NKJV, Unapologetic Study Bible: Confidence for Such a Time As This

By Emmanuel Foundation

The NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible cuts through the confusion with clear answers for today’s most complicated and controversial issues. With timely articles, thoughtful book introductions, insightful quotations, and profiles on some of history’s most unapologetic defenders of the faith, this is a Bible that won’t leave you guessing. You’ll grow in confidence as you discover how to defend your faith and share it with others in a world increasingly at odds with the truth of God’s Word. The Bible doesn’t shy away from the tough topics, and neither should you.

Features Include:

• Book Introductions: Provide key passages and background information for each book
• Articles: Over 220 articles placed near relevant Scripture passages bring keen biblical insight to the current issues of the day
• Quotations: Over 70 quotations from historical figures help you understand, first, that the issues of the day are not new; and second, that wise people throughout history have been challenged to live by biblical standards, just as we are today
• Unapologetic Profiles: Over 50 profiles of historical figures inspire you with biblical faith lived out in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances
• Indexes: Categorize each of the above features to assist you in a topical study of the issues that matter to you
• 8.9-point print size

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Nov 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9780310080435

Emmanuel Foundation

The Emmanuel Foundation is organized, for the Glory of God, to:  Provide ministers and teachers with information and commentary designed to help them evaluate current events from the perspective of the Kingdom of God Create, maintain, and distribute content and platform options, enabling educators to carry out their missions more effectively Encourage innovation in the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Support those whose ministries harmonize with the principles and goals of the Foundation  

Book preview

NKJV

Unapologetic

Study Bible

Confidence for Such a Time as This

thomasnelson.com

NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible

Copyright © 2017 by Thomas Nelson.

All rights reserved

Holy Bible, New King James Version®, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

ePub Edition October 2017: 978-0-310-08043-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017936992

The text of the New King James Version® (NKJV®) may be quoted or reprinted without prior written permission with the following qualifications: (1) up to and including 1,000 verses may be quoted in printed form as long as the verses quoted amount to less than 50% of a complete book of the Bible and make up less than 50% of the total work in which they are quoted; (2) all NKJV quotations must conform accurately to the NKJV text.

Any use of the NKJV text must include a proper acknowledgement as follows:

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

However, when quotations from the NKJV text are used in church bulletins, orders of service, Sunday school lessons, church newsletters, and similar works in the course of religious instruction or services at a place of worship or other religious assembly, the following notice may be used at the end of each quotation: NKJV.

For quotation requests not covered by the above guidelines, write to Thomas Nelson, Attention: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.

All rights reserved.

Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

Please note that this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

Table of Contents

How to Use This eBible

Abbreviations

Foreword

NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible Introduction

NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible and Kairos Journal Category Overviews

About Kairos Journal

Preface to the New King James Version®

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Old Testament Table of Contents

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New Testament Table of Contents

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Table of Monies, Weights, and Measures

Index of Features for Canonical Study

Index of Features for Topical Study

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OLD TESTAMENT

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Genesis

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50

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Exodus

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40

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Leviticus

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27

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Numbers

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36

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Deuteronomy

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34

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Joshua

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

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Judges

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21

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Ruth

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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1 Samuel

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

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2 Samuel

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

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1 Kings

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22

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2 Kings

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25

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1 Chronicles

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29

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2 Chronicles

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36

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Ezra

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

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Nehemiah

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

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Esther

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

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Job

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42

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Psalms

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150

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Proverbs

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

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Ecclesiastes

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

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Song of Solomon

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

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Isaiah

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66

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Jeremiah

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52

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Lamentations

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

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Ezekiel

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48

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Daniel

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

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Hosea

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14

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Joel

1 | 2 | 3

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Amos

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

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Obadiah

1

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Jonah

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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Micah

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

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Nahum

1 | 2 | 3

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Habakkuk

1 | 2 | 3

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Zephaniah

1 | 2 | 3

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Haggai

1 | 2

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Zechariah

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14

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Malachi

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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NEW TESTAMENT

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Matthew

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28

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Mark

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

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Luke

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

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John

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21

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Acts

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28

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Romans

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

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1 Corinthians

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

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2 Corinthians

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

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Galatians

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

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Ephesians

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

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Philippians

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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Colossians

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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1 Thessalonians

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

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2 Thessalonians

1 | 2 | 3

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1 Timothy

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

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2 Timothy

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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Titus

1 | 2 | 3

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Philemon

1

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Hebrews

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

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James

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

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1 Peter

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

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2 Peter

1 | 2 | 3

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1 John

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

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2 John

1

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3 John

1

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Jude

1

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Revelation

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22

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How to Use This eBible

What is the difference between an eBook and a print book?

eBook versions of Bibles contain all the content and supplementary materials found in the original print versions and are optimized for navigation in the various apps and devices used for display. eReaders recognize text as one fluid string and are formatted in a single column, which differs from the multi-column layout seen in many print version Bibles. Therefore, some content may not match the exact appearance of the original print version, but instead uses hyperlinks to navigate between related content.

