Dr. Rick Shrader is the editor of Aletheia a monthly publication which helps meet the need for a balanced conservative voice among Baptists.

Jack Frasure Hyles (September 25, 1926 -- February 6, 2001) was a leading figure in the Independent Baptist movement, having pastored the First Baptist Church of Hammond in Hammond, Indiana, from 1959 until his death. He was also well-known for being

Jack Frasure Hyles (September 25, 1926 -- February 6, 2001) was a leading figure in the Independent Baptist movement, having pastored the First Baptist Church of Hammond in Hammond, Indiana, from 1959 until his death. He was also well-known for being

Jack Frasure Hyles (September 25, 1926 -- February 6, 2001) was a leading figure in the Independent Baptist movement, having pastored the First Baptist Church of Hammond in Hammond, Indiana, from 1959 until his death. He was also well-known for being

Jack Frasure Hyles (September 25, 1926 -- February 6, 2001) was a leading figure in the Independent Baptist movement, having pastored the First Baptist Church of Hammond in Hammond, Indiana, from 1959 until his death. He was also well-known for being

Pastor Jeff Owens is the loyal pastor of the great Shenandoah Bible Baptist Church, which is located in Martinsburg, West Virginia (a suburb of Washington DC). He has been preaching the Gospel since 1976. He is a man of great expression, compassion,

An excerpt from The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolution Leads to Deeper Faith.I sat by myself at one end of the boardroom, fidgeting with a few notes on the table in front of me. At the other end were about ten older men in suits and ties peering over their tables, arms crossed. It wouldn’t have been difficult for someone just walking in to determine which end of the room held the power.After my brief opening statement, the rest of our time was set aside for “discussion.” The two-hour meeting felt more like an inquisition. The first questioner hardly let the silence settle after I spoke: “Jim, I went to school with your father. We even went on a mission trip to Mexico together. I’ve known you since you were a kid. What happened to you?”I’ve replayed this scene in my head a hundred times, varying what I say in an attempt to get my accusers to stand up, shake my hand, and say, “Oh, now we see. That makes sense. Sorry for the trouble.” But every time it ends the same way: I have to give up my position as a tenured professor of philosophy and leave the college I’ve served for 17 years.My crime? Believing what 99 percent of those who have a PhD in biology or medicine believe: that human beings evolved over time and share common ancestors with every other life form on the planet. But this was a small Christian college, one of the places where evolutionary theory is deemed incompatible with Christian beliefs. And not just incompatible—evolution is considered dangerous. These men believed that hearing anything positive about evolution would make students doubt the Bible. If you can’t believe the creation account in the very first chapter of the Bible, their thinking goes, then why believe any of it?I do not believe ...Continue reading...

Statistics reveal that three out of ten women in the country have experienced abuse at some point in their lives. Theologians and leaders weigh on how to turn churches into safe places for them.For too many Brazilian women abused by their spouses, the answer church leaders have given to their suffering is Ephesians 5:22: “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands.”“It’s the cruelest phrase in the Bible,” one woman told journalist Marília de Camargo César, as she records in O Grito de Eva (Eve’s Cry). “[Church leaders] teach it in a twisted way, without taking into account the historical context, traditions, culture,” she explains, identified in the book only as Professor Regina.Three out of ten Brazilian women suffer domestic violence at some point in their lives. The country has high rates of violence against women, ranking fifth in the world. Last year, a national hotline received calls from an average of 245 women each day reporting some kind of violence. All this in a nation where women comprise m ore than half (58%) of evangelicals.Recent allegations of abuse in North American churches have generated discussion in the Brazilian church around the issue, but churches and denominations have standard procedures or adopted best practices for addressing domestic violence. Yet in an environment where many survivors don’t report violence because of shame and fear of retaliation, evangelical churches have the opportunity to be places of shelter and guidance for hurting women.Given these realities, CT invited six evangelical leaders who are experts on the subject to answer the following question: “What should church leaders do when a female congregant says she has been a victim of abuse or violence?”Answers have been edited for clarity and style.Continue reading...

Saying you live in Sodom would be about like saying you named your kid Judas. Sodom is known most by its immorality. There has been considerable discussion about the nature of the sin which caused Sodom to be destroyed. But do we know anything about the city itself? Have there been any artifacts from this city?? Where Is Sodom in the Bible?? The city of Sodom is primarily found in the Book of Genesis, particularly chapters 18 and 19. It is often paired with Gomorrah, as both were destroyed as an act of God's judgment. In Genesis 18, God reveals to Abraham his plan to focus upon the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham attempts to negotiate with God—asking if it can be preserved if even a handful of godly people are present. God agrees, but the problem is that no righteous individuals are found there. Genesis 19 is an explanation in story form of their wickedness. As that chapter closes, we read this:? The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.? And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.Sodom continues to appear throughout the Bible but not as a standing city. Instead, it is mentioned only as a reference point for Israel. Israel's wickedness is often compared to that of Sodom—invoking a memory of God's judgment upon that place. Jesus even mentions it to highlight the wickedness of Capernaum. Jesus says, “If the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today.”? Sodom, then, is known for its wickedness throughout the Bible. But what do we know of the city itself?Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Apisit Suwannaka?

Saying you live in Sodom would be about like saying you named your kid Judas. Sodom is known most by its immorality. There has been considerable discussion about the nature of the sin which caused Sodom to be destroyed. But do we know anything about the city itself? Have there been any artifacts from this city?? Where Is Sodom in the Bible?? The city of Sodom is primarily found in the Book of Genesis, particularly chapters 18 and 19. It is often paired with Gomorrah, as both were destroyed as an act of God's judgment. In Genesis 18, God reveals to Abraham his plan to focus upon the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham attempts to negotiate with God—asking if it can be preserved if even a handful of godly people are present. God agrees, but the problem is that no righteous individuals are found there. Genesis 19 is an explanation in story form of their wickedness. As that chapter closes, we read this:? The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.? And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.Sodom continues to appear throughout the Bible but not as a standing city. Instead, it is mentioned only as a reference point for Israel. Israel's wickedness is often compared to that of Sodom—invoking a memory of God's judgment upon that place. Jesus even mentions it to highlight the wickedness of Capernaum. Jesus says, “If the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today.”? Sodom, then, is known for its wickedness throughout the Bible. But what do we know of the city itself?Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Apisit Suwannaka?

Saying you live in Sodom would be about like saying you named your kid Judas. Sodom is known most by its immorality. There has been considerable discussion about the nature of the sin which caused Sodom to be destroyed. But do we know anything about the city itself? Have there been any artifacts from this city?? Where Is Sodom in the Bible?? The city of Sodom is primarily found in the Book of Genesis, particularly chapters 18 and 19. It is often paired with Gomorrah, as both were destroyed as an act of God's judgment. In Genesis 18, God reveals to Abraham his plan to focus upon the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham attempts to negotiate with God—asking if it can be preserved if even a handful of godly people are present. God agrees, but the problem is that no righteous individuals are found there. Genesis 19 is an explanation in story form of their wickedness. As that chapter closes, we read this:? The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.? And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.Sodom continues to appear throughout the Bible but not as a standing city. Instead, it is mentioned only as a reference point for Israel. Israel's wickedness is often compared to that of Sodom—invoking a memory of God's judgment upon that place. Jesus even mentions it to highlight the wickedness of Capernaum. Jesus says, “If the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today.”? Sodom, then, is known for its wickedness throughout the Bible. But what do we know of the city itself?Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Apisit Suwannaka?