Always Reforming?
My fear is that semper reformanda is now regularly used as an excuse for novelty and innovation.
The passive of the Latin phrase semper reformanda implies more the idea of my being changed, than my doing the changing. I am the object and in the passive, “always being changed,” more than I am the subject and in the active or aggressive role of “always changing” things around me, or seeking out changes to make.... Continue Reading
The 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity #4: Is Behavior More Important than Doctrine?
Jesus never said the problem with the Pharisees is that they are too concerned with orthodoxy.
The prioritization of behavior over theology will sell well to our modern world because they already have the idea that people who care about theology are divisive, narrow, dogmatic, and even mean. What matters instead, we are told, is that we are just kind to people. I’ve been working my way through a series... Continue Reading
Is Sola Scriptura a Rejection of Teachers and Tradition?
Luther had a place for tradition, and he also firmly believed in teachers.
Sola Scriptura may be considered a Reformation plank, but it is also, more accurately, a biblical one. It is fruitful, however, to consider how the Reformers thought of sola Scriptura. We see this best in the way Luther responded to his critics. It’s one of those moments we wish we could have seen firsthand. It took place... Continue Reading
How Jesus’ Death Proved He Was King
It is a kingdom not of this world (John 18:36), but instead a whole new creation.
Put another way, by his own death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus put death to death and destroyed “the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14). Because he died and came back to life, Christ holds “the keys of Death and Hades” (Rev 1:18) so that “death no longer... Continue Reading
On the Revoice Conference, “Gay Christianity,” and the Apostle Paul’s Showstopper Words to the Corinthians
Christians cannot affirm “gay Christianity” because the apostle Paul emphatically closed off any uniting of a fallen identity to a Christian one.
On the subject of Christianized homosexuality–the issue the Revoice conference is forcing us to confront–if Paul held the view that these people could retain their fallen sexual identity but break with fallen sexual practice, he would have used different language. He would have restricted his comments to a denunciation and prohibition of past behavior–something like... Continue Reading
How Is Love of Money a Root of Evil?
The love of money is fundamentally not an overspending problem; it is a contentment problem (“Godliness with contentment is great gain”).
“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves... Continue Reading
Primary or Secondary Importance?: Interpretive Anarchy?
How do we find agreement in dogma when there is no final infallible interpreter and thus such a wide variation in interpretations?
With the Reformation and its call for Sola Scriptura there arose what Kevin Vanhoozer describes as an interpretive anarchy. This can be seen most tellingly in Luther’s famous “Here I Stand” speech: “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by evident reason–for I cannot accept alone the authority of popes or... Continue Reading
In But Not Of The World
What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?
Christians are called to walk in the light. Unbelievers walk in darkness. Colossians 1:13 puts it this way: “[God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” We are probably one of the most connected generations of all time. We can speak to people... Continue Reading
10 Things We Learn from the Ten Commandments
In the Ten Commandments, we learn from God what true spirituality actually is
Just when we are about to be driven to total despair by the law, Scripture assures us with the gospel that God has sent his one and only Son to keep the Ten Commandments for us. Even though we can’t keep all of these rules, Jesus has kept the law—all of it—for us by living... Continue Reading
Christian Repentance in a Callout Culture
"Callout” refers to the common practice of using one’s social media account to name and shame
“Repentance in our Western culture is already complicated by the fact that our sense of bondedness is incredibly liquid and loose. We are a fanatically voluntaristic society, and most Americans demand that virtually experience in their daily life be voluntaristic to the core. Contemporary society cherishes breakable bonds.” Our culture is increasingly a shame... Continue Reading