If you haven’t stumbled across Simonetta Carr’s excellent set of “Christian Biographies for Young Readers,” you and your children are missing out. Each of the six titles in the series are beautifully illustrated, historically accurate, age-appropriate biographies for upper elementary-aged children. In the last couple years I have reviewed three of the titles and wanted... Continue Reading

This spontaneous audience choir has been happening every night, in every performance. It’s not normal Manhattan audience behavior: When The New York Times first noticed the singing, it published a story about it on the front page. The audience—largely African-American the night I attended–probably isn’t made up of typical New Yorkers. Two African-American ladies next to me... Continue Reading

It’s not that I don’t read works that disagree with my own perspective on the reliability of the gospel accounts. I do. Nevertheless it’s hard to justify setting aside time to read a work that is breaking no new ground. And apart from an awkward interview, I don’t think anyone would even be talking about... Continue Reading

Jesus is king, Jesus rules the church, the church is the visible representation of Jesus, and Jesus has uniquely tasked the church with missions. Add these four claims together, and you begin to understand why a rightly governed church is crucial to the spread of the gospel…. Not only that, Scripture tells us Jesus’ rule... Continue Reading

One area that has me thinking is simply the reason why we drink. I’ve often looked at the case for alcohol being such a staple in church history more on the level of necessity. With the poor water quality, drinking alcoholic beverages was a matter of health. And, yes, I’ve always looked at it as... Continue Reading

Nor is “professor of religions” what he does “for a living.” He is an associate professor in the Creative Writing program at the University of California, Riverside, where his terminal MFA in fiction from Iowa is his relevant academic credential. … What about that Ph.D.? As already noted, it was in sociology. I have his... Continue Reading

When it comes to other kinds of news, they pride themselves on putting out a high quality product with moderated editorializing. Yet when it comes to religion, the bar is considerably lowered. If NPR really were familiar with the state of academic Christianity– and do note that I’ve been referencing scholars from a variety of... Continue Reading

Historically we’ve been all too ready to grant the unbeliever’s self-assessment—as if it weren’t radically affected by sin—and then seek to stand on that self-assessment with him. This is foolish. His unbelief only has meaning in light of his knowledge of God and its suppression, so it’s incumbent on us to first of all recognize... Continue Reading

Everhard takes up the 1647 version of the Westminster Confession of Faith, a document of some weight and significance for Reformed Christians. His choice of this version of the Confession, over other ones, makes his book useful for the various flavors of Presbyterians in the United States and throughout the West. But the fact that... Continue Reading

The book describes a Europe under threat from terrorists, from anarchists, dynamiters and assassins. To meet the threat, London’s Metropolitan Police have formed an elite anti-anarchist squad, tasked to infiltrate the enemy. Following up a chance conversation, undercover detective Gabriel Syme attends a meeting of the General Council of the Anarchists of Europe, and is... Continue Reading