Cultural Influence in the Church, Primitive and Present
Judging by the New Testament, the primitive church did not wholly escape being influenced by the cultural assumptions by which it was surrounded.
The problem is that the former set, controlling the levers of public evangelical opinion as they do, seem utterly oblivious to the fact that there are many of us who not only think differently but also somewhat resent the suggestion that we ought to adopt their manner of thinking. It seems to be felt –... Continue Reading
He Failed — But He Was Undoubtedly Right
It doesn’t seem one can say — by a biblical measurement — that Machen failed. The failure lies with those who refuse to hear and heed the clarion call of the gospel of Jesus Christ
If someone had penned an obituary for Jesus the day after his death, it might have very well concluded with the same words: “He failed.” But such a memorial would betray an ignorance of the God of resurrection. Often what appears to be failure and defeat is, in fact, success and victory. What was Machen’s... Continue Reading
“No Little People, No Little Places”: Francis Schaeffer’s Vision of Faithfulness
May God be pleased that we serve faithfully wherever He has us.
The church (regenerate persons) is, in the new covenant, the people of God. One biblical image or metaphor for the church, or the people of God, is that we are the “temple”—the “temple of the holy spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19). Would not then pastoral ministry—whether in Toone, Tennessee, or in Willow, Alaska, or in Manhattan,... Continue Reading
My Rejoinder to Kevin DeYoung
Kevin worked hard to be even-handed, but he was so even-handed that he diluted the force of his subsequent critique.
You don’t get to launch a critique like this one, designed to make a lot of good-hearted people think twice about their attraction to the Moscow Mood, and then with a flourish refuse to take questions, or to be too busy for replies. You can’t launch an attack and then call for a cease fire.... Continue Reading
The Rapture
Regardless of what we believe about the timing of the rapture, we need to have a balanced attitude toward the second coming of Christ.
In Revelation chapter seven, the saints are sealed with the seal of the living God. In Revelation chapter nine, the locusts from the abyss with the power of scorpions are commanded to harm only those people who do not have the seal of God on their forehead. Dr. Jeremiah says that God has to remove... Continue Reading
Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Our Constantinian Moment
Ali, accordingly, had her own Milvian Bridge moment: Christianity alone, she concluded, had the resources to repair and renew our crumbling civilization, fortifying it against the spiritual vacuum within and the angry hordes without.
As the days darken and we find ourselves increasingly besieged by barbarism both within and without, we are likely to find the lifeboat of the church inundated with more refugees like Ayaan Hirsi Ali—cultural converts who realize that the worldly goods they valued cannot sustain themselves without the aid of Christianity. This may prove either... Continue Reading
Michael D. Kalopothakes, Tenacious Missionary to Greece
Reverand Kalopothakes modeled his plan for reforming the church after the method of Martin Luther, the power of print.
Even though it might be thought that the influence of one’s ethnicity, national allegiance, or locally accepted views regarding the church and its theology are issues only in foreign lands, Rev. Kalopothakes’s observations about Greece in his day should give American readers pause to reflect upon their own thinking and how it may be negatively... Continue Reading
Come Ye Sinners, Part One
The tune and truth of Hart’s hymn.
Joseph Hart spares no one’s feelings when he surveys the mass of humanity, men and women and boys and girls, and analyzes people in their natural condition apart from Christ. And it is not just that men are merely defective or slightly ill-adapted, or that they just need a little bit of tweaking. No, Hart... Continue Reading
No Apologies: Why Civilization Depends on the Strength of Men (Book Review)
Readers seeking a biblical groundwork for a robust vision of manhood need to look elsewhere.
Esolen highlights man’s undaunted agency — a spirit that seeks difficult action — an agency that acts to serve others at cost to self: “what a man wants and what a man must do are seldom the same” (16). Heavy is the crown for which feminism gropes. Much of man’s thankless labor “demands a constant... Continue Reading
Robust Biblical Theology Runs Along Diagonal Lines
Review: ‘Biblical critical theory’ by Christopher Watkin.
How does one reconcile the one and the many, being and becoming, freedom and determinism, autonomy and dependence? These questions have preoccupied philosophers since the era of the pre-Socratics. Watkin’s approach is to begin with God, in whom things dwell in perfect harmony—even though we sometimes place them in opposition to each other (his love... Continue Reading
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- …
- 457
- Next Page »