How do I use the eBook Table of Contents?

*Important Note: Be sure to consult your device manufacturer’s User’s Guide for device-specific navigation instructions.*

The Table of Contents is generally formatted in the same order as the original print version and hyperlinked as follows:

• Front matter – Introductory articles

• Bible books and chapters

• Back matter – Supplementary materials

To navigate to specific Bible books, chapters, or verses, please note the following:

• Book links (Ex. Genesis) go directly to the Introduction of each book, or the beginning of that Bible book if there is no introductory text.

• Chapter links go directly to the beginning of the chapter associated with a book.

• Use the device’s Next Page/Previous Page buttons or functions to scroll through the verses in each chapter.

• Every Bible book and chapter hyperlink in the Bible text returns or goes back to the Table of Contents. Or, use the device’s back button or function to go back to the last selection.

How do I navigate supplementary materials?

Articles and Features related to Bible content are accessible through the pointer links that are interspersed throughout the Bible text.

• Select the hyperlinked content title at the end of a paragraph where referenced Bible verse(s) appear to go to its location in the Annotations section at the end of each Bible book.

• Select the hyperlinked title entry to go back to the Bible verse location, or use the device’s back button or function to go back to the last selection.

Footnotes (Translators’ Notes) are marked with small, hyperlinked superscript letters a.

• Select the hyperlinked superscript letter in the main Bible text to go to the corresponding footnote.

• Select the hyperlinked letter to the left of the footnote(s) and you are returned to the main Bible text, or use the device’s back button or function to go back to the last selection.

Indexes are features that supplement the Bible text and are hyperlinked directly to the content-specific location following the main Bible text.

• Select the hyperlinked entry in the Table of Contents to the specific article, list, or index.

• Select the Bible reference or article hyperlink to the corresponding main Bible text or article.

• Use the device’s back button or function to go back to the last selection.

Abbreviations

Old Testament

New Testament

Foreword

Dear Reader,

Through the years, my wife and I have worked in what are commonly thought to be influential sectors of society; she in the media, and I in the corporate world. In our careers and travels, we have witnessed a dramatic decline in the influence of the Church in the West, and accordingly, in the spiritual and moral vitality of our culture. We have had the growing sense that the hope of a people, and of democracy, lies not in elected officials, entrepreneurs, military leaders, academicians, or broadcast personalities. It is based on the faithfulness of her Christian pastors.

One such pastor was André Trocmé, who served a small Protestant church in southern France during the Second World War. Largely because of his preaching and example, the village of Chambon became a haven for Jews escaping Nazi persecution. At great personal risk, he and his congregation hid these refugees until they could flee across the Swiss border. Tutored in the Word, they simply saw rescue as their Christian duty.

Many have heard of William Wilberforce’s efforts in Parliament to abolish the British slave trade. Few, however, know of his spiritual grounding—of his home church in Clapham, England, where he was fortified and inspired by the preaching of John Venn. We dream that a new generation of John Venns would emerge to inspire and instruct a new generation of William Wilberforces.

It is a critical time, a kairos moment. Many say that the West is a cut-flower civilization, scarcely sustained by the Christian perspectives that once brought her life. The bloom is fading at a shocking rate; we are desperate for spiritual renewal, grounded in Christ and His Word.

We are convinced that the great cause of this day is to embolden, equip, and encourage pastors in their God-ordained work. For this purpose, we established Kairos Journal, the website from which the articles in this NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible are gleaned.

Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit will encourage Christians from all walks of life toward biblically directed thought, word, and deed through the articles included in this study Bible. As Christians who use this Bible work to build toward the coming kingdom of God, may they also be challenged to lead their peers—and their children—toward godly principles and practices.

Sincerely,

Emmanuel A. Kampouris

Publisher of Kairos Journal

NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible

Introduction

About the NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible

Welcome to the NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible. This Bible is titled as such because it takes a look at difficult and complex issues of the day and unapologetically applies biblical principles to each one. The goal of this Bible is to inspire believers to Christlike thought, belief, speech, and action. It is intended to help Christians from all walks of life to live their lives according to biblical principles, using information and encouragement based on a wealth of resources from around the globe and from ancient times up to the present day.

The notes and features of the NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible are based on Kairos Journal (www.kairosjournal.org); for more information on that extensive online resource, please see the description here. The word kairos carries the sense of God’s being involved, through His Spirit and Word, to direct the believer’s life when he or she comes to a critical juncture, as when Esther (Esth. 4:14) or Stephen (Acts 7) faced their own moments of decision.

The NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible System

The key to understanding the system in which the features in this study Bible are integrated is the following grid, which you will see in the introduction to every book of the Bible:

The articles, quotations, profiles, and other features are organized into eight distinct content areas, each of which includes four particular types of content.

