failure. For antisemites and anti-capitalists, Jews are the shared object of hatred. Jews are used to account for failed plans generated by flawed ideas. As long as illiberal curriculums dominate our educational systems, both hatreds will grow.

https://intellectualtakeout.org/2024/07/why-karl-marx-hated-jews/

[TBC: The author of this article doesn’t go far enough to uncover the real reason behind hatred of the Jews. As Dave Hunt noted: “…there is no question that the Jews are a separate people. Everybody knows who they are, and they are hated and persecuted,…which is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. This is what God said would happen….Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of these people from whom the Messiah would come. Two hundred and three times in the Bible God is called the God of Israel. Nine times He is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You don’t like it? Take that up with God.”]

Atheists, especially the new aggressive breed, are so confident that they are right and theists are wrong that they have no conscience about stonewalling and even silencing theists whenever and wherever possible. Conscience? What is that? How can conscience, which has no physical qualities, be explained in materialistic terms? What part of the anatomy generated the universal recognition of right and wrong? Certainly not the brain cells, any more than the cells of the cranium that holds the brain. How does the materialist explain morals and ethics in terms of matter? We’re still waiting to hear.

Again, men tell us that our preaching should be positive and not negative, that we can preach the truth without attacking error. But if we follow that advice, we shall have to close our Bible and desert its teachings. The New Testament is a polemic book almost from beginning to end ... It is when men have felt compelled to take a stand against error that they have risen to the really great heights in the celebration of the truth.

John Gresham Machen (1881–1937, American Presbyterian New Testament scholar, Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary, led a revolt against modernist theology at Princeton, forming Westminister Theological Seminary).

I believe God has given parents the primary responsibility for raising their children. My parents didn’t “go with the flow” but instead chose to educate my siblings and I at home. And I am so thankful! Here are a few reasons why:

Homeschooling enabled us to grow up sharing life as a family. We learned alongside each other.

We were able to be taught scriptural principles all the time. Imagine how confusing it is when children are taught one thing at school and another at home. Who do you think is likely to win the battle for that child’s mind and heart?

Our schooling was never constrained to “bookwork.” Homeschooling gave us the opportunity to learn countless “real life” skills; for example: building a garage and cottage from the ground up, planning a menu and preparing it, dealing with attitude problems, serving other families in need, and running a business (which includes interacting with customers, marketing the product, and keeping financial records).

Homeschooling gave us much-needed flexibility. My youngest brother Micah was almost two years old when he passed away. I would have missed being a big part of his life if I had attended a typical school.

Homeschooling has given me the opportunity to observe my parents firsthand and see how marriage is lived out in day-to-day life. We don’t always get an accurate picture from books and movies!

Are you are discouraged today, wondering if homeschooling is worth the effort? Let me encourage you — it is worth the effort! Our adversary the devil wants us to be discouraged. He is “seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter:5:8-9 [8] Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: [9] Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
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We must “put on the whole armor of God … For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Ephesians:6:11-13 [11] Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. [12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. [13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
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Take heart, “If God is for us, who can be against us? … We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans:8:31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
See All..., 37).

I salute all of you Christian homeschooling parents. I firmly believe you are doing one of the best things in the world for your child (see Proverbs:22:6Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
See All...). We need to raise up the next generation to stand firm for Christ in the face of a world that hates Him. Let us live for Christ’s approval alone, longing to one day hear Him say, “‘Well done, good and faithful servant’” (Matthew:25:21His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
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https://chec.org/chec-blog/the-blessing-of-homeschooling/

God has thrown down the gauntlet in the opening chapters of the Bible, but today, atheists make up the rules. Though one has the freedom to mention God and creation in universities (but generally not in lower levels), to do so is likely to draw the scorn of professors and students alike because “it’s not scientific.” No matter how competent, theistic scientists find it extremely difficult even to get a paper before a peer group, much less to have it approved and published. Nor does the media ever fairly portray the God of the Bible.

That statement declares that we are not just educated lumps of evolved protein wired with nerves. We are nonphysical beings temporarily living in physical bodies. The atheist does not like the concept of “nonphysical.” Nevertheless, the creation of Adam stands as a challenge to any atheist who will engage it: “Explain life, and you have finally done away with any need for God.”

