Iran has exercised a significant threat and influence around the world, far beyond its actual political, economic and military might. The country is a significant military power in its own right. However, much of its influence is indirect through proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas and The Houtis. Similarly, Al Qaeda primarily relied on influencing people to carry… Continue reading Spiritual warfare: The devil, demons and proxies
Tag: Temptation
Having the nature of sin
There’s an interesting little phrase in the Thirty Nine Articles, it appears in article 9 which discusses original sin. In full, the article says: “Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk;) but it is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man, that naturally is… Continue reading Having the nature of sin
Desire (the YouTube walk and talks)
I’ve been fleshing out my thoughts on Desire and the affections in a series of video talks. You can now watch them all together here.
Why the debate about sin, temptation and desire matters
I’ve had four concerns about the debate around temptation, desire and sin (concupiscence). I wanted to just pick up on three crucial implications from these. First of all, by narrowing the debate down to one application, the impression has been unfortunately given that this isn’t to do with all of us. Rather, it only affects… Continue reading Why the debate about sin, temptation and desire matters
Really alive, really reborn
I revisited James 1:13 as part of my discussion on desire today. It struck me that in that debate, we need to pay attention to what James says about how desire conceives and gives birth to sin which grows into death. That statement should make us sit up and think carefully about what is going… Continue reading Really alive, really reborn
An alien interloper?
One of the key questions that has come up in the debate about sin, desire and temptation is whether or not we are responsible for our temptations. This in fact is key to the position that Matthew Roberts and others hold. The argument is that the desires which tempt us according to James are our… Continue reading An alien interloper?
“Tending towards…” – why I’m not about to become a Leeds United fan!
I’m a Bradford City supporter. Our nearest and greatest rivals are Leeds United. Imagine if someone were to say that because I supported Bradford and that is near Leeds and that I don’t support Manchester United, then I am dangerously tending towards being a Leeds fan. You would recognise that for the nonsense it is.… Continue reading “Tending towards…” – why I’m not about to become a Leeds United fan!
Disagreeing well or badly
At the end of their article debating sin, desire and temptation in Evangelicals Now, John Stevens and Matthew Roberts suggest that they’ve tried to model disagreeing well. Do they achieve this?
Matthew Roberts and John Stevens debate sin, temptation and desire in Evangelicals Now: Initial reflections on Matthew’s article
Well, Matthew Roberts and John Stevens’ articles are now live on the Evangelicals Now website, should you choose to read them. Sadly, Matthew continues to repeat the same errors that I’ve already identified in his article. In summary, Matthew sets out a position on sin which we would all agree with, namely that sin is a heart… Continue reading Matthew Roberts and John Stevens debate sin, temptation and desire in Evangelicals Now: Initial reflections on Matthew’s article
Sinful desire, sin and tautology
Evangelicals Now are running a set of articles with John Stevens and Matthew Roberts engaging the concupiscence debate. I’m looking forward to reading them and hoping that there will be proper interaction rather than the talking past each other that so far has characterised the debate. I hope that Matthew will particularly engage with the… Continue reading Sinful desire, sin and tautology
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