Truth Tribe with Douglas Groothuis

A pastor cares for his or her flock through tender concern, prayer, teaching, and insight into his or her parishioners. But one may be pastoral without being called to be a pastor of a church. I know a young man who graduated from Denver Seminary who has never held a pastoral position, but who is more pastoral with friends, family, and strangers than most pastors I know. He recently befriended a lonely man dying from a neurological disease and continued to pastor him until his death. Matt is a pastoral non-pastor. Sadly, we find non-pastoral pastors. I will argue that ordinary Christians can be pastors to animals. Certainly, there are no paid positions in this field, but life is bigger than a salary. A stanza from old poem by Frances Alexander sets the tone: All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small,All things wise and wonderful,The Lord God made them all. Along with all creation, animals are owned by God. Some creatures display aspects of the Creator’s character. Sheep, for example, are meek (Isaiah 53:7), and Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God (John 1:29). God invokes his design of the animal kingdom in answering Job from the whirlwind (Job 38-42).  The righteous care for their animals (Proverbs 12:10). Rebekah’s concern for camels was a sign from the Lord that she was to be Isaac’s wife (Genesis 24:12-14). Our Lord, Jesus Christ, tells us to consider God’s care for creatures: Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they (Matthew 6:26). God has made a covenant with all of creature, not merely humans.  As he told Moses: Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark (Genesis 9:9-10). Through the prophet Hosea, God further promises a future covenant for the animal creation. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety (Hosea 2:18). Three Principles First, animals deserve prayer and are part of the creation longing for redemption. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time (Romans 8:19-22). Second, an animal pastor works to strengthen the animal-human bond and to honor the death of beloved animals.   Prayer for One Grieving Over the Loss of a Pet   I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?—Ecclesiastes 3:17-22, King James Version. Oh Creator of all living things, and Giver of every good and perfect gift, we thank you for the gift of living creatures. You have made each thing according to its kind, each finds its place in your creation. You have given us dominion over the earth and put living things into our care, including our pets. We thank you for these animal friends, and while we know they cannot provide the fellowship given by members of our own kind, we thank you for the love and joy that comes from these fellow creatures. We ask you now to comfort the master of a beloved pet who has gone the way of all flesh. All the living will likewise die, and the death of one of your image-bearers is far more consequential than that of a dog or cat. Yet the master grieves the loss of an animal companion, one put in his or her care. Fond memories of pet can last a lif

The Bible is God's anthropology rather than man's theology.— Abraham Joshua Heschel We humans often puzzle over our own humanity, scanning our heights and our depths, wondering about and worrying over the meaning of our good and our evil. No other animal reflects on its species like this. Here, and in so many other ways, we stand unique among living creatures. Why does such evil strike so hard and so erratically? And what explains our greatness in thought and action? Blaise Pascal writes: “What sort of freak then is man! How novel, how monstrous, how chaotic, how paradoxical, how prodigious! Judge of all things, feeble earthworm, repository of truth, sink of doubt and error, the glory and refuse of the universe!” Blaise Pascal answered this be appealing to our greatness as made in God’s image and our wretchedness because of the fall and our sinfulness. “Man's greatness and wretchedness are so evident that the true religion must necessarily teach us that there is in man some great principle of greatness and some great principle of wretchedness." In the context of surveying human greatness and misery in many dimensions of life, Pascal says: "It is the wretchedness of a great lord, the wretchedness of a dispossessed king."  He further writes: “Know then, proud man, what a paradox you are to yourself. Be humble, impotent reason! Be silent, feeble nature! Learn that man infinitely transcends man, hear from your master your true condition, which is unknown to you. Listen to God.” The biblical account of our creation and fall best fits the facts of human reality. However, we must "listen to God" — that is, attend to what God has spoken in the Bible — to discover this liberating truth. Pascal further counsels us that the biblical account reveals that there is a Redeemer for royal ruins — Himself, a King, who became a man in order to rescue those who are "east of Eden" and standing at the brink of eternity. Pascal says that in Him we find hope for our deposed condition: "Jesus is a God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair." Though we are royal ruins, we can find total forgiveness, redemption, and eternal life through the one who truly understands our condition. (See John 3:16-18; 10:10; and Romans 5:1-8.) For more on Pascal’s thought, see Douglas Groothuis, Beyond the Wager: The Christian Brilliance of Blaise Pascal (InterVarsity—Academic, 2024). Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Jazz, at its best, inducts its own into aesthetic alliances, some long-lasting, others fleeting, but all meaningful. Musician and listener can find fellowship musically. Meaning is experienced when we find something of value, something worthwhile. When two or more agree on meaning—especially in music—the fellow-feeling may run deep and true. The late Pat Martino, jazz guitarist extraordinaire, along with a good friend helped this happen to me in the summer of 2012 in Chicago at The Jazz Showcase. This event is sweetly and securely lodged in my memory and often brings tears to my eyes. Perhaps my short story of his encounter will ring true and trigger a certain grace of understanding and experience. Jazz is, at its best, relational. It moves from person to person, from instrument to ear, and not from product to consumer. Jazz, as one of life’s many gifts, can open doors to a treasury of free and freeing fellowship where art and heart meet and kiss. And I thank my God for it. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Jazz is a national treasure, but is no longer a common pastime. First, rock and then hip-hop eclipsed its popularity long ago. Historian Gerald Early claims that three things uniquely define America: the Constitution, baseball, and jazz. Yet the sale of jazz records accounts for only a small fraction of the music market. The last time I checked, it was 4%. Many of my students at Denver Seminary and at other institutions where I teach know very little about it, and are a bit puzzled if not flummoxed by my references to it. Others claim they “do not understand jazz,” perhaps with a twinge of guilt that they should. Last summer, a very intelligent and godly campus minister and long-time friend attended a jazz concert with me. Afterward, he said, “The music has a center, but I cannot find it.” I humbly or not-so-humbly told him that I had found it and that I loved it. I love it for many reasons. One outstanding reason is that it can help inform and reform our apologetics engagements through its distinctive genius. All that is needed is a bit of transposition from the sensibilities of jazz to the skills of apologetics. . . . Jazz Skills for Apologetics Know the standard arguments in apologetics. See Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics, 2nd (InterVarsity, 2022) and Douglas Groothuis and Andrew Shepardson, The Knowledge of God in the World and in the Word (Zondervan, 2022). (1 Peter 3:15; Jude 3) Spend time in the woodshed. Study and practice. (2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 5:11-14) Improvise according to your knowledge. (John 15:5) Learn to syncopate, or be creative in apologetics. (Luke 19:1-10; see also Acts 17:16-34) Recommended books William Edgar, A Supreme Love. Robert Gelinas, Finding the Groove. Ted Gioia, The Imperfect Art. Ted Gioia, Douglas Groothuis articles about jazz at AllAboutJazz.com. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Easter commemorates and celebrates a historical event unlike any other: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  But what is the significance of the resurrection? And how can we know it really happened?   The four Gospels report that Jesus predicted his death, burial, and resurrection. He was born to die. All of his wondrous teachings, healings, exorcisms, and transforming relationships with all manner of people—from fishermen to tax collectors to prostitutes to revolutionaries—would be incomplete without his crucifixion and resurrection. Shortly before his death, “Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priest and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Matthew 16:21). Peter resisted this grim fact, but Jesus rebuked him.  There was no other way (vs. 22-23).  For, as Jesus had taught, he “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).  Easter is the core of the Christian faith and life. Without the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no gospel message, no future hope, and no new life in Christ. With the resurrection, Christianity stands unique in all the world: no other spiritual movement is based on the resurrection of its divine founder. When Jesus announced, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 10:25), he meant it and he demonstrated it.  Let us, then, leave our dead ways and follow him today and into eternity. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Any jazz aficionado knows the musical virtues of jazz, whether they are a musician, a jazz writer, or simply a committed jazz listener. In classical Western thought (that is, in the musings of cats like Aristotle and Plato) a virtue is a kind of excellence in performance that flows from a settled habit. One who plays the flute as it ought to be played—the proper tone, pitch, and timing—displays a virtue or sharp skill in that musical instrument. One may be virtuous with respect to any endeavor worth doing, since anything worth doing is worth doing well. One who masters a worthwhile skill is a virtuoso. The four virtues of jazz that translate to other areas of life: Tradition Collaboration Improvisation Transcendence For more, see Douglas Groothuis’s articles on jazz at www.AllAboutJazz.com and Ted Gioia, The Imperfect Art.  Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

I am a jazz aficionado as well as a philosophy professor. Being in front of a classroom teaching is my favorite place on earth, second to a good jazz club with hip friends. In the midst of a philosophy class, I may wax enthusiastic about the transcendent qualities of a John Coltrane saxophone solo or the preternatural swing of Buddy Rich’s timekeeping or the song-writing and band-leading genius of Duke Ellington.  These comments are not merely idiosyncratic. They reflect something of a philosophical theory of pedagogy that is steeped in jazz sensibilities. After over thirty years of teaching philosophy in various settings, I have come to realize that my pedagogy has developed in ways that reflect the sensibilities and philosophy of jazz. This has much to do with my long-time love of jazz: the music, the history, the culture, and the players.  