When I asked in this column six weeks ago what major cultural changes might lie ahead of us Christians over the next few decades, I was hardly ready for your thunderous response. I listed there (it was our Nov. 2 issue) four big changes I’ve watched in my lifetime—and asked you to identify issues of similar import... Continue Reading

His desire for “Openness to Different Ecclesiastical Traditions” should include a willingness on his part to let Presbyterian Church Americans or Orthodox Presbyterians to be exactly what they are — communions of Reformed Protestants. If he’d regard evangelicalism as loose and conservative Presbyterians as narrow, he could revel in the melting pot that evangelicalism is.... Continue Reading

What does this mean about religious liberty in the public square? First, the clause on establishment means only one thing: Congress and the states shall not create state-sponsored churches. It does not open the door to all sorts of imaginative “religious” issues. Second, the free exercise clause means that everyone has liberty of conscience. Together,... Continue Reading

The central issue in Judge Waddoups’s decision is consent. He simply extended the argument that virtually anything to which consenting adults agree is covered by constitutional protection—anything. As Jonathan Turley stated clearly, “there is no spectrum of private consensual relations.” And so both marriage and morality take another major blow. This one came even faster... Continue Reading

The wording of public ordinances and subsequent widespread destruction of depictions of Christ, the Parliament’s authorization of views such as those held by Vicars and others, Laud’s view contrary to the Homilies noted in his trial, and the involvement of the four London ministers in identifying idols for destruction which included pictures of Christ….all indicate... Continue Reading

What could truly comfort Eve—and us? In a profound sense, the answer is eschatology. It is the consummate coming of Christ and His glorious kingdom, and the foretaste of that kingdom that we have now through His Word and Spirit. That is eschatology—and there is nothing more comforting than that.   There are countless places in... Continue Reading

Reformed theology emphasizes Scripture’s perspicuity – ironically, this word means “clarity”! The Reformers championed the common Christian’s right of access to and ability to understand the Bible. Emergents appreciate this effort. However, they believe that to insist that Scripture alone is God’s authoritative Word to mankind is to drown out God’s speaking through other aspects... Continue Reading

I know a pastor who was given a 3-book contract, a previously unpublished pastor, had no idea what he wanted to write about, but was told “We’ll take care of that by listening to your sermons.” At about the same time a young author sent me a manuscript that was rejected by the same publisher... Continue Reading

We see the English letter X there, but actually what it involves is the first letter of the Greek name for Christ. Christos is the New Testament Greek for Christ. The first letter of the Greek word Christos is transliterated into our alphabet as an X. That X has come through church history to be... Continue Reading

As a consequence, many in our family who see themselves as the heirs of Dabney and company find it difficult to embrace life as it really is, as it has become following centuries of hard-won victories in the cause of justice. They find it difficult to see the Bible’s repeated emphasis on justice, deliverance, and... Continue Reading