Christian doctrine has a twofold object. The primary object of doctrine is God; the secondary object is all things in relation to God. Doctrine teaches us to see God as the one from whom and through whom and to whom all things exist, and doctrine directs our lives to this God’s glory (Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 8:6).... Continue Reading

On Judgment Day, we will see clearly what we so struggle to see in the here and now. Augustine once put it so well when he said that there was just enough mercy in the world for us to know that God is merciful and just enough justice to know that God is just. On the... Continue Reading

Affirmation: God has established a pluriformity of institutions (e.g. civil society) for the sake of social order. Denial: the church has no calling to establish social order but will have an indirect influence on peace and order by encouraging godliness in her members.   Thanks to Zrim, I remembered another internet intervention about 2k. This... Continue Reading

“Systematic theology thus contemplates the body of biblical teaching as a living organism, offering loving attention to its various members and tracing their organic relations to each another. Ultimately, systematic theology helps us better understand God and all things in relation to God.”   “Systematic theology” is a label with admittedly clinical connotations. It conjures... Continue Reading

“If the church is to be any sort of counter-cultural movement, if it is to have any effective witness to a watching, suspicious world, it better be able to model what it means to love someone who vehemently disagrees with you on a whole range of cultural and political matters.”   I entreat Euodia and... Continue Reading

And ponder, at some point today, God’s work of creation. Let the reality of that work fill you with wonder. Let it inform your understanding of the world in which you live. “Live your life filled with joy and wonder.”   “The work of creation is, God’s making all things of nothing, by the word... Continue Reading

By law, a newly married man had to be free for a year in order to “give happiness to his wife.” It seems significant that the stated goal is to make the wife happy. For a year. By law. If women were considered property, I could imagine a law saying the husband should be free to enjoy his wife for a year, but not one saying he should be free to make her happy for a year. And the fact that this was a law means it was a society-wide value. The whole society would have to be behind this in order for it to work—in order for a man to stay at home for a year, bringing happiness to his wife.

There are no perfect translations. What we ought to seek is a good, consistent execution of a sound philosophy of translation. There is debate, of course, among Bible translators as to what that is but the ESV was adopted by many Reformed and evangelical folk because it promised to follow an “essentially literal” translation. In the latest revisions, however, it does not seem to be following that philosophy consistently.

Those who are anxious need gospel-centered hope. They need a godly counselor who can point them to truth. They need to be reminded that Jesus conquered their greatest fears at the cross—eternal separation from God—so he will also be with them in all their lesser fears. They need to be reminded that Jesus was the Man of Sorrows who knew sorrow, grief, fear and temptation. They have a Savior who gets it. While others may look at their anxiety and wonder why they don’t just let it go, Jesus understands.

A "change the world" mentality often ironically serves as a catalyst for discontentment or undue guilt. The common failures and frustrations experienced in the mundane day-in and day-out aspects of life tend to leave those--who had hoped for more importance--jaded or callused as the years progress. Like the person who gains weight over the years and cannot seem to lose it (I know this so well experientially!) has the peculiar temptation of thinking back to the days when they were younger and thinner, the disappointments embraced by those who have misplaced expectations about their own influence can lead to a nostalgic paralysis in later years.