A team from Oxford University’s Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology analyzed ethnographic accounts of ethics from 60 societies, and discovered what they believe to be seven universal moral rules: These were found in a survey of 60 cultures from all around the world. The full report is available here. A university press release says:…

How would we know how to be obedient if there were no doctrine? In researching this question in the Bible, I was surprised to discover that the New Testament has more to say about obedience than the Old. Paul was particularly prolific on the topic, but his focus was on obedience to faith. Here are…

Jesus told the Sadducees that they understood neither Scripture nor the power of God. If “understanding Scripture” is defined as doctrine, then was Jesus putting doctrine not in opposition, but rather in juxtaposition, to the power of God? Was He saying that doctrine needs to be studied to be understood, whereas the power of God…

We’ve been discussing doctrine as it pertains to faith groups. But does doctrine say more about God than about us? Does doctrine have a greater influence on culture (either in the broad sense or in the narrower sense of religion/the church) or does culture influence doctrine more?   We know from psychological studies that a…

The story in Matthew 22:23-33 we have been studying is also captured by Mark: Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should marry…

In His “render” statement, Jesus seems to be saying that in every life, there are circumstances that require us to recognize the influence of God and government respectively, and to recognize that each does have some authority over us—an authority to which we are required to respond when we can.  For most of earth’s history,…