Overview: The Eight Subject Areas

The eight subject areas and their 38 subcategories cover a wide range of important societal and spiritual issues. Each of the features of the Bible is categorized into one of the following areas (for a fuller editorial explanation of each of the eight areas please see "NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible and Kairos Journal Category Overviews"):

Church

Church: The Church’s Prophetic Voice

In a world plagued by relativism and self-indulgence, the believer proclaims God’s unchanging Word with pertinence, clarity, and courage.

Church: The Glorious Church

The Church can enjoy a taste of heaven on earth, as she experiences the power and joy that God bestows on obedient congregations making His glory conspicuous to a watching world.

Church: The Church in Decline

It is a sad but necessary task to examine instances where the world has shaped the Church more than the Church has shaped the world. Only when alerted to the reality and danger of decline can God’s people take bold steps to reverse it, for the love of neighbor and the glory of God.

Church: The Pastor, Culture and Public Duty

Today’s world marginalizes Christian pastors and counts them and their message culturally irrelevant. This predicament calls for a resurgence of competent, biblical activism, in the assurance that God’s truth and love are vital to all aspects of culture.

Church: World Religions and Worldviews

Throughout the biblical period—from devotion to Baal and Asherah in Old Testament days, to reverence for Artemis and divine Roman emperors of the New Testament era—the worship of foreign and false gods surrounded, challenged, and even compromised God’s people. And just as the prophets spoke knowingly to these religious challengers in their own time, today’s believers must understand rival belief systems and prepare to encounter them.

Church: Spiritual Disciplines

Just as physical training makes one fit for athletic achievement, spiritual training increases the believer’s joy, holiness, usefulness, and sense of nearness to God. A regimen of such biblical practices as prayer and fasting enhances the Christian’s spiritual strength and endurance for the kingdom tasks at hand.

Corruption

Corruption: Bribery

A righteous, loving God condemns bribery because it perverts justice, masks the truth, and serves the selfish spirit.

Corruption: Greed

Forbidden in the Tenth Commandment, covetousness has plagued humankind from the beginning.

Corruption: Hypocrisy

Superficial piety without genuine righteousness is a lie; eloquence without conviction is shameful; and service without love is hollow.

Corruption: Idolatry

Whether carved from wood or spun from the vanity of one’s imagination, idols turn the heart from God to lesser things.

Corruption: Prejudice

God created all people in His image. The one who despises any ethnic group despises what God treasures.

Economics

Economics: Economic Systems

From its opening chapters, the Bible abounds in teachings that inform sound economic thought including the Imago Dei (Gen. 1:27) and the creation mandate (Gen. 1:28), which encourage godly enterprise and resourceful management of the earth’s riches; the fall (Gen. 3), which undermines utopian schemes; and the Eighth Commandment (Ex. 20:15), which honors private property.

Economics: Poverty and Wealth

Neither wealth nor poverty guarantees virtue or shame. In God’s economy, both rich and poor are treasured. Each has special challenges and opportunities.

Economics: Taxation

When taxes are just and prudent, society benefits; when they are perverse, the nation suffers.

Education

Education: Evolution and Intelligent Design

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. While Bible-believing Christians may differ on the method and details of God’s creative activity, any theory that ignores or denies the fact of God’s authorship is in error.

Education: Manners

The world is hardened by sin as the corruption of the heart manifests itself in all sorts of indecency and coarseness. But the redeemed—those who love God and neighbor—exemplify and advocate grace and dignity, and raise the tone of the culture.

Education: Teaching and Learning

Education is not value-neutral. Learning must be shaped by a biblical worldview.

Family

Family: Adultery and Fornication

Sexual activity outside of the marital union of one man and one woman is a grave offense in the sight of God and ultimately destructive to the family, Church, and society.

Family: Divorce

The Bible reports that God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16), so the Church must treat it gravely, honoring scriptural guidelines instead of the reckless counsel of culture.

Family: Homosexuality and Transgenderism

Though the Bible celebrates human sexuality—God made male and female in His image—it clearly denounces sexual perversion, including promiscuity, homosexuality, transgenderism, and other violations of God’s ideal. God’s people must insist on His standard in this matter, while never failing to love the sinner.

Family: Marriage and Family

God designed marriage to be a lifelong, one-flesh relationship between one man and one woman. The first divinely ordained, human institution, it is the bedrock of civilization.

Family: Parenting

The gift of children inaugurates a series of holy obligations for parents with respect to their progeny, with the chief among them being proper instruction in the Christian faith, godly discipline, and a loving concern for the dignity and preciousness of other people—all of which aim to form the character of the child.

Government

Government: Church and State

Inasmuch as true conversion and piety are matters of the heart and not political coercion, Christians insist on religious liberty. Religious freedom is perfectly compatible with, and even dependent upon, governmental respect for God and His Word.

Government: Environmentalism

Dominion with stewardship over the environment is humanity’s divinely appointed duty—a matter of reverence for the Creator and love for present and future generations.

