“You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship You.” Nehemiah 9:6

God’s choice to create anything is a total mystery and a wonder beyond comprehension!  He didn’t have to do it.  As an omniscient and omnipotent God, He could have elected just to enjoy eternity past to future, fully complete within the Godhead.  But He chose to expand His glory with ever-increasing magnitude and display His love and praise eternally through His creation.

Principle: God’s choice to create and His power to do so inspires praise!

Aim: As the pinnacle of His creation, mankind’s joyful response is to praise Him.

At Christmas, a prayer:   Father God, we praise You for Your plan from before all creation.  We marvel at the angels’ proclamation at the birth of Your Only Son, Jesus Christ!  We praise You for this good news of great joy that is for all the people on whom Your favor rests.  Help us to acknowledge Your goodness and perfection in all things.  Grant us opportunities to share this joyful good news at all times, not only during the Christmas season, remembering always that Jesus is our Reason.  Amen.

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Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the search feature to the right and are as follows:  

• “Visitation Principles” was the theme of last Advent’s devotional series. It delved into reasons Jesus came as outlined in the Book of Hebrews. They are archived beginning December 1, 2024.
• “From the Jews for the World” was an important devotional exploration of how Jesus’ Jewish heritage was necessary for the salvation of Gentiles, too. It is archived beginning December 3, 2023.
• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

Love like this is hard to comprehend.  Jesus had it all.  He gave it all up.  He condescended to living like a mere human, a species He created, and then He showed the magnitude of God’s love for His Image-bearers by rescuing us from the wrath we earned and deserved … by dying … for us.

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Principle:  The grace and magnitude of God’s love is best displayed in His perfect sacrifice.

Aim: To love others as Jesus loved us.

At Christmas, a prayer:  Our Father in heaven, we thank You and praise You for Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born on Christmas, Risen on Easter.  It is beyond our ability to understand this kind of love that exists only in Your divine will.  What amazing love Yours is!  Love is Your very nature.  As Your Word says, “God is love.  This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”(1 John 4:8-10).  Help us to grow in His likeness more and more and look to both the manger and the Cross to find all the reasons we need to love others as He loved us.  We exalt You in the highest place for Your Name that is above all names!  We bow before You, Lord Jesus. Amen.

===
Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the search feature to the right and are as follows:  

• “Visitation Principles” was the theme of last Advent’s devotional series. It delved into reasons Jesus came as outlined in the Book of Hebrews. They are archived beginning December 1, 2024.
• “From the Jews for the World” was an important devotional exploration of how Jesus’ Jewish heritage was necessary for the salvation of Gentiles, too. It is archived beginning December 3, 2023.
• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

There is nothing like the majesty, complexity, functionality, and diversity of our natural world to inspire in us a sense of wonder at our God of Creation.  Indeed, nature teaches us about the wisdom, creativity, beauty, and power of our God.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities– his eternal power and divine nature– have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

Principle: There is no excuse for failing to see His power and divine nature.

Aim: to see His divine nature in the natural world.

At Christmas, a prayer:  Lord Jesus, we stand amazed in awesome wonder that You, the One through Whom the entire universe was created…would condescend to come and live among us.  Knowing that You came as a little baby on Christmas morning, living as any child would, experiencing all the troubles and temptations we face during Your 33 years on earth, and for the purpose of dying for us, we scarce can take it in! We cannot comprehend that kind of love in sacrificing Yourself willingly for such a troubled world.  We praise You that You made a way for Your followers to be with You in heaven forever by Your work on the Cross and the faith You give us in Your Resurrection.  We glorify Your Holy Name, Lord Jesus!  Amen.

===
Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the search feature to the right and are as follows:  

• “Visitation Principles” was the theme of last Advent’s devotional series. It delved into reasons Jesus came as outlined in the Book of Hebrews. They are archived beginning December 1, 2024.
• “From the Jews for the World” was an important devotional exploration of how Jesus’ Jewish heritage was necessary for the salvation of Gentiles, too. It is archived beginning December 3, 2023.
• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

One of my favorite renditions of this hymn is from Promise Keepers.  There is nothing like the power of men singing praise.  Sorry ladies. 

Principle: God is the Ancient of Days; He is before Creation, before all time.

Aim: See our God’s eternal nature in contrast to our created nature.

At Christmas, a prayer: “Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.  Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” (Psalm. 90:1-2)   Forgive us for failing to remember You are wise from eternity past.  You have created us.  Your “Being” is a mystery, how You can be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all at the same time!  Help us to trust that while we do not understand, You are eternally omniscient and comprehend Your relationship in ways we cannot as finite beings.  You do not change. “You are the living God and You endure forever; Your kingdom will not be destroyed, Your dominion will never end. You rescue and save; You perform signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth” (from Daniel 6:27). We praise You for the mystery of the incarnation, and how Your Only Son, Jesus, could be both fully God and also fully man.  Create in our hearts a sense of wonder anew this Christmas season, we pray.  Amen.

