The Intolerance of Tolerance and A Queer Thing Happened to America
A review of two books on tolerance and homosexuality
What shocked me in both books were the examples, case after case, every one well-documented, wherein “tolerance” demands acceptance, and even promotion, of actual beliefs. Simply making allowance for people to hold those beliefs no longer qualifies as tolerance. Here my naiveté became apparent; I always thought “diversity” had to do with disabilities, different ethnicities,... Continue Reading
America’s Baby Bust
The nation's falling fertility rate is the root cause of many of our problems. And it's only getting worse.
The nation’s falling fertility rate underlies many of our most difficult problems. Once a country’s fertility rate falls consistently below replacement, its age profile begins to shift. You get more old people than young people. And eventually, as the bloated cohort of old people dies off, population begins to contract. This dual problem—a population that... Continue Reading
Finding the City on a Hill
Book challenges the common assumption of the phrase, “city on a hill,” frequently employed from Winthrop to Reagan, as false
Gamble’s book is a clarion call to reassess whether and how America is indeed exceptional. Does it have a special relationship to God and a divinely-appointed mission in the world? He faults Christians for both misapplying the city on a hill metaphor and failing to recognize America’s shortcomings and “lust for domination.” He correctly challenges... Continue Reading
The Church Building as a Sacred Place: Beauty, Transcendence, and the Eternal
How can we recover the sense of the sacred in our temples and shrines?
We seem to have lost the ability to make new buildings which exude that ineffable sense of the “sacred” which can be rightly called the presence of the Almighty. Why is it that few of our churches built in recent decades intimate that the church building itself and the celebrations taking place within it are... Continue Reading
Reviewing ‘Fresh Perspectives on Women in Ministry’ from Keller, Bird, and Dickson
Three different views on how women should participate in ministry
However, Kathy Keller, wife to Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New York City, has moved from an egalitarian position to a complementarian one. Keller sought ordination in the PCUSA before questioning and then abandoning her egalitarian views. Interestingly, she is the only one of the three comfortable with being labeled a... Continue Reading
Evangelical Churches Refine Message on Gay Issues
"There's a realization that the idea of 'love the sinner, hate the sin' comes across as pretty cold."
The pressure to change the way homosexuality is addressed in evangelical churches is increasing as mainstream support for gay and lesbian issues increases. This support is especially strong among young adults, and researchers say they don’t expect this group to become more conservative on the issue as they get older. The Rev. Robert Jeffress... Continue Reading
Fifty Shades of the Good Book
Digital Scriptures are Scriptures without boundaries
The fastest-growing areas for digital Bible reading are where access is restricted, said Troy Carl, national director of Faith Comes by Hearing. The ministry’s second-most popular audio Bible (after English) has become Arabic. On average, those in traditional Muslim countries listen three to four hours at a time—far more than the average three to four... Continue Reading
The Worst Sin in Downton Abbey: It’s not what you think
Is it wrong to have a lust for justice?
Is watching Downton Abbey justified for no other reason than because, in the end, the sinners get their “just reward”? Sin is bad, and none of us here would promote it. But lest we become, quite literally, like the Pharisee who, while gazing at a group of sinners, said, “God, I thank you that I am not like... Continue Reading
A Review: Roger Sherman’s Reformed Founding
Sherman was the only person to sign all four great state papers of the U.S.: the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.
The author’s argument is straightforward: 1. Reformed theology, and not Enlightenment philosophy, was pervasive in the colonies, so 2. if Reformed political thought delivers the revolutionary and constitutional goods, we should look to it, and not to the Enlightenment, as the theoretical bedrock for the American founding, and 3. precisely because Reformed political thought does... Continue Reading
3 Things I Wish I Knew Before We Got Married
When we return marriage to its rightful place in our priorities, it can quickly turn into the greatest asset to every other layer of our lives
The point is that marriage has a higher goal than to make two people happy or even whole. Yes, the investment we make into our marriage pays dividends for us. But…the same investment also has significant implications for our family, our community and eventually our culture….the next time you find yourself dreaming about living significantly... Continue Reading
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