Government: Forms of Government

Though the Bible does not directly prescribe a particular form of earthly government, it does advance principles by which statecraft should be evaluated. God speaks to national as well as ecclesiastical constitutions.

Government: Peace and War

As the Bible says, there is a time for war and a time for peace (Eccl. 3:8). Just war pursues an admirable peace, not peace at any cost.

Government: Punishment

While deterrence, rehabilitation, and quarantine can be useful outgrowths of the state’s punitive system, humanely administered retribution (eye for eye) must be the ruling standard. Exceed that standard, and abuse occurs; neglect it, and indulgence subverts justice; surrender it to personal revenge, and punishment loses it biblical legitimacy.

Sanctity

Sanctity of Life: Abortion and Infanticide

Made in God’s image, every human being should be treated with dignity and justice from conception onward.

Sanctity of Life: Contraception and Fertility

In a contraceptive culture, the Church welcomes children. In a culture inundated by new reproductive technologies, the Church offers discriminating moral judgment.

Sanctity of Life: Stem-Cell Research, Cloning and Biotechnology

As doctors and scientists seek to enrich and extend life through new technologies, the Church must speak God’s pleasure. Science is entering unexplored territory, and society is desperate for a biblical word, separating good from evil.

Sanctity of Life: Euthanasia and Suicide

Life is a precious gift from God. It is His to take, and the Church must resist society’s pressure to end it with homicide even when it becomes onerous, whether to oneself or others.

Virtue

Virtue: Compassion

Those who walk with God and partake of His Spirit are known for grace, mercy, and longsuffering kindness. They are both tenderhearted and prudent, loving and wise.

Virtue: Courage

Neither cowardly nor reckless, Christians honor God through the brave pursuit of their calling. Though the dangers are real, believers press forward in the assurance that the Lord stands by them, whatever may come.

Virtue: Faith

In a world marked by uncertainty, fear, and weakness, faithful Christians stand out for their vision and constancy.

Virtue: Character

The Bible lifts up the ideals of integrity, faithfulness, and maturity in the life of the believer. By God’s grace, Christians live a transformed life, growing in conformity to their Lord.

Virtue: Justice

There is a moral order to God’s creation, rooted in His character. Believers honor it by following God’s principles and directives in dealing with one another and in framing public policy.

Virtue: Repentance

Only when individuals, groups, and nations acknowledge and renounce their sin, do they become fit vessels for God’s kingdom work. Repentance is an unmistakable change of direction toward God, whether in the form of personal holiness or public policy.

Virtue: Work Ethic

Work is not a curse; it is a creation ordinance. A good work ethic is essential to true biblical obedience.

Overview: The Four Quadrants

Biblical. The Biblical Reference quadrant is a collection of single-page studies based on selected Scripture passages. In each case, exposition focuses upon the point at hand, application upon the kairos moment, and exhortation upon the believer’s unique role. These concise studies are designed to inform, prompt, and undergird prophetic cultural engagement. Each supplies a facet of God’s teaching on a topic vital to the spiritual renewal of society.

The Bible portrays God’s revelation as a plumb line that sets things straight in a crooked generation (Amos 7:7–9) and as the combatant’s spiritual sword (Eph. 6:17). These are the tools that Christians have at their disposal when they approach the difficult and complex issues that they face in their daily lives.

Historical. The Historical Precedents quadrant is designed to inspire readers by the work God has done through His people over the centuries. God is gracious to do great works through believers. The works that people have done for God are valuable for study both for what they accomplish and for what they teach. The student of these acts can walk in the steady footsteps of their spiritual ancestors, just as one day others may walk in their steps. These articles survey history for highlights, for kairos moments or junctures where God’s Word was applied and His work advanced by courageous, perceptive servants; or where, sadly, prime opportunities were squandered by those who faltered. This is an effort to bring history to life, but more importantly to bring life to believers who face their own decisive moments.

Quotations & Writings. The Quotations & Writings quadrant includes historical literature and archival material that illustrate biblical truth. Some quotes are remarkable for their eloquence and some for the preeminence of their spokesperson. Some take life from their context, from the spokesperson’s courage or wisdom in difficult circumstances. Some are brief sayings, others extended selections. All are meant to encourage timely, effective expression by the community of Christian believers as they meet the age-old challenges of their high calling to be Christ’s representatives in a complex world.

Commentary. Too often, the Church is silenced or marginalized in the public square. Sub-Christian and anti-Christian thinking rule the day. The Commentary quadrant helps believers to recast civic and social conversation, redefine the issues, and reintroduce the principles of God’s Word to a world that stands desperately in need of a call to God’s righteous standard. Technology, the arts, the home, the academy, the workplace, the halls of government, the battlefield: God speaks to all these sectors; indeed, to every kind of human endeavor. Accordingly, these articles address, in God’s name, a wide range of morally and spiritually critical issues. These editorials are designed to illuminate the situation, stir the heart, equip the mind, and fortify resolve. By describing the times from a biblical perspective, they help believers to stand for God in such a time as this.