Years ago, we attended a Willow Creek-type church for a while. We had been hurt by a church split and needed a place to attend while we sorted out what exactly had happened and where to go from there. It was a “seeker-sensitive” church, and following the lead of Willow Creek, it was not biblically deep. Those attending were predominantly made up of younger people, and the members seemed excited about the church. We were a bit surprised, though, when several approached us and asked if we would teach a small-group class on the Bible. They liked to be part of a church where they could invite their friends to hear the gospel, but they felt they weren’t learning much about the Scriptures, and they wanted to know how to read, understand, and apply what it taught. How could we say no? Although we are many years from those days and all of us in the group now attend different churches, some of them still call us occasionally to ask questions about Bible passages or certain claims others, perhaps their pastors, have made about the Bible. They just want to know what the meaning of the passage is.

But what happens to someone who has very little access to the word of God? A few weeks ago in What is Spiritual A.I.D.S.? and referenced an interesting passage in Nehemiah 8. The context was the return of the Israelites from captivity in Babylon and the people’s subsequent rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. The people were hungry for some real spiritual understanding since they had lived in a deeply pagan society for so long. In Nehemiah:8:1And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.
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And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 

The people were hungry and ached to know their God and His word. Here is how Ezra and the priests approached the reading in verse 8:

They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. (Nehemiah:8:8So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
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I was a little taken aback. We, like many ministries, receive many contacts from overseas, most of them asking for money. This, however, was a first. A pastor contacted us with the sole request to teach his “church members and children the word of God.” I was a little unsure about this and asked for a bit more information. His response was helpful:

Thanks so much for your response and inquiry. I appreciate it so much. I have a young ministry church located in Kenya at Kissi. The church’s name is Heart of Light Fellowship Church. My father started the ministry as the founder, but he died after a few years, and then I took over the leadership after my father.

It is a poor area, and except for the Pastor, the congregation doesn’t currently have Bibles. The church has about seventy members, and we are working to get them Bibles in their own language. Most can read, and those who cannot want to learn.

This is all very different from serving in ministry in the United States, where, as our Senior Researcher Ron Henzel says, “We have an embarrassment of riches in all of the resources we have at our fingertips,” but too few Christians invest the time to use them in gaining a better understanding of the word of God for themselves. As we pointed out a few weeks ago, many Westerners have, sadly, come to believe the Bible is not enough to meet their needs, and they are on a spiritual search for “something more.” Ironically, they are turning to false teachers to teach them falsehoods. In Kisii, Kenya, people are hungry for the word of God; the Christians in Kisii, at least at Heart of Light Fellowship Church, want to know what the Bible says and how they can apply it to their lives. We do not know where exactly this is going to go, but we are excited and happy about the opportunity – it is a breath of fresh air. Please pray for us and for the congregation in Kenya.

https://midwestoutreach.org/2024/08/08/they-gave-the-meaning/

In the Bible’s creation narrative, an immediate distinction is made between matter and life. Neither atoms nor molecules nor chemicals they form have life in themselves, yet they compose bodies that are vibrantly and consciously alive. What is life? This is a mystery that science has been unable to solve. Having said that God formed the human body and “every living creature . . . out of the ground,” the Bible declares of Adam, “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Hinduism Meets the Global Order: The “Easternization” of the West points out that the Easternization of the West has been going on since the 1960s:  “Since the 1960s the general Western reception of Indic philosophies and religions has been best portrayed not as a phobia, but as a philia. Colin Campbell notes that it is not unreasonable to characterize this fundamental shift in worldview as the “Easternization” of the West. The breakdown of the West’s “old traditions” opened up an ideological space for a range of alternatives where the Eastern traditions figure prominently, especially those of a Hindu or Buddhist orientation whose fundamentals strongly resonate with the growing Western interest in health, well-being and self-realization.” 

In its rush to look more like culture, segments of the church have also embraced and incorporated Eastern mysticism in its beliefs and practices with "spiritual disciplines" like Yoga, Contemplative Prayer, and the Enneagram. In Christianity over Buddhism, Objectively Alexander Riley takes a narrower focus on Christianity and Buddhism: “A good deal of the appeal of Buddhism in America has to do with its embrace of a laissez-faire subjectivism that is quite amenable to American individualism. In a conversation with Stephen Colbert, Gere described leaving the Christian faith of his family—despite his father’s highly compassionate Christian example—because the Buddhist “science of the mind” was superior. What the “superior” science of the mind reveals, in Gere’s account, is that there is no objective reality. We are living in The Matrix, where nothing is real beyond the mental activity of any individual’s mind.”

