Josh Benner

Category: News

  • Pope Francis decrees that capital punishment is an “attack on the dignity of the person” – The Bible disagrees

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    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons @Jeffrey Bruno

    Pope Francis is reversing the teachings of the Catholic Church in saying that capital punishment is inadmissible.

    One of the significant differences between Catholics and Protestants is the approach to scripture and tradition. Tradition is weighted more heavily in Catholic than Protestant theology. Tradition is significant to dogma and interpreting the Bible.

    However this reversal of Catholic teaching by Pope Francis is not in line with scripture OR tradition.

    There have been 266 Popes, and none of them ever publicly opposed capital punishment, categorically. Pope Francis’ interpretation runs counter to almost 2,000 years of Catholic teaching.

    But more importantly, it runs contrary to the Bible.

    Pope Francis says that the death penalty attacks the inherent dignity of all persons.

    It attacks the inherent dignity of persons?! The Bible permits it!

    There can be disagreement about whether or not the practice should be permitted outside of an Old Testament context (I believe that it is permitted), but given the numerable texts which allow for capital punishment in the Bible, it clearly is not seen as being something that is universally impermissible. And people in older times had just as much dignity as we do today.

    I’m never a fan of the argument against the death penalty that “it undermines their dignity.”

    It’s just as logical to order that the death penalty affirms the dignity of the victim.

    For generations, faithful Catholics would have been in step with the teachings of the Catholic Church to favor the death penalty, at least in certain situations. But now, the head of their church has decreed something new.

    A few weeks ago, one view was fine. And now, that same view contradicts the Church.

    This could have ramifications on republican Catholics in congress, among state legislatures, and on the courts. Undoubtedly, opponents of capital punishment will utilize this new teaching as a club to bash proponents of capital punishment with.

    Even before the Law was given to Moses, the Bible warranted capital punishment for murder: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6).

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • American pastor to remain in Turkish prison

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    Hopes dashed today. American missionary and pastor Andrew Brunson has been imprisoned in Turkey since 2016 for allegations of espionage and terrorism.
    Brunson is an innocent man who has served as a pastor and missionary in Turkey for 23 years. He is a hostage in a political game where the Turkish government is trying to swap Brunson for a Turkish cleric who is residing in the United States.
    Brunson was taken into custody in 2016 for allegedly being part of a coup against the Turkish president however the “evidence” against him comes from anonymous sources. The 50 year old pastor faces 35 years in prison.
    This week, he was on trial, and there was hope that he could be released. Several American officials have visited Brunson.
    Today, Brunson was sent back to jail with his next trial date not coming until October.
    Brunson has said: “I desperately miss my wife and children. Yet, I believe this to be true, it is an honor to suffer for Jesus Christ, as many have before me. My deepest thanks to all those around the world who are standing with and praying for me.”
    Brunson is unjustly being persecuted but it is encouraging to hear of his steadfast hope in the gospel in spite of his circumstances.
    The Apostle Paul was wrongly imprisoned more than once during his ministry.
    Writing the Letter to the Philippians from prison, Paul said:

    I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

    -Philippians 1:12-14

    Paul was in a difficult situation but took advantage of where he was for the sake of advancing the gospel.

    As counterintuitive as it is, it’s often in the face of persecution that the gospel spreads. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

    Prayers for you Pastor Andrew. The Lord be with you.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • Challenges of the Thai soccer team’s rescue

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    It’s an incredible story.

    A group of 12 boys in Thailand, accompanied by their soccer coach are trapped in a cave. The boys ages range between 11-16. They had gone into a cave as part of a team initiation ritual. Then the waters came. The group was forced further into the cave. But the waters kept coming. It’s monsoon season.

    For nine days, the group was missing.

    Some of their belongings had been found at the entrance of the cave and divers found the group on Monday.

    Great news! But they’re having issues getting the boys out. More rains have come which have forced them still further into the caves. The plan to get them out has been extremely daunting.

    To give some perspective on how difficult the rescue effort is, it had been considered as an option to leave the boys in the cave until the end of the monsoon season. Which is in October!

    Tremendous resources are being put into this effort. Military divers, engineers, even Elon Musk is sending a team to assist in the effort.

    They’re over a mile into the cave now. None of the boys can swim, let alone dive. For professionally trained military divers, it takes upwards of five hour to make it to the group. And more rain is expected to fall. One retired Thai Navy SEAL diver died yesterday when he ran out of oxygen.

    High powered pumps are being used to try to help drain water to lower the levels, but there’s so much water in the cave that that’s having a limited impact.

    Imagine how dark a cave can be. And then fill it with water that’s murky and muddy (it’s been likened to trying to swim through cold coffee). And it’s not like you’re swimming down a river. You’re winding through a cave, the elevation going up and down, jagged rocks, places with rushing water. There are places so narrow that people have to go individually.

