Someone over at Reformation21 thought of a funny, and twisted it like a washcloth until it was dry enough to serve as pulpit supply in some churches that could be mentioned. But in the course of his excursus into humor, the writer developed a new accusation that merits some response, however brief. Speaking in the …
A Memorial Before God
Poor translations can sometimes create a world of difficulty. The rendering of the word repentance by “do penance” was a famous stumbling block for Luther. In a similar way, we are all familiar with this phrase from the words of institution in the Lord’s Supper—”do this in remembrance of me.” This is taken as though …
Goodness to God; Gladness to Man
We are here because we believe the Word of God. We are here because God has summoned us. We are here because God promises to forgive us our sins as we confess them in Jesus’ name. We are here because God is dealing with us; God is at work in our midst. But there are …
Complete Reversal
“The impotence of the Islamic world confronted with Europe was brought home in dramatic form in 1798, when a French expeditionary force commanded by a young general called Napoleon Bonaparte invaded, occupied, and governed Egypt. The lesson was harsh and clear—even a small European force could invade one of the heartlands of the Islamic empire …
Metaphor as Ultimate Reality
“But the greatest metaphor, for Taylor, is Christ Himself, the living link between grace and nature, God and man, the metaphor who uses metaphor and whose union of earthly and divine is figured through another metaphor, the Lord’s Supper” (Daly, p. 181).
Something to Push Against
“Creative freedom can defeat itself because novelty can be felt only in relation to a perceived norm, just as rhythmic freedom can only be felt against a regular meter. When the norm is obscured by heedless violations, interest gradually disappears” (Jacques Barzun, The Culture We Deserve, p. 155).
Selling Bibles In Every Possible Configuration
“We should all be realists by now and not expect the solution to come from those who are profiteering off the problem. If a serious reform of this particular publishing travesty ever got large enough for anyone to notice it, the caterwauling of Textual Critic and Businessman, in close harmony with one another, would lead …
The Seamless Coat of Christ
“There was a great deal of ado in Luther’s time about the seamless coat of Christ . . . When Luther labored to bring reformation to the rule, they bade him take heed that he did not rend the seamless coat of Christ . . . And what a stir has there been, an outcry, …
Strength for the Battle
There are only two tables in the world—the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Between the two is the division of light and darkness, righteousness and unrighteousness, good and evil. This means that the choice must be one of the two—the two cannot be combined or blended in order to create a …
Look at Your Hands
The fact of death is woven into this fallen creation. The fact of resurrection is woven into the new creation. We are to live in the old order, as heirs of the new. We cannot do this by sight, and so we are summoned to walk by faith. Look at your hands. You know that …