Blog Archives

Is Spanking Biblical?

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Lee — 4 Comments

Is spanking biblical? Contrary to popular belief, the answer is no. Yes, there is corporal punishment in the Bible. But no, there isn’t spanking in the Bible. Corporal punishment as mentioned in the Bible involves striking the back of the…

Tagged with: clothing, corporal punishment, dominance, nudity, punishment, sexuality, shame, spanking, spare the rod and spoil the child, submission, the Bible
Posted in Pain and Suffering, Sex Marriage Relationships

If the Second Coming has Already Happened, When do Things Start Getting Better?

Posted on June 26, 2019 by Lee — 32 Comments

Here is a Spiritual Conundrum submitted to Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life by a reader named Stan: I hear you say that the second coming or apocalypse has already happened? My question is, when will the world start getting better?…

Tagged with: crime, homicide rates, murder, murder rates, poverty, racism, South Africa, The New Jerusalem, the Second Coming, violence
Posted in Current Events, Pain and Suffering

War, Military Service, Violence, and Self-Defense: What’s a Christian to Do?

Posted on November 22, 2018 by Lee — 2 Comments

The Bible sends mixed messages about war. The Lord is presented as the Prince of Peace; the Lord is also presented as a warrior, commanding the people in battle. How can a Christian decide about war, military service, violence, and…

Tagged with: Christianity, just war theory, peace, self-defense, soldiers, spiritual meaning, spiritual warfare, the Bible, violence, war
Posted in Pain and Suffering, The Bible Re-Viewed

Are Deaths from Natural Disasters an Unavoidable Side Effect of God’s Creation?

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Lee — 36 Comments

As amazing and beautiful as this physical universe is, it is also filled with almost unimaginable cataclysmic violence—which commonly brings suffering, pain, and death to the living residents of our earth—plant, animal, and human. Why did God create the universe…

Tagged with: Creation, death, Emanuel Swedenborg, evil, God, heaven, natural disasters, pain, spirituality, suffering, Swedenborg
Posted in Pain and Suffering, Science Philosophy and History

Facing our Demons of Darkness, Depression, and Mental Illness – Part 2

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Lee — 50 Comments

In Part 1 we looked at the issue of mental illness through the lens of the story of Jesus healing a demon-possessed man in Mark 5:1–20. One of the points made in that article was that mental illness is not some…

Tagged with: Christianity, demon possession, Jesus Christ, mental health, mental illness, pain, spiritual rebirth, spirituality, Swedenborg, the Bible
Posted in Pain and Suffering, Spiritual Growth, The Bible Re-Viewed

Facing our Demons of Darkness, Depression, and Mental Illness – Part 1

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Lee — 26 Comments

These days we don’t talk much about demon possession. Yes, popular horror films such as The Exorcist, with their graphic portrayals of demonic possession, do make the rounds in our culture. But most respected health professionals think that a belief…

Tagged with: demon possession, demonic possession, exorcism, Jesus Christ, mental health, mental illness, spiritual meaning, spirituality, Swedenborg, the Bible
Posted in Pain and Suffering, Spiritual Growth, The Bible Re-Viewed

Will Sick or Disabled People Return to Good Health in the Spiritual World?

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Lee — 19 Comments

Here is a Spiritual Conundrum submitted to Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life by a reader named A. Watson: My father suffered a stroke before he died and was left unable to speak and paralysed. I would like to know if…

Tagged with: disabled people, disease, handicapped people, health, heaven, illness, mental illness, physical health, sickness, spiritual health, strokes
Posted in Pain and Suffering, The Afterlife

God Is Unconvincing To Smart Folks? – Part 2

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Lee — 29 Comments

(This is Part 2 of my response to the article, “God Is Unconvincing To Smart Folks,” by J. H. McKenna. For Part 1, click here.) Points 3, 4, and 5 of Dr. McKenna’s article deal with three key characteristics of God:…

Tagged with: atheism, Dr. J. H. McKenna, God, omnipotence, omniscience, pain, skepticism, suffering, theodicy, violence
Posted in All About God, Pain and Suffering, Science Philosophy and History

Why Is Life So Hard? Why are there So Many Struggles?

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Lee — 14 Comments

Inner struggles are a part of our process of spiritual rebirth. There are many words used to describe these spiritual struggles: Temptation. The dark night of the soul. Spiritual anguish. Depression. The book of Revelation calls these dark and troublesome…

Tagged with: born again, depression, Emanuel Swedenborg, inner struggles, spiritual rebirth, spiritual storms, Swedenborg, temptation, the dark night of the soul
Posted in Pain and Suffering, Spiritual Growth

Evil Is Real, and it Does Harm the Innocent

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Lee — 57 Comments

There’s a New Age myth floating around that evil is not real; that evil is just an illusion; that if anything evil happens to us, it’s either karma for evil we ourselves did in a past life, or it’s something…

Tagged with: Catawba County NC, evil, Good Samaritan, Jefferson Heavner, justice, Marvin Jacob Lee, Marvin Lee, North Carolina, violence
Posted in Current Events, Pain and Suffering

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