The classroom should swing; students and their professor should spend time in the woodshed; the class will jam on philosophical themes deeply rooted in tradition, but be open to new chops.  Some of my students learn these terms, incorporate them into their vocabulary, and start using them in relation to whatever subject we are addressing—and not just about jazz. Three elements of jazz to appropriate for the classroom. Jazz works from and creatively appropriates a revered and rich tradition, the origins of which are not entirely clear and are a matter of scholarly dispute. Jazz is, at its best, highly creative in composition and in performance. Although jazz virtuosi are steeped in tradition, they must find their own voice in order to perpetuate that tradition in new forms—that is, to refract jazz through the prisms of their own unique personalities. Finding that voice requires moving from imitation to creation. Third, jazz is, according to the master jazz writer Whitney Balliett, “the sound of surprise.” A well-played piece of jazz music—even the most well-known standard—summons new ideas from jazz performers. The well-known need not be the well-worn, since the musical form—tied to the discipline of the musicians—can always yield something fresh and inspiring—or disastrous.  Swinging in the Classroom There are many more chops to develop and traditions to fathom and appropriate in order to draw out the connections between the artistry of jazz and the artistry of the philosopher’s professorial pedagogy. But if we attend to the jazz sensibilities of mastering and extending a tradition through a strong work ethic; if we labor to find our own philosophical and pedagogical voices; and if we savor “the sound of surprise,” we will be well on our way to swinging in the classroom—and beyond. Resources1. Douglas Groothuis, “The Virtues of Jazz,” All About Jazz: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-virtues-of-jazz-john-coltrane-by-douglas-groothuis.php#.VGL4XPl4p4c 2. Douglas Groothuis, “How Teachers Can Swing in the Classroom” All About Jazz, http://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-pedagogy-by-douglas-groothuis.php#.VGL5Zfl4p4c 3. Douglas Groothuis, “John Coltrane and the Meaning of Life,” All About Jazz: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/john-coltrane-and-the-meaning-of-life-john-coltrane-by-douglas-groothuis.php.  4. Douglas Groothuis, “Whiplash and Philosophy.” Film review at And Philosophy: https://andphilosophy.com/2015/06/18/whiplash-and-philosophy.  5. Douglas Groothuis, “Jazz, Suffering, and Meaning.” All About Jazz: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-suffering-and-meaning-cyrus-chestnut-by-douglas-groothuis.php.  6. Douglas Groothuis, “Jazz and Philosophy” at All About Jazz: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-and-philosohy-john-coltrane-by-douglas-groothuis.php.  7. Douglas Groothuis, “Jazz and Moral Theory: Swinging the Right Way: All About Jazz: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-and-moral-theory-swinging-the-right-way-by-douglas-groothuis.php Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at <a href="https://www.lifeaudio.com/conta

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. I.    My Life of Testing the Spirits II.    1 John: Truth for Life: Review III.    Our Society of Testing A.    We need reliable test to find truth. The LORD detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him (Proverbs 11:1). B.    Test other religions, cults, and new religions, progressive Christianity by Scripture C.    We must measure spiritual maturity by testing the spirits. Biblical standard for right judgment. a.    False apostles 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). b.    False teachers (Matthew 7:15-16) Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. c.    False angels preaching false gospel (Galatians 1) 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!  d.    False doctrines (of demons) The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons (1 Timothy 4:1). IV.    We Must Test the Spirits  A.    Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (4:1). B.    Don’t be naïve or gullible—don’t be a sucker C.    You must test, evaluate, assess, because of counterfeits; counterfeit money; hacking, scammers D.    Many false prophets out in the world; not rare, but commonDear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come (1 John 2:18). V.    The Standard for the Truth Test (v. 2-3) A.    2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world (4:2-3). B.    Test by the standard of Jesus Christ, who he is, what he taught 1.    Either/or resulting in a pass/fail; no middle ground; no gray zone; no mist, haze, fog or bog. Not grading on a curve.It is a categorical test; a universal test; and a necessary test. 2.    Test counterfeit money by knowing the real thing, the genuine—the genuine and authentic Jesus in the Bible 3.    Consider five statements in 1 John about Jesus 1.    He came as a flesh and blood man who was seen and touched (1 John 1:1-3) 2.    “Advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). 3.    He appeared to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8) 4.    Jesus’ work of love: “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16). 5.    “He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). C.    This test is sufficient to identify spirit of error; there are other errors wrought by the spirit of error. Get this one wrong, everything else is wrong. Christological test. D.    Two test cases 1.    Islam: denies Jesus is God incarnate; denies that he died to atone for our sins. 2.    New Age: denies Jesus is the one incarnation, says he was one of many gurus, masters, swamis, yogis, mystics. I wrote two books that addressed this, Revealing the New Age Jesus and Jesus in an Age of Controversy. E.    Three tips on testing from a veteran 1.  