===
Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the search feature to the right and are as follows:  

• “Visitation Principles” was the theme of last Advent’s devotional series. It delved into reasons Jesus came as outlined in the Book of Hebrews. They are archived beginning December 1, 2024.
• “From the Jews for the World” was an important devotional exploration of how Jesus’ Jewish heritage was necessary for the salvation of Gentiles, too. It is archived beginning December 3, 2023.
• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

We live in an age of Mock Omniscience, having the world at our fingertips and the ability to search any question we have for answers on the worldwide web. It’s easy to elevate our own intelligence, artificial or real, but we still need God who alone has all the answers.

Forgive us, Lord, for failing to magnify You, the God who is beyond our galaxy, beyond time, and beyond creation. 

Let’s begin our Advent season by worshiping the God of Wonders who deserves to be exalted as Holy and to receive all glory.

Principle: Our God of Wonders is beyond any created thing or being.

Aim: See our God as worthy of being exalted.

At Christmas, a prayer:  Lord God, Your plan is so far above anything we could ever have imagined.  You are loving and holy!  Your justice is true!  Your righteousness is without flaw!  Hallelujah! How amazing that You would look upon our impossible predicament of wickedness and rebellion, yet because of Your character of love, You would implement Your mysterious plan to rescue us anyway.  We acknowledge we are truly unworthy of this mercy on account of sin in our lives.  Even the best of us is a sinner by inheritance from Adam and that from the moment we take our first breath.  We repent of our evil ways and come to You for forgiveness knowing You are merciful.  Oh Hallelujah!  Your wisdom is beyond all searching, and Your plan—mysterious even on the night of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ—perfectly displays Your love, justice, and mercy.  We praise You!  We lift Your Name above all names!  We give You glory this day in anticipation of celebrating during Advent and beyond, marveling at who You are!  Be magnified in our thoughts, our prayers, and our lives.  You are worthy! Amen.

===
Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the search feature to the right and are as follows:  

• “Visitation Principles” was the theme of last Advent’s devotional series. It delved into reasons Jesus came as outlined in the Book of Hebrews. They are archived beginning December 1, 2024.
• “From the Jews for the World” was an important devotional exploration of how Jesus’ Jewish heritage was necessary for the salvation of Gentiles, too. It is archived beginning December 3, 2023.
• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

“Look it up,” he said. “You have the world at your fingertips.”
“The Age of Wonder is over,” I muttered, almost disgusted at the thought.
Then he said, “Please tell me you’re not going to follow a deep dive of anti-Semitism and ‘just war’ discussions with ‘The Age of Wonder is Over.’  Merry Christmas. Ugh.”

Marriage can be complicated sometimes.

There was a time not so long ago when we’d think about a question and be left wondering. Now we can know almost anything we ask. Yes, even stupid stuff. Did Gene Hackman like doing Hoosiers? What is the meaning behind Gordon Lightfoot’s Rainy-Day People or Ricky Nelson’s Garden Party? Was Churchill’s secretary Miss Layton real?  What’s worse, perhaps, is that other people have clearly asked about the same stupid stuff before we did.

If you’d told me in high school that in the year 2025, I’d have a powerful computer so tiny it would fit in my hand, and that I’d carry it in my pocket or feel lost without it—a computer so powerful it could access all the known knowledge in the universe, I would have been stunned.

Mock Omniscience.
Kind of. That’s a scary thought. 
Among the dangers of AI (for sure!) is the pride of man to think we can know everything. 
“The Age of Wonder is Over.” How sad, I’d even think that!

Then I read a short post from Glenn Beck. 

“The fact that practically the whole world stopped to look up at the Northern Lights is a reminder that wonder still exists outside the algorithm.”

Huh. Wonder still exists …   outside of the known, outside of the knowable.

“Who among the gods is like You, LORD? Who is like You– majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (Exodus 15:11)

Please consider joining me for my 2025 Advent Devotional Series “God of Wonders” as we explore the wonder of God in the birth of His Son Jesus Christ. Advent begins on November 30, 2025. You can read the devotionals here or on Facebook. Wonder does exist outside of algorithms, artificial intelligence, and mock omniscience…if you search for it.

Zechariah 13:1 “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

In the end, My People will be vindicated by God Himself.  This scene, our final installment in My People/Not My People, is fitting as it remains prophecy until the End times.  God has not forsaken the Jewish people. He’s continually working to purify them prior to the Last Day when the last believing Remnant will have their eyes opened, repent, and be saved.

Zechariah 12:1 A prophecy: The word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares:

2 “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.

4 On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the LORD. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations. 5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the LORD Almighty is their God.’

6 “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place. 7 “The LORD will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah.

8 On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD going before them. 

9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem. 

10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.  

