The Impotence of Secular Conservatism
Maximize the Christian commitment of the state.
I’m not denying that Christian conservatives can have secular allies. I’m not denying that we can share vast areas of common agreement and common concern, but I am saying that at the end of the day, without an ontological commitment which is grounded in theological conviction, I don’t believe there’s any lasting conservatism to be... Continue Reading
‘Of the Civil Magistrate’: How Presbyterians Shifted on Church-State Relations
If American Presbyterians in particular want to look to their confessional past for a model of church-state relations, they’ll have to determine if they’re going back to London or back to Philadelphia.
We live in a time where many voices across the political spectrum are questioning the wisdom of the democratic liberal order we’ve had in much of the West for the past 200 years. As Christians grieve what has been lost of their former cultural influence (and fear what lies ahead), there have been new discussions... Continue Reading
Christlike Christians Sing
I’m concerned that many think singing praise is just for “those musical folks”. But no! Singing is for all those who would be most like Christ.
Singing God’s praise is a natural outflow of knowing the bountiful grace of God. “I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13:6). Singing praise is a natural response of the glad heart that is found in salvation. “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise” (James 5:13). Singing praise... Continue Reading
The Objectivity of Beauty
Edmund Burke against aesthetic relativism.
Some people simply aren’t capable of recognizing beauty. This, Burke insists, is due to a variety of factors: stunted powers of discrimination, carnal and materialistic living, an obsession with living for the applause of the world, or “a want of proper and well-directed exercise” in recognizing beauty (33). “The cause of a wrong taste,” in... Continue Reading
The Preeminent Subject of Preaching
There is no theme of salvation or the Christian life that can be properly understood and expounded apart from the gospel.
Oh fellow believers, the gospel is the great treasure of the Christian faith with which we have been entrusted (2 Cor. 4:7; 2 Tim. 1:14). We must devote ourselves to searching out its never-ending beauty and power, and we must preach it as those who are under the greatest and gravest stewardship. As Paul declared... Continue Reading
Imprecatory Praising
While the Proverbs passage says that we are not to "rejoice when our enemy falls" nor "let your heart be glad when he stumbles", I don't understand how we can sing Psalms like Psalm 9 & 10 where we ask God to judge the wicked and we praise him for doing so.
We are not to gloat, make fun of, ridicule, rejoice over, etc., our enemy. In other words, we do not go to them or others to gleefully mock them for their downfall. But, as you show, we can go to the Lord and rejoice in His victory over His enemies. This is very closely linked... Continue Reading
3 Ways Feminism Laid the Groundwork for Transgenderism
Feminism fundamentally changed the way Western civilization thinks about biology, language, and law.
“Gender” tinkering came to a head in 1949 with Simone de Beauvoir’s statement: “One is not born, but rather becomes a woman.” Her idea was that the attainment of womanhood was no longer exclusive to those born female. Womanhood was simply a social construct and could, therefore, also be deconstructed. De Beauvoir’s existentialist vision of... Continue Reading
Finding Joy in the Ordinary
Do not let the complicated nature of life cause you to miss the fact that some of life’s most simple pleasures are often profound.
Pausing to recognize the unremarkable should help remind us that even when we do routine things, we are still privileged to participate in the long history of human life. Many of us get up in the morning, pour a cup of coffee or orange juice, pull out a chair, and sit down at a simple... Continue Reading
Don’t Underestimate Protestant Theology
Review: ‘Why Do Protestants Convert?’ by Brad Littlejohn and Chris Castaldo.
For some, the attraction of Roman Catholicism is its emphasis on social ethics. The perception for some—especially those converting from forms of fundamentalism—is that Protestants have become hyper-focused on individual salvation while the Catholics have been busy building and sustaining hospitals, schools, orphanages, nursing homes. And yet, Christian history reveals that Protestants have and can... Continue Reading
Is Beauty an Attribute of God?
You can think of beauty as an attribute in its own right, but also as a characteristic of the other attributes of God.
There’s a beauty to the holiness of God. There’s a beauty when God exercises his righteousness. There’s a beauty to the love of God and the mercy of God. As we see God exercising those attributes in his relationships to human beings and what he’s doing in the world. An Attribute and a Characteristic Is... Continue Reading
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- …
- 133
- Next Page »