Features of the NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible

• The New King James Version. Based on the time-honored King James Version, the New King James Version is preferred by many readers because it is timeless, trusted, and for today. The NKJV uses up-to-date English while maintaining the literary quality of the KJV. For more information on the NKJV translation itself, see the Preface.

• Book Introductions. Informative overviews provide a key passage from each Bible book and other information that helps the reader to better understand what they are about to read. A grid at the end of each introduction displays which type of content is to be found within the pages of each Bible book.

• Articles. Over 220 articles bring keen biblical insight to the current issues of the day. These have all been placed by relevant Scripture passages, and they help readers to understand how important it is to live their lives by the plumb line of God’s Word (Amos 7:7–8).

The articles included in this study Bible are but a fraction of the extensively researched and annotated articles on these same topics that are available on the Kairos Journal website (www.kairosjournal.org). Due to space restrictions in print, the editors published a truncated listing of the sources and annotations associated with the online articles; therefore, the reader is frequently referred to the website to review the extensive additional material located there.

• Quotations & Writings. Over 70 quotations from historical figures help the reader understand, first, that the issues of the day are not new; and second, that wise people throughout history have been challenged to live by biblical standards, just as they are today.

• Unapologetic Profiles. Over 50 profiles of historical figures inspire readers to see instances of biblical faith in action against incredibly unfavorable odds and in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances. These stories will provide encouragement for readers to face their own challenges with bold and unwavering faith.

• Indexes. In the back of this study Bible are two indexes that categorize each of the above features to assist the reader in both a canonical and a topical study of the issues that apply most to their lives on any given day.

Again, welcome to the NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible. It is the prayer of the editors and writers of this edition that further study of these specific issues, under the instruction of God’s Word, will inspire believers to make a compassionate yet authoritative difference in their home, their neighborhood, their workplace, and their town, city, state and nation—to take a stand for God’s principles as outlined in the Bible and as directed by the continuing work of the Holy Spirit.

NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible and Kairos Journal

Category Overviews

The NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible and Kairos Journal categorize their content around eight specific topical areas. The following pages will allow readers an in-depth overview of the editorial intent and tone behind each of these different areas, while also describing the various subcategories included in each of the eight content spheres.

This categorization lends itself to topical study as well as canonical study. For a complete listing of all of the features in this product, please see the indexes in the back of the Bible.

Church

Atheists who claim that religion is poisonous are having quite a run these days; and—to their credit—some faiths are toxic. Not so the Christian Church and the faithful, when they exhibit biblical integrity. In that vein, four themes—The Church’s Prophetic Voice; Glorious Church; Pastor, Culture and Public Duty; and Spiritual Disciplines—describe the Church at its proper best, as its preachers bring the Word with integrity and power; its character and fruitfulness are an inspiration to believer and non-believer alike; its pastors enter the public square effectually; and its members grow in consecration. In sharp contrast, the Church in Decline slides into doctrinal and moral confusion, losing its gospel power and encouraging—even at times aiding—its enemies.

Fair-minded students quickly recognize the blessings the Church has brought to the nations—from the suspension of gladiatorial games in Rome to the end of infanticide in Sparta; from the medical missionary work of David Livingstone to the abolitionist cause of William Wilberforce. And critics are hard pressed to gainsay the manifold contributions of such believers as, to name a few, Blaise Pascal (mathematician/philosopher), George Washington Carver (scientist/inventor), William Booth (founder of the Salvation Army), Johannes Gutenberg (inventor of the movable-type printing press), J.S. Bach (composer), and Louis Pasteur (founder of bacteriology).

Critics miss the social transformations that came from the preaching of Wesley and Whitefield during the eighteenth-century Great Awakening; the effectual crusade of missionary William Carey to rid India of widow burning; the steady ministry of pastor Andrew Trocmé, whose faithful preaching led his congregants in the French village of Le Chambon to shelter Jews from the Nazis; the orphan care delivered with supernatural provision by George Müller; and the many charitable institutions whose founders claimed Christ—e.g., Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, and the Red Cross.

Through the years, advertisements have urged us to visit the church/synagogue/mosque of our choice, implying a generic value in religion. This is amiable, and a range of religious bodies can have a civilizing effect on their members. Indeed, antagonism toward religion (as in the former Soviet Union and Communist China) has meant the death of innocents by the tens of millions. But Marxist/Leninist zealots are not alone in threatening the common good. A wide range of World Religions and Worldviews have served to undermine a people and set them on destructive paths. In this connection, we can point to Islam’s treatment of women and apostates, Hinduism’s caste system, Buddhism’s historic indifference to world relief efforts, and animism’s failure to nurture science and technology.

The point is that the kind of religion, and indeed the kind of church, one is talking about makes all the difference. Only Christ’s Church—the body of earnest, Spirit-led, biblically informed believers—can rise to the level of splendor, an ascent which it has made repeatedly through the centuries to the glory of God and to the dismay of its detractors and enemies.

