It's Saturday, December 7, 2024.

Today’s edition covers the red dress controversy, the increase in Bible sales and decrease in church attendance, whether the Bible contains contradictions, and more.

Wisdom says: “And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways.” (Proverbs 8:32)

Of Christian Concern

RED DRESS CONTROVERSY: CHRISTIANS ONLINE DEBATE WHETHER WIVES SHOULD OBEY HUSBANDS’ “SILLY” COMMANDS

Controversy erupted among Christians on X this week over a poll question posed by Pastor Tom Buck: “If a husband tells his wife that he wants her to wear a red dress every day, is she to submit to his authority and obey?” The question sparked spirited debate.

One side, represented by figures like pastors Joel Webbon and Dale Partridge, argues that a wife should submit to such a request but that today’s real issue is not silly commands from husbands but feminism and insubordination from wives.

The other side, represented by figures like author Owen Strachan and pastor Tom Ascol, argues that a husband who would ask such a thing is acting outside his authority and that such an approach to patriarchy undermines God’s intention for men and women’s roles and relationships.

Here are a few notable comments.

Joel Webbon responds to the poll:

Owen Strachan responds to the poll:

Dale Patridge responds to Strachan:

Tom Ascol responds to the debate with an article titled “Of Red Dresses, Feminism, and Cage-Stage-Patriarchy,” part of which reads:

The results of Buck’s poll:

The question came on the heels of (or perhaps continues) a related controversy about how wives are to follow the biblical example of Abigail, who went behind her husband Nabal’s back to appeal to David and save her household. (To get an idea of how that debate went, see here, here, here, and here.)

Anyway, what’s your take? Answer here.

BIBLE SALES ARE UP, CHURCH ATTENDANCE IS DOWN

The Washington Times reports that Bible sales are up 22% in the first 10 months of this year (13.7 million sales) compared to last year. That’s a 41% increase from total sales in 2019 (only 9.7 million). Potential reasons for this upswing include:

• “Social media influencers and celebrities openly sharing their faith“—including Donald Trump, who endorsed a particular Bible earlier this year.

• “Fear of the future,” which has people “looking for hope.”

• “Design variations,” from “goatskin exteriors” to “graphic cartoons inside” to the “myriad translations from which to choose.”

The sales increase comes even as Christianity declines in the U.S. The article shared these stats:

• Around 64% of Americans call themselves Christians, down from 90% 50 years ago (Pew Research)

• 35% of Americans will be Christian by 2070, according to projections (Pew Research)

• 24% of the U.S. population engages with the Bible at least weekly outside of church services (American Bible Society)

• 41% of women and 36% of men “connect with the Bible a few times a year” (American Bible Society)

• 57% of Black Americans, 40% of Hispanics, 35% of Whites, and 27% of Asians report “regular Bible use” (American Bible Society)

• 70% of evangelical Protestants, 68% of historically Black Protestant denominations, 46% of mainline Protestants, and 37% of Catholics are Bible-engaged (American Bible Society)

Another crucial observation is that church attendance is down. Gallup reported earlier this year that just 44% of Protestant Christians attend religious services weekly or nearly every week, according to numbers from 2021-2023. That’s down slightly from 48% in 2000-2003. For Catholics, it’s a more significant drop, from 45% to 33%. Meanwhile, more Muslims and Jews are attending their respective religious services.

What does it say about the culture that Bible sales are up while church attendance is down? The hosts of conservative media company The Daily Wire offered possible answers to that question in a Monday episode of Daily Wire Backstage this week. Watch that here (but think critically!).

Also Noteworthy

→ “Over 11% of late-term abortions in Canada result in live births,” according to a new report.

→ Pension law in the UK may effectively incentivize assisted suicide, the Telegraph reports:

Under current rules, pensions are passed on free of income tax if the person dies before 75 years old. If assisted dying [i.e., assisted suicide] becomes legal, however, it could leave someone close to that age with an agonizing choice between prolonging their life or saving their family hundreds of thousands of pounds.

→ The Pikeville, Kentucky government canceled the appearance of Krampus at its winter festival due to backlash from local churches, Louisville Courier Journal columnist Joseph Gerth reports. Who is Krampus? Krampus is the mythical goat-man that serves “kind of like Santa’s alter-ego” in German Christmas traditions, whipping naughty children and even dragging the worst ones off to hell. Annoyed by the cancellation,  Gerth offered this scathing critique:

Obviously, the city is OK with a mythological fat guy who practices magic and breaks into people's houses, but it’s not OK with a mythological goat-man who comes and disciplines their children — albeit in an overly harsh fashion.

Good point or not?

→ Atheist anti-Communist James Lindsay, in a ploy to expose what he calls “the Woke Right,” tricked the rightwing publication American Reformer into publishing an essay with argumentation from Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto adapted to attack “liberalism, liberals, classical liberalism, or . . . ‘the post-war liberal consensus’” instead of the bourgeoisie.

• Lindsay’s Christian supporters praise the move and suggest it proves the existence of the “woke right” because the alleged movement uses the same “rhetoric,  . . . methods,  . . . and grievance and identity framework” as the left.

• Critics say Lindsay’s essay hardly resembles Marx’s writing, and Christians should not applaud such deception.

Content Catch-Up

Recent, notable content of Christian interest.*

→ Revoice For Nazis: In a blog post, Christ Church pastor Toby Sumpter defends the thesis that some Christians are ushering Nazi ideas into the church, much like the “Revoice” conference ushered acceptance of homosexual attraction into the church. (Article)

→ Forgiveness or Death Penalty?: Hope Church Craigavon pastor Jamie Bambrick, chief editor of Real Truth Media, describes how he answered an inquisitive chef about the Christian position on capital punishment. (Post)

*Not necessarily an endorsement

The Bible, Briefly

Contradictions In the Bible?

If, as its opponents claim, the Bible contains contradictions, it “would suggest it is not inspired by God, since God is all-knowing,” writes Lenny Esposito in the Apologetics Study Bible for Students.

So, does the Bible contain contradictions?

A contradiction is “when [an author] affirms two facts both of which can’t possible be true at the same time and in the same manner.” As it happens, “It is not so easy to establish that a writer is guilty of this.” Esposito offers this example:

The apple is red and the apple is not red.

This statement seems contradictory, but consider: perhaps the author is referring to two different parts of the apple or simply describing it over time, first when it’s ripe and then after it’s rotted.

An author is not obligated to provide every detail, but if additional details could resolve the apparent conflict, one cannot properly conclude that it’s a contradiction. If someone claims the Bible contradicts itself, he “must prove the statements in question could not be resolved by additional information.”

There is no alleged biblical contradiction that rises to that challenge. The Bible is contradiction-free. 

Esposito explains six “common Bible phenomena that are not contradictions or errors.” Read them here.

What did you think of today’s briefing?

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Why "18:15"? The name Project 18:15 is based on Proverbs 18:15: “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” The aim is for this weekly email—a Christian news briefing, a Bible study, and a Church history lesson rolled into one—to be one way you keep abreast of current events and acquire knowledge you might not acquire elsewhere.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.