Vol. 36, No. 4 _ April 2005
by Charles W. Martin

In his Teaching for Spiritual Growth (Zondervan, 1994), upon which much of this issue is based, Perry Downs observes most Christian parents, whether they attend church on a regular basis or not, usually affirm, "We want our children to know the Bible." Teaching children of various age groups the Bible is also a high concern of pastors and Sunday School teachers. This is because knowledge of the Scripture is central to Christian growth and maturity. However, there is a problem with a child’s capacity to know and understand the Bible because it is distinctly an adult book. More specifically, the problem is that children "know" and "think" about things quite differently from adults. This is why a reoccurring topic of discussion in most every teacher-training program in the local church is how do we help those who teach children to understand the ways children think and know (learn)?

Vol. 36, No. 8 _ August 2005
by Charles W. Martin

 I never imagined as a college student I would spend the better part of my life engaged in biblical and theological research and teaching. Earlier, in grade school, I had read my share of books, even rather lengthy volumes. In ninth-grade English I chose to read the 560 pages of O. E. Rolvaag’s

classic story of a Norwegian pioneer family’s struggles with the land and the elements of the Dakota Territory as they try to make a new life for themselves in America (Giants in the Earth). The reason I chose to read Rolvaag was it was one of the few books on the teacher’s reading list I had not already read while in grade school - not because I loved to read or the books were required, but because I had discovered the content in books was more exciting than the shows on television. Thus, perhaps I should have seen what God in His providence was doing. But I was blind to such things. Nor did I sense any influence from the fact both my mother and her mother had sizeable libraries in their homes and loved to read and teach.

Vol. 35, No. 12 _ December 2004
by Charles W. Martin

Most people feel they don’t have enough motivation. We know enough about motivation to understand it helps us feel fulfilled, responsible for ourselves, and in control. Psycholo-gists tell us motivation is fundamental to personal develop-ment, contentment, and success. Without motivation, either our potential for good and God remains untapped, or we end up where chance takes us, not following God and not allowing Him to take control of our life. In either case we can be left with a sense of disappointment, a feeling of "if only..." that can eat away at our self-respect and contentment.

Vol. 36, No. 2 _ February 2005
by Charles W. Martin

One of the most difficult required courses at Asbury College for students working toward a liberal arts degree in the early 1970s was "Introduction to Philosophy." The fact this course was required of all students gave many of them reason to think about the nature of a liberal arts degree, which is intended to provide a broad base of general knowledge and to develop the student’s general intellectual capacities. Practically speaking, this meant there were required courses in a foreign language (for 2 years), not to mention one or more courses in areas such as philosophy, history, music, speech, psychology, sociology, Western literature, and science, together with those courses in one’s selected field or major.

Vol. 36, No. 1 _ January 2005
by Charles W. Martin

Subscribers to Time magazine may recall the cover of the October 25, 2004 issue which announced the discovery of "The God Gene" together with this question: "Does our DNA compel us to seek a higher power?" Then this question lured readers to turn to the article inside: "Believe it or not, some scientists say yes." The article inside, "Is God in our Genes?" is by Jeffrey Kluger, a senior writer for Time since 1998 and author or coauthor of such works as Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 (1994, written with astronaut Jim Lovell), Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine (forthcoming, 2005), and Journey Beyond Selene: Remarkable Expeditions Past Our Moon and to the Ends of the Solar System (1999). As one might suspect, one implication Kluger suggests is that religion may simply be a product of evolution, specifically, the result of a chemical reaction in man’s brain.