When the church is silent in the midst of a holocaust, she ceases to be a real church. Wherever human dignity is under attack, it is the duty of the church and of the Christian to rise up in protest against it. This is not a political matter, and neither is it a temporary matter.... Continue Reading

The real way to love and honor your parents is to simply just love and honor them, despite their flaws, despite the annoying things you disliked when you were a kid. Put up with whatever it is they do that annoys you. Do it, not because you’ll get a tangible benefit, but because they are... Continue Reading

For this reason (among others), during the time of the Reformation, there was a radical shift in emphasis, from the medieval focus on the power of reason as a foundation of knowledge, to a central and foundational focus on the power and necessity of Scripture. This focus was the result, in part, of the biblical... Continue Reading

Familiarity with the things of God will cause you to lose your awe. You’ve spend so much time in Scripture that the grand redemptive narrative, with its expansive wisdom, doesn’t excite you anymore. You’ve spent so much time exegeting the atonement that you stand at the foot of the cross with little weeping and scant... Continue Reading

Being “nice,” of course, is not ultimately what the Christian walk is all about. But neither is it just a low-level option for those who are commanded by Scripture to “speak the truth in love.” Even the order of that commandment—truth first, love second—suggests that being “nice” can’t happen unless such behavior is rooted first... Continue Reading

The action of last year’s assembly declaring itself free to propose amendments to the Book of Order in conflict with The Book of Confessions, thus disallowing the confessions any say-so over the government and life of the church, was a knowing and willing rejection both of the confessions and of good order. It was a... Continue Reading

The woman who defined the teenage years of many of us — and we all live a lot of our lives in our teenage years — has gone. As I thought of Hill today, I also thought of the film, The Iron Lady, an elegy to the erosion of power and of life itself that... Continue Reading

Today in the Middle East and elsewhere, Christians huddle together beneath a solitary light bulb to read from contraband Bibles and sing hushed hymns. At any moment, their doors may be broken in and their lives could be snuffed out. Many Christians sit in dank prisons for committing no crime except following Jesus. Tomorrow, they... Continue Reading

Piper seems to be confused about the difference between compassionate, loving friendship, accepting people as they are, and public discussion and action. The aim of the former is to know, love, and help an individual friend come to knowledge of God and true self-knowledge. The aim of the latter is the public, common good of... Continue Reading

As the ultimate private institution, the family is a stubborn obstacle to the great collective effort. Insofar as people invest in their own families, they are holding out on the state and unacceptably privileging their own kids over the children of others. These parents are selfish, small-minded, and backward. “Once it’s everybody’s responsibility,” Harris-Perry said... Continue Reading