Things are in a parlous state when Bertie Wooster understands economics better than all the smart johnnies running the Western world . . . Orlo Porter, an old school acquaintance and ardent leftist, speaks to Bertie, and Bertie thinks sense to himself: “‘He has a big house in the country with a stable of racehorses, …
Necessity and Compulsion
Book 2/Chapter 3 Necessity, not compulsion (section 5) 1. We must attribute conversion entirely to what? 2. What drives evil will and what drives good will? 3. Those who are offended by this do not know how to do what? 4. If necessity is the same as compulsion, what must be said about God? 5. …
Got a Ninctobinkus Broke In It
Michael Spencer has written a thoughtful article on the coming evangelical collapse that has gotten some good circulation, and you can take a gander here. Only two quick comments. First, he is absolutely right that the evangelical movement is in the process of collapsing, but only in the sense that the banks that are all …
Special Graces for the Unregenerate
Book 2/Chapter 3 All is flesh (section 1) 1. Is all of man’s nature fleshly? 2. What is the only way to obtain anything of spiritual value from the Spirit? 3. Whatever we have from nature is what? A witness to corruption (section 2) 1. What passage does Paul turn to in order to throw …
tom, bishop of durham
In his discussion of the last part of Romans, Wright returns to his great theme. The gospel is all about the vindication of God’s righteousness in that the Messiah finally came, as promised, and fulfilled God’s-plan-for-the-world-through Israel. That’s Wright’s drum, and I have to say that he is consistent in how he lays down the …
Boy Howdy
I put my truck in 4-wheel drive this morning to help me get to work . . . in March. Late last week, I was assuming that we were dealing with a spring snow, the kind of thing we have to put up with in Idaho from time to time. But no, this is the …
An Adam is Never Off the Clock
Almost done with Wright’s book. Just one more installment after this. One of Wright’s arguments is that righteousness is not imputed to us because righteousness “is not that kind of thing.” But this is just modernist reductionism. And because Wright is an orthodox Christian, he refuses to give way to that kind of reductionism elsewhere. …
The Smell of Gasoline
We know that when she cast her eyes upon him, Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:12). We know also that Paul told Timothy to flee youthful lusts (2 Tim. 2:22). In a world crammed full of enticements to lust, adopting this basic strategy is something that a lot more men need to learn how …
True Moral Choice
Book 2/Chapter 2 More on free will (section 26) 1. Choice belongs to what sphere in our makeup? 2. What is necessary before we can say that a true moral choice has been made? The need for the Holy Spirit (section 27) 1. Does Calvin believe that the description in Romans 7 is of a …
Hans Brinker and the Text
I am listening through a series of lectures by N.T. Wright on Jesus, and am enjoying them very much. I am working through this book of his on justification, and am frequently bewildered at how someone as astute as Wright could be missing the kinds of things he is missing. I have said something like …