In its rush to look more like culture, segments of the church have also embraced and incorporated Eastern mysticism in its beliefs and practices with "spiritual disciplines" like Contemplative Prayer and the Enneagram. In Christianity over Buddhism, Objectively Alexander Riley takes a narrower focus on Christianity and Buddhism. Christianity and Buddhism (and Hinduism as well) are not compatible. Buddhism is to end in nothingness, but Christianity is to overcome death and enjoy eternal life:   

Christianity accepts the death of these mortal bodies, but it cannot accept that this death be permanent. Perfection of the spirit permits the overcoming of death. In fact, it demands it.

Christianity is at its core the defeat of death. It cannot accept death. It loves life too much.

Even when Christianity seems to be concentrating on the fact of death, it is affirming life. Critics never tire of insinuating, for example, that the cross as a symbol necessarily signifies a celebration of the destruction of life. The comedian Bill Hicks ridiculed Christian beliefs with a bit in which Jesus is depicted as deferring his return because Christians had “missed the point” in their use of the symbol of the cross. But Hicks and others who take this perspective do little more than prove that they have misunderstood the most basic elements of the faith. It is the overcoming of the cross that Christians celebrate by invoking it. The symbol of the cross recalls Christ’s death, certainly. But it also, and much more importantly, points to the resurrection that came after it.

It is unfortunate that so many Christians do not recognize the false teaching and Easternization that is entering their churches.  

https://mailchi.mp/a9ae3f310fa6/do-humans-have-rights-that-can-be-violated?e=169825fd77

On our website: https://www.thebereancall.org/content/question-why-do-you-prefer-kjv-over-modern-translations
More question and answer: https://www.thebereancall.org/questionanswer

Question: I was very upset by the answer from you about the reason you prefer the KJV.... I need you to please send me several examples of what you consider "serious" errors [in modern translations]. I would also be very appreciative of some reading material that the lay person can understand...or names of some sources....

Response: Thank you for your recent letter challenging me regarding my support of the KJV. This question is too complex to deal with in a brief letter, but let me try once again. You asked for sources.
The best case against "KJV only" is presented by D. A. Carson in The King James Version Debate: A Plea for Realism. He points out, in "eight key Christological verses (Jn:1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
See All...,18; Acts:20:28Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
See All...; Rom:9:5Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
See All...; 2 Thes:1:12That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
See All..., Tts 2:13; Heb:1:8But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
See All...; 2 Pet:1:1Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
See All...)... the KJV fails to underscore the deity of Christ in four." Most modern translations do as well or better. The NIV scores in seven of the eight. Even Thomas M. Strouse, though strongly criticizing Carson, admits these four KJV failures (Jn:1:18No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
See All...; 2 Thes:1:12That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
See All...; Tts 2:13; 2 Pet:1:1Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
See All...) and explains them as "a textual problem (Jn:1:18No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
See All...) and the other three are translational problems." Even its defenders must admit to some flaws in the KJV.

Critics fault the KJV because it comes from a Greek New Testament which was put together by Erasmus in 1516, later improved by Theodore Beza and Robert Stephanus. The latter's fourth edition in 1551 is "substantially the Textus Receptus," according to Jasper James Ray, one of its most fervent defenders. Too late in time, say the critics, and too few manuscripts as its source. Yet this was basically the Greek text that had been accepted by the Greek church in the East for centuries (the Roman Catholic Church in the West used the Latin Vulgate), earlier manuscripts from which the Greek Bible came having been worn out and discarded. Modern translations (some are worse than others, the RSV in particular) come from a Greek text developed by Westcott and Hort (two scholarly heretics) based largely upon Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, which, though older, are clearly corrupted.

In God Wrote Only One Bible, Jasper James Ray cites more than 200 differences between the KJV and "44 new version Bibles"—some minor, some serious. How do we know who is right without learning Greek and poring over thousands of ancient manuscripts? In checking out the differences Ray cites, not only logic but the testimony of the rest of Scripture and the Holy Spirit come down solidly on the side of the KJV. You wanted examples. Here are a few.
In Revelation:1:11Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
See All..., RSV, NAS (and others, but I can't list them all) leave out "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." Not only is this a key claim to deity stated in a special way to show that Jesus is Jahweh (see Is 44:6), but it seems logical that the speaker would immediately identify Himself. It is more likely to have been deleted than added.
In John:9:35Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
See All... modern translations change "Son of God" to “Son of man," which not only denigrates Jesus but makes no sense in this context. Yes, Jesus often called Himself "Son of man," but in His general teaching to the multitude where He used veiled language. Here He is introducing Himself to someone who never heard of Him or heard His teaching, and "Son of man" wouldn't mean anything.

