Handel’s “Messiah,” A Prophetic Masterwork—An Introduction
Great music has a paradoxical effect: it is both anchored in its own time, and yet timeless.
When you think of a work that has Jesus the Messiah as its sole subject, you would reasonably assume that the text is heavily dependent on the New Testament, and primarily the Gospels. But when you look through the text, roughly two-thirds of the passages used are Old Testament. That alone suggests its prophetic nature. We... Continue Reading
The Mystery of Providence, An Excerpt
Excerpt taken from “The Mystery of Providence, Divine Providence: A Classic Work for Modern Readers” by Stephen Charnock and edited by Carolyn B. Whiting.
Providence is mysterious in such a way that we shortsighted souls are not able to catch the spectacle of God’s distant ends. God does not focus on the present advantage for himself and his creatures, but his eye is to his own glory in all, even to the very last ages of the world. God... Continue Reading
The Abolition of Mania
Lewis pictures the human person—philosophically considered—as being made up of three parts: the head, the belly, and the chest.
This philosophical chest joins those two parts of us that, while good in themselves, have a tendency to fly apart from each other and so become bad. Our reasonings are all too apt to evaporate into abstraction, floating upward into false spirituality, as if we weren’t also embodied, feeling creatures. Our feelings are all too... Continue Reading
Book Review: Typology by Dr. James M. Hamilton Jr.
Understanding the Bible’s Promise-Shaped Patterns
It was definitely a book I had to read slowly, but it’s also a book I’m grateful to have read. It is certainly one I will return to for reference in my preaching and teaching! Typology is a useful tool to help us better understand the Bible as well as to help others see it... Continue Reading
What the Left Fears Most: The Church Militant
Boldly, Unapologetically Defending the Faith
I am not here praising or calling for any physical militancy. After all, and unlike the aforementioned Defenders of the West, who had no choice but to fight, today’s Christians need not take up arms in a physical manner. Rather, if today’s men were simply to reclaim their manhood and start behaving like men — and, most... Continue Reading
So You’ve Been Told You Should Read Some Old Books…
Some Christian classics to consider reading.
If I had to plot out a short reading list with one book from each era, I might go in this order: The Pilgrim’s Progress, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, A Little Book on the Christian Life, Holiness, Knowing God, Confessions, the Religious Affections. Either way, I hope this article brings some clarity and motivates you... Continue Reading
The Scholarly Lewis: A Review of The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis
Jason Baxter aims to show that, in addition to these two better known “Lewises” – the imaginative and apologetic (or devotional) – there is a “third” Lewis: Lewis the medieval scholar, a role that provided the inspiration for his imaginative and apologetic works.
In my view, chapter 5, where Baxter illuminates Dante’s influence on Lewis, is Baxter at his best. Baxter compellingly shows that in Dante Lewis found a model poet who is able to furnish our imagination with images that enable us to love God and his kingdom as we should. Dante’s images of core Christian teachings... Continue Reading
Authoritative Homes
Book Review—Liberal States, Authoritarian Families: Childhood and Education in Early Modern Thought, by Rita Coganzon
“The family,” Koganzon writes, “does prepare the child for citizenship, but not by having him rehearse civic principles from a young age. Rather it does so by inoculating him against the worst tendencies of liberalism—the tendencies to be ruled by fashion, custom, and the opinions of the majority.” This essential rootedness is in urgent demand... Continue Reading
Book Review: Kevin DeYoung’s Men and Women in the Church
Gender differences aren’t arbitrary, they are God-given.
Your gender proclaims God’s glory! In love he made you male or female. So to be faithful to God’s design we must wholeheartedly affirm the glory of both genders, retain the differences between the two, and practice what is specific to each. In our historic moment, the categories of male and female are no... Continue Reading
A Review of the Bodies of Others: By Naomi Wolf
Naomi Wolf has sounded the alarm – who will take heed?
Naomi Wolf is a fighter – a freedom fighter. And when we see basic human rights and civil liberties being stolen away from us at an alarming rate, we need all the freedom fighters we can get. Well done Naomi for sounding the alarm. May many millions of readers heed your call to action. That those... Continue Reading