Corruption

Though righteous civil law, with attendant sanctions, can affect behavior and nurture prudent assumptions, it is still the case that the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. And so it is with four of the five topics we treat in this category—Greed, Hypocrisy, Idolatry, and Prejudice. Only Bribery rises to the level of prosecutable crime, but the other four are fountains of evil behavior, some of it illegal—for instance, greed can lead to theft; hypocrisy to conflict of interest; idolatry to acts of intolerance; prejudice to racial violence. But much of the harm is done at the general level of spiritual debilitation, for these cancers of the soul eat away at the person’s ability to contribute to the common good, to be salt and light in a world too much given to rot and darkness.

In reading down the list, one might think of them as a package; one manifested, for instance, in the career of a corrupt politician. Considering how he (or she) might profit from political power (greed), he makes a god of elected office (idolatry), both posing as something he is not (hypocrisy) and giving vent to ungodly slurs (prejudice) in the pursuit of votes. Naturally, he welcomes kickbacks (bribery) when they come his way. But, of course, all people are subject to these faults. Even preachers, in the interest of acquiring power and riches (greed), can cultivate a phony image of themselves (hypocrisy) and tailor their preaching to please big givers (bribery). They can traffic in unjust judgments (prejudice) and obsess over bigger platforms (idolatry), in order to magnify themselves for themselves.

Sad to say, bribery is ubiquitous all over the world, and it may well be both the effect and the cause of squalor. On the one hand, poverty can generate desperate behavior, as when a man cuts moral corners to feed his family by offering, demanding, or accepting a bribe. On the other hand, a culture of bribes can ruin the economic prospects of a nation. When public servants attend to themselves at the expense of the populace, and when the rule of law is mocked by those charged with ensuring it, the citizens of a village, town, city or nation can fall prey to discouragement and lose the wherewithal and will to venture good things in the marketplace.

The sins named in these five topics usually embarrass those who stoop to them, so most seek to hide their transgressions. But there is also, in some quarters, a culture of pride in wicked attitudes and deeds. These transgressors fall under Isaiah’s warning, Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Is. 5:20). Whether they glory in the number of victims they’ve been able to dupe, brag about the influence they’ve managed to buy, or relish the response they’ve gotten from cruel jokes, they assault the standards of decency, which the Bible champions; the loss of which, poisons society.

Economics

The word economics comes from the Greek word, oikonomia, combining the words for house and law. In the English New Testament, it shows up as stewardship and management, and, at base, it pictures the steward: the employee or slave who handles the financial and logistical affairs of the household. It more readily brings to mind the warmth of domesticity than the cold calculations of a technocrat.

Of course, statistics and theoretical language have their place—the esoteric tools of those adept at tweaking the Prime Rate, exploiting exchange rates, analyzing the Gross Domestic Product, and projecting gold futures—but we can miss the crucial point that the Lord, and not the social scientist, has the overarching wisdom and sovereignty in these matters. Some people act as though God is the expert only when it comes to shepherds, Babylonians, and shekels; but that calculus, genetic engineering, and econometrics are either beyond His knowledge or of little interest to Him. Foolish yes, but we act that way when we fail to seek out biblical counsel on all of life, economics included.

It is not enough to cite Scripture on these matters, for one must also correctly divide it, as, for instance, in evaluating the socialist’s claim that Acts 4:32–35 (where we see that the Jerusalem Christians held their property in common) favors state efforts to spread the wealth around. It does nothing of the sort: local, voluntary church policies are not the same as government-sanctioned Economic Systems, which must be evaluated on other terms. Fortunately, the Bible is rich in precept, principle, and example, helping us to sort out competing claims—whether from free-market enthusiasts or Communists.

It is said that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. Be that as it may, the proper method and extent of Taxation is not so clear. The Bible doesn’t offer precise prescriptions regarding taxes on incomes, capital gains, inheritances, corporate earnings, imports, or sales, but it does offer principles and instructive cases. So Christians should saturate themselves with biblical revelation and exercise God-given thoughtfulness to evaluate the tax reformers’ proposals.

As for issues of Poverty and Wealth, the political air is full of rival catch-phrases: trickle-down economics, income inequality, preferential option for the poor, fair trade, the one percent, enterprise zones, deserving poor, food insecurity, and such. How unfortunate we’d be if we had only our wits to get our bearings. Providentially, we have God’s Word in hand.

Education

Teaching and Learning have been central to the Judeo-Christian tradition from earliest times. The Torah records God’s prescription for pervasive and consistent instruction in his ways:

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (Deut. 6:6–9).

Visitors to Israel today see reflections of this text, including phylacteries strapped to heads and arms and mezuzahs affixed to hotel doorframes. On a larger scale, zeal for rigorous study within a biblical worldview has shown itself in the founding of such Jewish universities as Yeshiva and Brandeis, and Christian institutions such as Oxford and Harvard. Though many of these schools have drifted from their original spiritual commitments, they stand as testimony to the educational vision of their believing founders. In the early years, they were universities, with a unifying devotion to biblical wisdom, but they morphed into multiversities, beset with relativism and cultural anarchy. Today, many have become monoversities, where the pieties of political correctness silence dissent.

