Latest / The Daily Article / The Iran war and the threat of “stagflation”: The interconnectedness of life and the urgency of biblical faith

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The Iran war and the threat of “stagflation”: The interconnectedness of life and the urgency of biblical faith · The Daily Article

• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the Wednesday, March the 11th, 2026 edition of Denison Forum's daily article podcast.
• 0:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm narrator Chris Elkins, giving voice to today's daily article authored by co-founder and chief vision officer Dr. Jim Denison.
• 0:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Iran War is now well into its second week and has involved at least 12 nations across the Middle East and beyond.
• 0:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it also poses a threat to Americans with which most of us are not familiar.
• 0:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Stagflation is the combination of falling growth, stagnation, and rising prices, inflation.
• 0:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is a specter from the 1970s, we don't want to revisit.
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Back then, the problem was caused by the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which triggered an oil embargo by Arab states that led to rising energy prices and falling growth.
• 0:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: These days, investors worried that the war in the Middle East could again disrupt global energy supplies, causing high oil prices that could dampen economic growth.
• 1:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: as the so-called first law of ecology states, everything is connected to everything else.
• 1:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is not true of just ecology, but ultimately, of life itself.
• 1:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's consider this principle in light of biblical faith and its relation to the cultural issues of the day.
• 1:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: This week, we've been discussing the liberal Christianity advanced bi-textus and editorial candidate, James Taloreco.
• 1:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have sought to explain his worldview in its cultural context, and then encouraged us to respond with biblical compassion and redemptive purpose.
• 1:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: day, let's consider some of his specific theological assertions being popularized in the media.
• 1:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: The first is the so-called argument from silence.
• 1:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: James Tallerrico claims that Jesus, quote-unquote, didn't bother to mention abortion, transgenderism, or gay marriage.
• 1:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: In Tallerrico's view, and that of many other liberal Christians,
• 2:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: This means the church should take no doctrinal stance on these issues and Christians are therefore free to take their own positions on them.
• 2:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: In response, consider three facts.
• 2:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: First, every part of the Bible is God's word, not just the red letters of Jesus' quoted statements.
• 2:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our Lord was clear in Matthew 5, 1, 17.
• 2:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
• 2:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is why in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, Paul later wrote that, all Scripture is breathed out by God.
• 2:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: As a result, what any part of the Bible says is still true today.
• 2:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Scripture must be interpreted properly,
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Every word is the word of God affirmed in Matthew 4 verse 4.
• 2:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Second, Jesus addressed many cultural issues that some claim he did not.
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: For example, his statement that God created humans, male and female in Matthew 19 verse 4, is relevant to transgenderism, while Jesus' assertion against divorce in verses 6 and 9, of Matthew 19 still speak today.
• 3:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Third,
• 3:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some issues were so settled in Jesus' day that he did not need to address them.
• 3:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: A abortion, for example, is so unbiblical, noted by Psalm 139 verses 13 through 16, has to be abhorrent to the Jewish people.
• 3:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Later, when the Christian movement expanded into the larger Roman world, early Christians were adamant on the issue, as the second-century
• 3:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: nor kill that, which is begotten.
• 3:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: A second assertion by James Telerico, regards abortion and consent when he states, quote, the angel came down and asks Mary, if this is something she wants to do, and she says, if it is God's will, let it be done.
• 3:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: To me, that is an affirmation in one of our most central stories that creation has to be done with consent, and quote.
• 4:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: In Talorecos view, this endorses reproductive freedom and abortion on demand.
• 4:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: When I taught biblical interpretation as a seminary professor, we distinguish between exegesis, which derives the intended meaning from the biblical text, and exegesis, which reads a meaning into the text
• 4:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's author, Palo Rico's interpretation of Mary's Encounter with Gabriel from Luke 1 vs. 26 through 38 is a clear example of isegesis.
• 4:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: No objective interpreter would suggest that Luke intends to endorse abortion here.
• 4:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: This event, by which a woman consents to become a mother, is also descriptive rather than prescriptive, such an occurrence is found nowhere else in Scripture and relates only to the birth of God's Son.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mary is choosing not only to become a mother, but the mother of the Messiah as revealed in verses 31 through 33, and will face grave challenges as a result revealed in Luke 2 verses 34 through 35.
• 5:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: In this one instance, she has given the opportunity to experience a miraculous conception by which to give birth to the very son of God, who ensure that we practice proper exegesis and not exegesis, I taught these steps in seminary classes, explain them in my various books and articles, and recommend these steps to you today.
• 5:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: First, grammatical.
• 5:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: What do the words mean in their original context to historical?
• 5:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: How does the cultural, social, economic, political and religious context of the time in form our understanding?
• 5:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Three, theological.
• 5:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: What does the intended meaning of the text tell us about God, humanity, and other theological subjects and cultural issues, and or practical, how does the intended meaning apply to our lives today?
• 6:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: These principles are not unique to me.
• 6:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: They have been followed by Orthodox Christians and biblical interpreters across Christian history.
• 6:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll close with a third assertion made by liberal Christians, James Halorico, among them, that the various world religions, quote, point to the same truth.
• 6:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: to the contrary, as I noted in a recent article, these religions point to very different truths.
• 6:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: For example, Islam expressly denies the divinity of Christ in Surah 5, verse 75, and 19, verse 36, while the New Testament expressly affirms both his divinity expressed in John 1, verse 1,
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: John 8, verse 58, John 10, verse 30, and Colossians 2, verse 9, and Hebrews 1, verse 3, and the necessity of faith in Jesus, referencing John 14, verse 6, x 4, verse 12, and Revelation 20, verse 15.
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Both claims concerning Jesus cannot be true.
• 7:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hinduism teaches that humans pass through a series of reincarnations before we eventually achieve unity with Brahman and cease to exist as individuals.
• 7:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Bible by contrast states in Hebrews 9, verse 27, that it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment.
• 7:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: both cannot be true.
• 7:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Kim Keller was right.
• 7:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: All religions and philosophy say, this is the way.
• 7:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Only Jesus says, I am the way.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: In a secularized post-Christian culture, our most compelling argument for embracing the objective truth of Scripture and placing our faith in Christ as the only Savior in Lord is the transformation He makes in those who follow Him fully.
• 7:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: For more on this point, please see my latest Dennison forum website article when tornadoes threaten our faith, a surprising discovery about doubt and fear.
• 8:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: A link to the article is in today's podcast episode notes.
• 8:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: To this end, we'll close with an observation by the brilliant 17th-century mathematician and philosopher, Lace Pascal.
• 8:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: In the Ponce,
• 8:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: He showed Christians how to respond to critics and skeptics, quote, the cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect.
• 8:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Next, make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is.
• 8:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: How fully will you follow Pascal's advice today?