Our hope, as Christians, is not in “the West.” It’s not in Holland’s secularized version of Christendom, but in the one, eternally true God, who is love, and who historically lived, died, and resurrected. The power of that message will never lose its draw, for it truly is “good news” and will prove true when... Continue Reading

On occasion, my children asked to read stories that, on the surface, seemed frightening or cruel. Of course, age-appropriate content is paramount. But there were times that I dismissed their curiosity simply because it was convenient. In these moments, I failed to appreciate the greatest opportunity a parent can have—the willingness of their child to... Continue Reading

Praise is the consummation of enjoyment. All enjoyment tends towards praise and adoration as its appointed end. In this way, God’s seeking his own glory and God’s seeking your good converge.   1. God’s Love Is Not Something God Owes Us While it is true that God is love (1 John 4:16), this does not... Continue Reading

Evangelicals’ lack of natural theology leads them to obliterate the Christian necessity, priority, and responsibility to prioritize family and neighbor. David Platt’s Radical is a book that suffers from Evangelicalism’s fundamentalist intellectual reductionism. Americans living naturally ordered lives were told they had missed something essential about the Gospel.   In the third volume of Charles... Continue Reading

In a well-paced and reader-friendly book, Dougherty goes to great lengths to explain New Thought and show where it makes its presence known both in the wider culture and the church. It has influenced the rise of relativism and new notions of identity. It lies behind certain forms of self-help and the Law of Attraction.... Continue Reading

Critical theory hides what little hope it has behind a revolutionary eschaton. Christians, in contrast, can point to the continuing instantiation of Christ’s kingdom through the church. And despite our frequent failures, this work continues, providing the answers to human sorrow and sinfulness that critical theory cannot. Trueman is right that “all of the central... Continue Reading

External behaviors or theological knowledge are not the essence of real Christianity. True conversion is an inner transformation, a union with God’s presence in one’s soul. Scougal proposes that a person’s soul, when alive with the life of God, will naturally display virtues like love, joy, humility, and holiness.   If recommendations pique your interest... Continue Reading

Although God does reveal himself in history, this is not the sole domain of revelation. He reveals himself also “in the things that have been made.” God’s law reveals his character. These dimensions of revelation point to a need to synthesize the ways God reveals himself—historical, natural, and written—and to order that revelation in a... Continue Reading

Wineapple, the author, tries to parallel Bryan with today’s “Christian nationalists”… [she] stresses that southern segregationists opposed teaching evolution while also admitting that black Christians largely agreed. The Scopes Monkey Trial was about two opposing forms of progressivism. Both claimed to defend the vulnerable. Bryan and Darrow in the end were too absolutist to find... Continue Reading

Our kids need to hear the stories of Daniel and David, but they need to know the God of Daniel and David. That happens through systematic teaching of doctrine in a relational environment. By reading my kids systematic theology, they have been asking questions about God they hadn’t asked because it is creating categories about... Continue Reading