Christians are also responsible for much that is admirable in the education of children and youth. America’s public schools are the offspring of New England’s seventeenth-century Old Deluder Act, which insisted that all must learn to read and write so as to appropriate the Bible for life, and thus resist the charms and lies of Satan (the oldest of all deluders). Then, in the eighteenth century, Robert Raikes instituted the Sunday school for the sake of children slaving away, without benefit of education, in the mines and mills of the Industrial Revolution in England. And in the nineteenth century, Dwight Moody gathered his own crew of at-risk children for Sunday school on a Chicago beach alongside Lake Michigan.

Jews and Christians have always wanted more than the mere conveyance of information and the mastery of such academic skills as punctuation and mathematical calculation. They’ve aimed at building character, shaping citizens, fostering civility, and forming Manners, to use a favorite expression of Edmund Burke. Without this emphasis, the schools may simply turn out trousered apes and men without chests, to use C.S. Lewis’s expressions (in The Abolition of Man).

Unfortunately, the young are susceptible to groupthink, with its lack of discriminating wisdom, so they may be blown about by noxious cultural winds and corrupted and demoralized by the coarseness of the modern world. It’s not surprising that a range of first-rate Christian thinkers in both past and present have taken up the cause of edifying and penetrating education—among them Dorothy Sayers (1893–1957) and the hymn writer Isaac Watts (1674–1748).

Today, many a public school has fallen under the spell of imperious secularism, and there is no clearer illustration of this hostility toward basic biblical insight than in its treatment of Evolution and Intelligent Design. By decision of the US Supreme Court (Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 2005), Darwin is so thoroughly enthroned that a local school board may not even have their teachers mention Intelligent Design as an alternative to the supposition that nature did all the work. No wonder that homeschooling and Christian schools have sprung up throughout the land; that scripturally acute, online resources are cherished and commended within the fellowship of faith; and that the parents of public-school students are redoubling their efforts to counter whatever sub-biblical and anti-biblical folly is being foisted upon their children.

Family

Established in the first two chapters of Genesis, Marriage and Family are foundational to civilization. These institutions predate all others—whether government, commerce, academia, the military, even the Church. Get them wrong, and everything else falls apart.

One clear sign of the sanctity of marriage is the barbed-wire fence God erects around it in the Old Testament. In Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:20–21, he makes Adultery and Fornication capital crimes. He declares in Malachi 2:16 that he hates Divorce. He prescribes Parenting in Genesis 1:28, punishes willful childlessness in Genesis 38:8–10, and calls Homosexuality and Transgenderism detestable (Lev. 18:22, Deut. 22:5) and homosexual practice worthy of death (Lev. 20:13). He insists that children obey their parents (the Fifth Commandment) and that parents protect their children from physical and moral harm (Lev. 18:21; 19:29). He even bars newlywed men from going to war for a year, so that they might establish their homes (Deut. 24:5).

Of course, these were theocratic standards, designed for the Israelites; the sanctions do not carry over directly to pluralistic societies, where Caesar has his say. But they do underscore the gravity of this holy institution.

Today, God’s ideals and standards for marriage are ignored or held in outright contempt at every hand. The US Supreme Court has ruled that homosexual marriage is as normative as heterosexual marriage, deserving all the rights and privileges traditionally reserved for only the latter. Homosexuals are encouraged to circumvent their (un)natural childlessness by adoption, in-vitro fertilization, and surrogacy, and then raise their children as if there were nothing problematic about it. Adoption agencies who refuse to go along with this sham are driven out of business by the government.

Similarly, the US government is working hard to erase ancient and natural understandings of gender, and it is bullying those who object to transgender restrooms and locker rooms. In place of male and female created he them (Gen. 1:27), we’re being pressed to embrace and implement the notion, male and female (or both) we may fashion ourselves.

Cohabitation without benefit of marriage is commonplace, and sexual promiscuity is urged and celebrated by the entertainment industry and proudly practiced by many of the entertainers. Serial monogamy (initiating one divorce after another) is accepted without scruple, as people web surf through marriages until they get the landing page they want—even within the Church.

One out of three children is born out of wedlock in America, with the rate soaring to two out of three in some locales. And we can only begin to see the social wreckage to come from the perversion and destruction of the splendid and indispensable institution of marriage, ordained by God from the beginning.

In Amos 7:8, God hangs a plumb line in the midst of a culture gone askew, and the image is extremely pertinent today. Perhaps if Christians would make clear, by their teaching and lives, that holy matrimony is non-negotiable, society would begin to come to its senses before facing the utter judgment dispensed on Israel in Amos’s day.