Those of you who've read my book, Walking Through Twilight, know that my dog Sonny is mentioned numerous times. He was a gift from God for my first wife Becky and myself, as we suffered together through her dementia and through her death in 2018.  An old stanza from an old poem by Francis Alexander sets the tone for today's episode of Truth Tribe: All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all. Animals and humans were created by God to live together in harmony. Of course, the fall and the flood changed all that. But all the living kinds that God created remain good, as Genesis 1 teaches. Paul the Apostle, of course, agrees. "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." 1 Timothy 4: 4-5 The Bible teaches us that humans alone bear the image of God, Genesis 1:26 and that this image remains after the fall. We see that in Genesis 9. Since man, since human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, that image cannot be denied. It cannot be eradicated. This heartbreak between humans and the rest of God's creation does not imply that men and women can treat animals any way they wish. Animals are not mere fodder for human whims. Today, without developing a whole theology of the animal world, I offer a few principles for how Christians can show pastoral concern to animals, whether or not they interact with them regularly and directly. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Few people have shaped the twentieth century’s understanding of Christianity more than its opponent, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), and its advocate C. S. Lewis (1898-1964). Lewis, an adult convert from atheism, made his career as an Oxford don, but became well-known as a Christian apologist. Freud developed a revolutionary psychological theory (psychoanalysis), which established his career, started a movement, and ensured his titanic influence on Western thought. But he employed that theory against religion in general and Christianity in particular, dismissing them as neurotic. In 2003, Armand Nicholi published The Question of God. C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. Alas, the film does not reach its level of fairness or rigor. Freud’s case against Lewis hinges on two claims: (1) that religion is an illusion) and (2) the problem of evil. Religion is merely wish-fulfillment that represents one’s inability to face the evils of life without some supernatural consolation. First, the idea that Christianity is an “illusion” because it merely projects an idealistic idea of a father onto a godless universe has been refuted repeatedly. Simply because we desire X strongly is no evidence that X does not exist. Rather, it might be evidence that X does exist. In the film, Lewis is not given adequate room to develop the idea. C. S. Lewis developed his argument from yearning in his famous essay “The Weight of Glory.” We all experience a deep sense of yearning or longing for something that the present natural world cannot fulfill—something transcendently glorious. In his autobiography he recounts several experiences of this throughout his life, in which he sensed something wonderful beyond his grasp. These were fleeting but invaluable moments, which he called the experience of “joy.” They were not encounters with God and did not directly result in his conversion. Instead, they were indicators that the everyday world was not a self-enclosed system; a light from beyond would sometimes peek through the “shadow lands.” This thirst, which is intensified by small tastes of transcendence, indicates the possibility of fulfillment.[i] Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger; well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim; well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire; well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my early pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly desires were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.[ii] Second, Freud’s attack on Christianity through the problem of evil has been met in various ways by Christian philosophers and apologists over the ages. Lewis’s approach in the film was muted, but a careful reading of The Problem of Pain does much to address the matter rationally, although I part ways with Lewis understanding of “free will,” given that I am a compatibilist on human agency—something he did not even consider as a possibility.[iii] Nevertheless, a basic argument for Christianity in light of the problem of evil should look something like this. One can construct such an argument by using material only from Lewis, but his can be supplemented by many other sources.[iv] There is good evidence for the existence of a personal, moral, and infinite God from natural theology—a God who is (a) all-good and (b) all-powerful. God’s goodness, specifically, is known through the moral argument for God (a version of which Lewis gave in Mere Christianity) and through God’s saving actions in Jesus Christ (the historical dimension). There is objective evil in the world. Therefore (given 1 and 2), for any evil God allows, there is a sufficient reason for that evil to occur—whether we know what that reason is or not.[v] Freud’s projection objection to theism fails, not only in its intrinsic logic, but because of the objective case for God’s existence based on evidence outside of human desires. [i] This paragraph is taken from Groothuis, Douglas. Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith (pp. 367-368). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition. [ii] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1944; reprint, New York: Simon &amp; Schuster, 1996), 121. I develop this idea, with help from St. Augustine and Blaise Pascal, in Groothuis, Christian Apologetics, 366-368. [iii] See Groothuis, Christian Apologetics, “The Problem