In Luke:2:33And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
See All... "Joseph" is changed to "father" and in verse 43 "Joseph and his mother" are changed to "his parents." All of the above (and others) deny His deity. Though Christ's deity is clear in other places in most modern translations, these and other verses send the opposite signal, thus causing confusion.

In Colossians:1:14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
See All..., "through his blood" is left out in RSV, NAS, etc., though they include it in Ephesians:1:7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
See All.... I don't think Paul omitted it. In 1 John:4:3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
See All..., "Christ is come in the flesh" is missing, though this phrase was a key in combatting gnostic cults and now the New Age. In Luke:4:8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
See All..., "Get thee behind me, Satan" is omitted, though it seems appropriate. In Luke:4:4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
See All..., "but by every word of God" is missing, making it an improper quote of Deuteronomy:8:3And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
See All... and weakening it. In each case deletion seems more likely to have occurred than addition.

There are several cases where direct reference to Old Testament prophecies seems very appropriate yet is left out of RSV, NAS, etc., such as Matthew:27:35And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
See All..., "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet"; Mark:13:14But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
See All..., "spoken of by Daniel the prophet"; Mark:15:28And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
See All..., "And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith," etc. Again, the text seems weakened by the loss.

While Europe in the Middle Ages had a Judeo-Christian worldview, it took the Reformation to recover specific biblical authority. With this came the recovery of a plain or historical-grammatical understanding of the Bible, recovering the understanding of the New Testament authors and most of the early Church Fathers. This turned out to have a huge positive impact on the development of modern science. 

This is so counter to common (mis)understanding, yet it is well documented by Peter Harrison, then a Professor of History and Philosophy at Bond University in Queensland, Australia (and one-time Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford): “It is commonly supposed that when in the early modern period individuals began to look at the world in a different way, they could no longer believe what they read in the Bible. In this book I shall suggest that the reverse is the case: that when in the sixteenth century people began to read the Bible in a different way, they found themselves forced to jettison traditional conceptions of the world.”

As Prof. Harrison explained: “Strange as it may seem, the Bible played a positive role in the development of science.…

Had it not been for the rise of the literal interpretation of the Bible and the subsequent appropriation of biblical narratives by early modern scientists, modern science may not have arisen at all. In sum, the Bible and its literal interpretation have played a vital role in the development of Western science.”

Stephen Snobelen, Assistant Professor of History of Science and Technology, University of King’s College, Halifax, Canada, writes in a similar vein, and also explains the somewhat misleading term “literal interpretation:” “Here is a final paradox. Recent work on early modern science has demonstrated a direct (and positive) relationship between the resurgence of the Hebraic, literal exegesis of the Bible in the Protestant Reformation, and the rise of the empirical method in modern science. I’m not referring to wooden literalism, but the sophisticated literal-historical hermeneutics that Martin Luther and others (including Newton) championed.”

And Prof. Snobelen explains the reason why: scientists started to study nature in the same way they studied the Bible. I.e. just as they studied what the Bible really said, rather than imposed outside philosophies and traditions upon it, they likewise studied how nature really did work, rather than accept philosophical ideas about how it should work (extending their allegorizing readings of Scripture to the natural world).“It was, in part, when this method was transferred to science, when students of nature moved on from studying nature as symbols, allegories and metaphors to observing nature directly in an inductive and empirical way, that modern science was born. In this, Newton also played a pivotal role. 

As strange as it may sound, science will forever be in the debt of millenarians and biblical literalists.”

Dr. Jonathan Safarti (Ph.D. Physical Chemistry, Chessmaster [F.M.], member of Christian Ministries, author)

Atheists dare God: “Speak to us and we’ll believe!” God has spoken in a written message outside of longer than the Bible. Geneticists have decoded it. It’s the DNA molecule. This is God’s voice to mankind. There could be no other source of that amazing instruction manual for creating and maintaining the life and physical features of every living thing.

