Whenever governments have a problem with God’s people worshipping the true God as they ought to do, the issue is always competition. Those who have made an idol out of the state do not want the presence of anyone who lives in a way that rebukes that idolatry. But we must make a distinction between …
The Lord’s Kindness is Here
We have been talking about the problem of the nagging conscience. A sin has been bothering you, a sin that you can’t seem to deal with. If you have a besetting sin, a sin that you keep committing—whether it is irritation with the kids, or attitudes of envy and lust, or discontent in your job—these …
Blake and Peggy
We worship and serve the triune God of Scripture, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our triune God is one God, and everlastingly the same. Our God is three Persons and constantly, surprisingly, different. God is without shadow or variation due to change. But at the same time, the Father is not the Son, and the …
Triangular Desire
Metaphysical Desire We come now to a fascinating engine of conflict, both in real life and in great fiction. As you will see, Girard argues that poor fiction sidesteps this reality, while great fiction confronts and exposes it wonderfully. We are beginning a genuine study of ourselves and, while we’re at it, a rewarding study …
Go Blue
Here is a quick look at the religious history of the world in 90 seconds. Quite encouraging, really. HT: Joost Nixon
Mimetic Desire
Brief Bio Rene Girard is a true polymath, and is proving to be one of the most important thinkers of the last century and this. His writing encompasses multiple fields, and he has made profound contributions in all of them. As you will see, his thought includes theology, literary criticism, anthropology, psychology, mythology, sociology, cultural …
City on a Hill
This post ought to be fairly straightforward, because this next chapter by Darryl was, taking one thing with another, outstanding. Of course I am suspicious of where he is placing it, but still the historical review he gives is very, very good. He begins with a discussion of the famous American trope, “a city on …
Liturgical Dualism
INTRODUCTION: There are great dangers facing a congregation engaged in trying to restore a more honestly liturgical and reformed pattern of worship, problems that arise because of good old-fashioned sin. Call it the human factor. THE TEXTS: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I …
The Problem of the Bribe
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 129 “A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath” (Prov. 21:14). This sounds an awful lot like a bribe, and it does so because it probably is one. One possibility about this verse is …
Fear of Not Drowning
In this portion of our gospel we will consider the role of light in the world, and then two more examples of Christ’s teaching light. In the last part of the chapter, we see Christ command the wind and waves, and the disciples respond to this with the question that the gospel of Mark was …