Government

Render to Caesar (Mark 12:17) and be subject to the governing authorities (Rom. 13:1) are familiar watchwords for the Christian, teaching that government has its rightful place. But those words were spoken and written when nonbelievers—and, indeed, anti-believers—were in control. Of course, that is still the case in many nations around the world. But in the West primarily, the Church rose to prominence, both culturally and politically, and Christians were faced with the new issue of framing government now that they were in charge, or at least influential. If they could start from scratch, without an imperial and sometimes hostile Caesar on the throne, how should they arrange things for the long haul, and what arrangements should they shun?

So here we consider Forms of Government—democratic, totalitarian, theocratic, monarchical, global, collectivist—with their motivating principles and procedural protocols. In all this, it is crucial to specify the complementary roles of Church and State, so that neither is damaged—either by unwarranted interference or by irresponsible indifference.

Furthermore, as Romans 13:4 reveals, God has authorized (and, indeed, commissioned) government to exercise deadly force in the pursuit of justice, whether through civil Punishment or in the cause of honorable Peace and War. Of course, virtually all of the topics addressed in the Kairos and Unapologetic projects are matters of public policy at some level or another, but these two practices are reserved for the highest authorities. Local governments levy taxes, maintain roads, and police neighborhoods, but the implementation of legislated and judicially sanctioned powers of life and death is reserved for higher government.

In recent decades, Communism has suffered embarrassment and decline with the fall of the Iron Curtain, the breakup of the Warsaw Pact, and the introduction of capitalistic practices into historically communist countries such as China. Some argue this has left those with totalitarian, global, utopian dreams in the lurch, with no political program to carry out these ideals. So they have turned to Environmentalism, with its international accords and strictures and with its coercive attention to the smallest details (including the sort of light bulbs we may use). While local governments may designate green spaces and individuals may choose (at least at this point) whether or not to recycle their plastics and newspapers, the projects that stir the zealots are international in scope, the stuff of world government. Of course, Christians are biblically concerned with the stewardship of Creation, and there are admirable and substantial policies that serve this principle. But a set of environmental enthusiasts are impatient with what this perspective can generate, and even blame the Bible (particularly Gen. 1:26–28) for much that is wrong in this connection. So Christians must speak to this new, green conceit, lest it supplant the proper understanding and governance of humankind.

Sanctity of Life

The West has become impatient with children and infirm people, ever scheming to keep them from coming into existence or hastening their demise should life prove burdensome to the subject or to society. Many environmentalists argue that we have far too many humans on earth, some even expressing nostalgia for plagues, such as the Black Death, which cut the population down to a more desirable size. Simple hedonism drives others to do what is necessary to avoid or end the inconvenience of the existence of other people.

Ironically, while many are desperate to stave off or terminate life, others search out every possible option to have children. One the one hand, Contraception, Abortion, Euthanasia, and Suicide are employed to nullify troublesome life; on the other, couples facing Fertility problems are willing to spend a great deal of time and money to conceive a child through, for instance, in-vitro fertilization. Some even dream of the day when Cloning might restore to them a lost loved one. Of course, feelings of compassion can come into play in all these areas—whether to relieve suffering and heartache or to alleviate misery—but feelings, which are often conflicting, are an unreliable guide to morality.

The promise and prospects of Biotechnology are at once dazzling, appalling and terrifying. For while Stem-Cell Research (with its exotic talk of pluripotent, multipotent, and totipotent cells) may open doors to restorative therapy for those who’ve suffered setbacks (e.g., myocardial and vascular regeneration for heart attack victims) or corrective treatment for those who face severe impairment (e.g., an unborn child developing spina bifida), the science employed for such gains may go astray morally. It’s one thing to use, for research, adult stem cells obtained without harm to anyone; quite another to gather embryonic stem cells from aborted children. In a similar, callous manner, fertility clinics may stoop to wasting fertilized human eggs in their zeal for a high probability of success. Beyond this, the prospects for atrocity in human Cloning experimentation are high, not to mention the cloner’s unsavory interest in replication rather than procreation.

In its earliest years, the Church in the Greco-Roman world distinguished itself by its opposition to abortion and infanticide. Those were savage days, when it seemed reasonable to discard deformed and otherwise unwanted children, whether inside or outside the womb. Sad to say, those savage days have returned, with increasing sophistication, as in the practice of a hybrid form of infanticide called partial-birth abortion.

Also, in ancient days, suicide was honored by such luminaries as Marc Antony and Cleopatra, Cato the Younger, and Seneca the Younger. (Even the suicide of the young Christian lady, Lucretia, was celebrated, but Augustine fiercely challenged this perspective, saying that even the preservation of one’s sexual purity, threatened by a cruel official, was no excuse for self-murder.) Today, suicide is back with a vengeance, whether through the ministrations of Australia’s Philip Nitschke or the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

Those enamored with the contraceptive and abortive cultures are discovering the folly of their program, for demography is wreaking its revenge. With radically declining birthrates, some nations of the West are failing at population replacement. Retirement plans are faltering with fewer and fewer young people at work to sustain their elders. And those nations who have turned to massive immigration to fill out the