Does God’s original order stand after the entrance of sin into the world? And more to the point, might how sin entered the world give us reason for upholding God’s original order still today?   For centuries, 1 Timothy 2:12 was not controversial. Now, in some circles, it has become one of the most debated... Continue Reading

As students begin courses and prepare for seminars, as pastors are trained for the pulpit, they are not required to engage the wisdom of the ancient past firsthand or what many have labelled classical Christianity. Such chronological snobbery, as C. S. Lewis called it, is pervasive.   Over the last several decades, evangelicalism’s lack of... Continue Reading

Across the great American political divide, the two warring tribes have made an identical judgment about the other—“I’m not hateful, you are.” Or, to put it even more precisely, “I may not hate you, but you hate me.”   One of the first and most elementary things a young Christian learns in Sunday school is... Continue Reading

It is my sincere hope we will all think carefully about our church-based commitments before returning to all of them. I said in the early days of the pandemic that it isn’t often we get a do-over in life, but this situation has given us one. Doesn’t it make sense to take it?   The... Continue Reading

As the world rises up in desperate rage against the police departments of our world in a broader sense, calling out for their defunding and in some cases abolishment, we are seeing the work of the great conspirator. Make no mistake, Satan’s aim is to ensure sin rules the day, and to remove any and... Continue Reading

Were God to withhold (common but especially) saving grace from us, remove the guard by which He shields our souls through faith, and retake or not bestow the regenerating and sanctifying Spirit that resists war-waging flesh, all of us would succumb to Satan like Judas.   Introduction Of all the characters in Scripture, the most... Continue Reading

The distinctions we make between good and evil are paramount. Scripture pleads with us to be alert to these decision points. And then there are micro distinctions we must make between what is good and what is better, what is bad and what is worse. In the best of times, all of these decision points... Continue Reading

The significant exodus from Protestant Evangelicalism to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in the last few decades is at least partly due to aesthetics: the perceived barrenness of beauty in the average Evangelical or low-church.   Sometimes throwaway lines leave a deep impression. One of those were words written on a blog I avidly followed... Continue Reading

At a time when so many are lamenting the degradation of public discourse, a conversation about how best to incorporate critical thinking into our schools is long overdue. Our civilisation might just depend on it.   Many years ago I gave a talk at the London Metropolitan Archives in which I outlined my reasons for... Continue Reading

Bearing fruit, something that Jesus identifies as keeping His commandments (15:10), is intimately related to abiding in Him. It is in the sphere of abiding in Christ and not apart from it that fruit emerges.   The Westminster Confession of Faith insists that Christians may be “certainly assured that they are in the state of... Continue Reading