[TBC: "Abraham Maslow, one of the most well-known psychological theorists promoting self-esteem and self-actualization, found in his later research that his theories had been wrong. He tried to curb the enthusiasm for his earlier theories... [but] Maslow found that satisfying the so-called self-esteem needs did not produce the desired results.  And that is the problem with so many of the self theories. They begin with fallen flesh and simply end up with another face of fallen flesh. Nevertheless, few people pay attention to research that does not support their faith in self-love, self-acceptance, and self-esteem" (Bobgan 12 Steps to Destruction  pp. 52-53).]

In 1966 Abraham Maslow wrote, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail." CRT (Critical Race Theory) has raised every problem, ill, woe, and issue that plagues the human race to be an issue of racism.

In "Racist dinosaurs? British professor links white supremacy to geology and 'pale-ontology,' we find a very white Professor Kathryn Yusoff doing just that: Yusoff argues that 'forms of imperial geology embedded in Western and Enlightenment' have perpetuated 'anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, and anti-Brown environmental and racial injustices'."

“In her introduction, she claims that her book aims to ‘understand geology (in its broadest sense) as a tool of raciality that has historically shaped the grounds of struggle and continues to shape material relations of racism into the future’."

The evidence, it seems, is her imagination: “She also accuses scientists of creating ‘geotrauma’ by erasing the geologies that belong to other ‘imaginations of earth.’ She writes about ‘missing earths’ - Indigenous earths, Black earths, Brown earths - that have been overshadowed by a ‘colonial earth’ created through ‘white geology,’ suggesting that even rocks have been roped into white supremacist schemes.”

It seems because she can imagine other earths for which there is no evidence that proves they were destroyed by the colonialism of the rocks or a "colonial earth." This is one of those rare times that I am at a loss for words.

https://mailchi.mp/a9ae3f310fa6/do-humans-have-rights-that-can-be-violated?e=169825fd77

Most people, including many Christians, do not take the Bible seriously when it declares that God—who created everything out of nothing—formed the human body “of the dust of the ground.” Our bodies indeed have the same chemicals as the soil, and it is the soil from which comes the food that sustains us and all flesh. At death, the body returns to the earth. The phrase that one often hears at funerals, “Dust you are, and unto dust you shall return,” was first uttered by God to Adam and Eve. That story is not fiction but history. Those who are willing to open their minds and read on will be challenged.

Dawkins states repeatedly with unabashed certainty that “we know essentially how life began.” On the contrary, we don’t even know what life is, so how could we know how it began? Until atheists can explain what life is, it is an outright deceit to pretend to explain how it “evolved.” Atheists and evolutionists are playing a game of pretense, trying to build a natural-selection structure in the air without first laying the foundation. It’s just a dream. As C.S. Lewis so ably argued: “If minds are wholly dependent on brains and brains on biochemistry, and biochemistry (in the long run) on the meaningless flux of atoms, I cannot understand how the thought of those minds should have any more significance than the sound of wind in the trees.”

Archaeologists have uncovered secrets of a Biblical city that sat within the 'Promised Land' where the Israelites settled after Moses led them out of Egypt.

The Israeli Antiquities Authority recently shared their findings from Zanoah, which is mentioned in the Old Testament, revealing stone walls, pottery and other artifacts that date back more than 3,200 years.

The Bible states that the Israelites reached the Promised Land, also known as Canaan, around 1406 to 1407 BC after wandering 40 years in the desert.

The team also uncovered a broken jar handle that featured the name of a king described in the Bible, providing more evidence to the Biblical story of Moses.

The Exodus story is spread over the biblical books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Researchers excavated the area in 2019 but released their findings in March 2024.

The team uncovered walls fashioned with rows of large, white rocks, which they believed were retaining walls for farming terraces used to create level areas for planting and to protect steeper soil from erosion.

Preserved pottery was also pulled from the ground, with one featuring a stamp on the handle that read 'of the King,' which was to honor King Hezekiah's reign in Judah in 701 BC.

The life of Hezekiah is described in the Bible book of 2 Kings, chapters 18-20. 

In 2 Chronicles, the king is said to have reopened the Temple of Solomon, known as 'the First Temple' and built on the spot where God created Adam.

Hezekiah also smashed the bronze snake statue God commanded Moses to make, which is mentioned in Numbers:21:8-9 [8] And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. [9] And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
See All...: 'Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake image and mount it on a pole.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13629323/Archaeologists-evidence-Bible-story-Moses.html

It’s well known that Communism killed 100 million people — but few are aware of the obsession Communism’s founder Karl Marx had with the Devil.