    The boys have had food brought to them in the cave but they’ve still spent almost two weeks in a wet, dark cave. Some of the boys are (not surprisingly, given the circumstances) suffering from exhaustion.

    Drilling has also been talked about as an option but the boys are in a cave in a mountain and over a half mile into the mountain. I haven’t seen any estimates on how long it would take to drill, but it’s not like a drill would be able to get to the boys in a few hours. To give some perspective, when the Chilean miners were trapped underground in 2010, the drill (there was more than one drill working in different locations) that ended up providing their way back to the surface, took 35 days! And they’re having issues knowing where exactly would be the best place to drill.

    It’s complicated.

    It’s like a movie. And most of the movies we see in America have happy endings. And so I think we can take it for granted that this one will too. I hope it does. I pray it does.

    Josh Benner     is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • SCOTUS gay marriage decision: 3 years later

    White_House_rainbow_colors_to_celebrate_June_2015_SCOTUS_same-sex_marriage_ruling.jpegIt was only three years ago today that the Supreme Court which guaranteed the right to marry for same-sex couples.

    It feels a lot longer ago than three years.
    It’s amazing how fast it all happened.
    Many years ago, the argument for recognizing the legal validity of same-sex marriages and unions was the “what if two people are in a loving relationship for many years and one is in the hospital. Their partner can’t visit them?”
    We’re so far beyond that now.
    A celebrity says something critical of same-sex marriage and there’s a backlash, efforts to boycott and essentially destroy the person.
    Tolerance has been traded for tyranny.
    The conversation has been crushed on this issue.

    State after state after state voted against it. 32 of 33 states where this was voted on, voted no. In 13 of those states, the vote wasn’t even close, with more than 70 percent of people voting to ultimately preserve the traditional American definition of a marriage.

    And now, it’s a fundamental right. And now, if a business owner doesn’t want to support it, he’s a hateful and bigoted. The public arena does not tolerate dissent, it doesn’t tolerate having any moral opinion on the matter other than enthusiastic support and affirmation.

    America has changed the definition of love, promoting the idea that you cannot love a person and simultaneously disagree with an aspect of his or her life. But love is not purely about affirmation. Everyone knows that. We see people do things all the time where we disagree with them but still love them.
    4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
    -1 Corinthians 13:4-7
    We flourish when we live in accordance with Godly wisdom. God’s ways are better than our ways. True joy and purpose is found in living for God, desiring to honor and follow God. Based on the Bible, it is my firm conviction that same-sex relationships are fundamentally inconsistent with this and are sinful.

    Love is meant to be unconditional. Love doesn’t mean to always love everything someone does but it means to love a person where they are today. Love is loving a person even if they never do live in agreement with what we think is moral or right.

    Love is also ultimately wanting the best for someone.
    In Evangelical circles, there have sadly been many examples of unloving treatment towards the LGBT community. This is tragic. Culturally, we’ve been losing the public discussion on LGBT issues.
    Part of the mistake that we make is we start at the wrong place. The Church shouldn’t be trying to save people to heterosexuality. We need to build relationships and spread the gospel. It is God who transforms souls and lives.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • The Christian law school that wasn’t: Canadian Supreme Court rules against Trinity Western University

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    Today the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Trinity Western University, a Christian liberal arts college which has been trying to establish a law school.
    From the legal brief:

    The Law Societies of British Columbia and Ontario had the power to deny approval to a proposed law school that would have required students to follow a religiously-based code of conduct restricting sexual behaviour, the Supreme Court has ruled.

    Students and faculty at TWU are required to follow a code of conduct. Among other things, this code of conduct forbids any sexual relations except for in a marriage between a man and a woman.

    After the school was turned down by the two law societies, TWU appealed the decision, which worked its way up to the Supreme Court who ruled against them today.

    Quoting again from the legal brief:

    The “public interest” included promoting equality by ensuring equal access to the legal profession, supporting diversity within the bar, and preventing harm to LGBTQ law students. Neither Law Society was stopping someone from following his or her own religious beliefs (including following the covenant if s/he wanted to). They only prevented TWU from enforcing beliefs on other members of the law school community.

    That last sentence is striking to me. Part of the issue is that TWU would have been “enforcing beliefs on other members of the law school community.” It’s not doing that because people have choice on if they go to that school or not. No other law school in Canada has that policy.
    This is a loss for religious liberty in Canada.
    Why can’t a law student have an option (one option) to go to a law school with a university that has Christian values at the core of its mission?
    Traditional Christian values are often criticize for being intolerant.
    In Canada (and largely in the United States), there is this push for LGBT tolerance that is increasing becoming intolerant of views that disagree, especially Christians who disagree.
    If you don’t support what they’re doing, then don’t go to school there. But don’t take the option away entirely.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.