To those who want to believe God has abandoned the Jews, you’re simply wrong.  God opens to the “house of David” and to the “inhabitants of Jerusalem” a fountain of salvation in Christ.  In the end, nations (and people) who take a stand against Jerusalem are the ones who will be destroyed.  God said it: “On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.”

Do you believe Him?

God has My People (in every instance we’ve seen, they’re His children of FAITH in Christ). Yes, there are Gentile Christians who have NOT replaced the Jews.  And among the Jewish people there are also those of faith (whether predating Christ, His disciples during His lifetime, and those who repented and believed the good news after His death like the men on the Road to Emmaus).

After the full number of Gentile Christians (the Church which is comprised of both Gentile and “Messianic Jewish” people who have repented and believed) has come in, there will be a different Jewish Remnant awakened from a period of hardening. They too repent and believe. Then the final joining of My People will be accomplished.

Do you want to know who My People are? They are from every nation, tribe and tongue with this one belief that ties them together eternally as My People: They are those who have believed in the promise of Messiah, the One who is identified in Scripture alone as the unique Son of God, Son of Man, the Crucified Redeemer, the Risen Savior, the Forgiver of sins, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and by placing their trust in Him for forgiveness of their sins…they repent and will be saved.

This past week marked 10 years since the attack at the Bataclan Concert Hall in Paris. Many today never heard of it or realized how appalling present chants in that very venue of “Free Palestine” were to those who did remember, or the ones who survived.

It was jihad.  Holy War.  What a misnomer.  Terrorism is anything but holy.

And to be clear, terrorists are Not My People, as we wind down our series of My People/Not My People.

If you want a mental refresher, this individual was still following the developments regarding prosecution and the French government’s role in keeping it out of the headlines; and host and author Jack Posobiec publicly recalled it to international memory. 

A so-called “holy war” is fought by men for the sake of their god. In Islamic jihad, for example, it is a religious duty for a certain faction of Islamists within Islam.  To them, eradication …annihilation … of the Jews is one sign “the Hour” is upon the world: “The Hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims kill them…” — Sahih Muslim 2922.

Promptly after Bataclan, ISIS released a statement calling the attacks “blessed strikes” on the “crusader nation” of France and viewed it as part of a holy war (jihad) against the West.  In all, 130 innocents were killed, 494+ were injured, many critically, and the genuine barbarism of the killings went widely under-reported. 

There is no moral equivalence of terrorists and victims. 
Not at the Bataclan. 
Not at the World Trade Centers. 
Not on October 7, 2023, at the Nova Music Festival in the southern Negev in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages were taken. 
Innocent civilians all. 

In all three of those cases, innocent third parties
who never knew what was coming were slaughtered.

Jean Bethke Elshtain, a longtime Divinity School professor and theological scholar at the University of Chicago wrote about the Just War.  In the memorial on her life from University of Chicago Magazine, 

As Elshtain wrote in her book (emphasis added),
“although just-war tradition never regards armed conflict as ‘desirable, or as any kind of social ‘good,’ it nevertheless ‘acknowledges that it may be better than the alternative.”’

‘Just War Against Terror‘ enumerated the complex criteria to determine whether force is justified and to keep its use within necessary limits: a war must prevent harm to innocents and be openly declared by a legitimate authority. It must be a response to unjust aggression against one’s own people or an innocent third party. It must be the last resort after all other options are exhausted. It must be embarked upon only with a reasonable chance of success and conducted in a fashion that protects noncombatants.

It’s time that we stop pretending that there is moral equivalence
between terrorists and their victims.  Can we all at least agree on that?

Questions for further thought:

Islamic adherents present a polarity: from “mostly peaceful” to engaging in extremist terrorism—all using the Quran to justify their actions…including those whose mission is to annihilate Jews.  

How often does the Muslim “peaceful majority” condemn the extremist elements from among their number committing atrocities like October 7th or the Bataclan concert hall attack?  Why is there not widespread, uniform international outcry from “peaceful majority” Muslims?  Are they afraid of their fringe, fearing wider reprisal, are they in secret handshake agreement, etc.?

Violent jihad with rewards for martyrdom undergird Islam’s “holy war.”  As Islamism grows in formerly Christian nations like the UK and France, what is happening regarding violence? 

Islam is not the only religion to have engaged in a “holy war”—history shows that. 

To our shame, a holy war initiated by Pope Urban II and elite military-affiliated Catholics (known as the Crusades–10th to 13th centuries), was similarly condemned–at the time–as unchristian only by a handful within Christianity. Why do people not speak up about atrocities? Did they not know, did they fall prey to propaganda at the time, did they turn a blind eye to the unthinkable, etc.?

Eventually, Catholicism’s conquest was abandoned entirely in favor of evangelistic missions.  What is the end goal of missions versus a “holy war”?   What means are used to justify each’s ends?

Which religion(s) still use the concept of “holy war” to justify adherents’ actions?

According to the Just War theory outlined above, could Israel’s actions post-October 7th be considered Just?