Karl Marx (1818–1883) is the economist and social theorist whose enduring footprint on the world is the political system known as Communism.

By the time the infamous ‘Century of Communism’ had ended, the ideas unleashed by Marx had led to the deaths of at least 100 million people worldwide—making Communism by far the greatest catastrophe in human history.

Marx’s ideas came with many diabolical flaws, perhaps none so deadly as his naive and unfounded optimism about the perfectibility of man.

If 20th-century Communist experiments taught the world anything, it is that humans, by their very nature, will always seek to oppress one another — most notably at nexus of a revolution, when traditional hierarchies are torn down.

While the devilish fruit of Marxism is visible to anyone with eyes to see it, what many people do not know about Karl Marx is that he had an explicit interest — even preoccupation — with devilry, which had a profound influence on all of his thinking.

Over the years, a number of writers have sought to shed light on Karl Marx’s obsession with the Devil.

The bizarre discovery was first made by Marx’s original biographer Franz Mehring, who was so taken aback by what he found that he advised Marx’s youngest daughter Eleanor to keep the revelation from going public.

Two books that ultimately did make these revelations public were Marx: A Biography (1968) and Marx and Satan (1971), both penned by British intellectual Robert Payne. In 1976, Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand added to this catalogue with his popular tome Marx & Satan.

The most recent publication on the topic is The Devil and Karl Marx (2020), written by Paul Kengor, professor of political science at Grove City College and executive director of the Institute for Faith and Freedom.

Karl Marx’s parents were Jewish, however his father Heinrich converted to a liberal brand of Lutheranism, mostly for social convenience and career mobility, in an era in Germany rife with antisemitism.

A significant and “toxic, pernicious” influence on Karl Marx during his formative years, Kengor notes, was his doctoral advisor Bruno Bauer. Bauer was a theology professor and, rather ironically, an atheist — which was not an entirely impossible combination given the waywardness of 19th-century German Protestantism.

The pair began plans for a journal called Atheistic Archives, which never came to fruition. Kengor shares that on one particular Palm Sunday, Bauer and Marx rode into a German village on donkeys, mocking Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem. They also scandalised their class by getting drunk and disrupting a church service.

Far from being mere footnotes in the biography of Karl Marx, Kengor and Mohler agree these devilish antics are emblematic of the West’s loss of meaning and spiritual fortitude over subsequent centuries.

Germany in the 1800s “is where biblical criticism was born,”….“This is where [Friedrich] Schleiermacher, the father of liberal theology… [reduces] the essence of Christianity to experience and feeling and utter subjectivity”.

Kengor refers to one of the closing lines in The Communist Manifesto, in which Marx and Engels state that “their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions/”

Thus, they observe, true Marxism is not merely about economics, but all of society. “They realised that you had to take out God,” Kengor explains. “You had to remove God.”

Kengor ends the discussion highlighting a quote often attributed to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan: “A Communist is somebody who reads Marx. An anti-Communist is someone who understands Marx.”

He then reflects, “I hear young people say, ‘Communism’s a pretty good idea if you just read it.’ They haven’t read it. They haven’t read it because if they did, they’d reject it.”

https://intellectualtakeout.org/2024/07/karl-marxs-obsession-the-devil/

Well, then, this “intuitive” feeling that runs counter to the theory of evolution can’t originate in our genes. It can’t be physical. Where could this free-will, rational impulse come from, this desire for something so at odds with natural selection? It cannot be true, as atheism’s natural selection would force us to believe, that our thoughts are simply the result of the motions of atoms in our brains that all began with a “big bang” and have been proceeding without guidance ever since. Isn’t this an admission that materialism does not have the answers to everything, unlike what atheists would have us believe and as Dawkins so often asserts?

What words come to your mind when you think of the Middle East? If I had to guess, I think most westerners would probably throw out topics like conflict or Islam or hostility to the West.  Sadly, those three topics most certainly do accurately describe certain aspects of the region that my family calls home, however, we would also probably throw in a few more kind descriptors of the region such as hospitable, kind, and full of good food.

The Middle East is the birthplace of the Christian faith, but it is also the home of perhaps the greatest regression of “Gospel-spread” in Christian history. What is God doing in the Middle East today?

Although there is still much work to be done in the Middle East, we can praise God for church growth and the spread of the Gospel in this region. The Middle East was spurned by early Christian missionaries who chose to go to less hostile countries first. When larger numbers of missionaries did begin arriving in the Middle East over the past hundred years (led in large measure by the pioneer Samuel Zwemer, they found Muslims hostile to the message, however, in certain Arab countries there were nominal Arab Christians who were much more open to the Gospel (the already-present millenia old Arab Christian denominations had nearly completely lost the Gospel message by this time). Many missionaries shifted focus to reaching these Arab “Christians” and planted new evangelical denominations among them in the long-term hope that local believers would be more effective missionaries in reaching Arab Muslims than westerners.

Although it has taken longer than at first hoped, the children’s children of this first generation of converts have become bolder and more willing than previous generations to reach Muslims, and indigenous Christian missionaries have even started to be raised up in two or three contexts over the past thirty years or so. Currently, there is a great need for biblical and missiological training for these indigenous Christian missionaries; far too often, they are only exposed to “magic-bullet”, quick-fix methodologies like DMM, CPM and similar methodologies. Moreover, most indigenous missionaries I’ve met also have no concept of incarnational ministry and western mission leaders (or donors) wrongly minimize the culture and worldview gap that exists between indigenous Christians and nearby (or geographically distant) Muslims; indigenous missionaries still need to be taught skills to learn the culture and worldview (and oftentimes the different Arabic dialect or language as well) of the people they are trying to reach, but unfortunately there is little training currently being done in these countries…

In other parts of the Middle East where even the “nominal” Arab church has not been present for centuries, there have also been trickles of individuals who’ve come to Christ through missionaries or media campaigns. In some contexts, these individuals are unable to find any local churches and must follow Christ completely alone; in other contexts, these believers are able to join already established Arab churches; and, in rare situations, groups of Muslim-Background Believers have even begun to meet together as a church. Although these new believers still only represent a “trickle” of all that God’s Word promises for these nations (Matthew:24:14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
See All...), we have much to give thanks for in view of the absolute lack of almost any “drops” entering the Kingdom in previous decades.

— “Nathan Smith” (Pseudonym), July 17, 2024

A Jewish economics professor at the University of Southern California has been cleared of any wrongdoing following a seven-month investigation into comments he made to pro-Palestinian protesters.

Professor John Strauss last November was banned from teaching on campus for the remainder of the fall semester after saying to the student demonstrators: “Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are.”

An edited version of a recording of Stauss’ comments that went viral on social media omitted his full remarks, prompting some to believe he suggested all Palestinians should be killed.

More than 10 students filed complaints against Strauss alleging harassment, discrimination, and creating an unsafe environment, The Los Angeles Times reported, adding while there “was no dispute that Strauss said the words … he denied that this amounted to a threat to students, as Hamas is deemed a terrorist organization and committed atrocities in Israel on Oct. 7.”

The investigation recently came to an end with all complaints filed by students dismissed, and the professor facing no discipline for his actions, the Times reported.

Strauss said he believes that there should be no limits to free speech on campus as long as there is no “incitement to violence.”

USC determined there wasn’t enough evidence that Strauss created an unsafe environment with his words or that he was targeting any student in particular, Harris told The Times.

Accusations that the scholar purposely stepped on anti-Israel signs were also debunked.

“Strauss’ lawyer also said the investigator had video of the encounter — including the clips that had gone viral — and aerial footage from ‘Trojan Cam,’ a live feed of the statue of Tommy Trojan on campus,” reported The Los Angeles Times.

The legal director of the Council on American-Islamic Relation, Amr Shabaik, told The Times: “We are disappointed that USC has found no wrongdoing despite the professor being captured on camera going out of his way to harass and intimidate USC students honoring the lives of innocent Palestinians killed by Israel.”

https://www.thecollegefix.com/jewish-professor-fully-exonerated-after-removal-for-saying-hamas-are-murderers/

[TBC: We need to be reminded that as one writer notes, there “…is the self-evident truth that Hamas has never wavered from its determination to perpetrate the genocide of Jews living in Israel.

"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it," reads the Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, more commonly known as the Hamas Covenant, adopted on Aug. 18, 1988. Replete with antisemitic tropes, the Covenant asserts as a premise that "Israel, Judaism, and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people." Quoting from the Quran, it warns "those who believe not, Ye shall be overcome, and thrown together into hell." The Charter makes abundantly clear that Hamas is determined not just to obliterate the State of Israel but to ravage and kill the Jews living there as it did on Oct. 7.]