Okay, we have seen that merciful intentions do not mean that the results actually are merciful. Being soft-hearted and soft-headed at the same time doesn’t help anybody. But of course — and here comes the point of this post — being hard-headed and hard-hearted is also a spiritual disaster. God calls us to be hard-headed …
Stupidity is not Compassionate
Just a short post to address two things at once. I have wanted to say something about the Wall Street meltdown, and I also needed to address a question raised in my last post on mercy and economics. The bottom line first. Should the taxpayers be bailing out Behemoth Banks, Leviathan Lenders, and Marduk Mortgage? …
Twin Errors
The Church of Jesus Christ is a corporate body, a covenanted reality. Together, we are the bride of Christ, organically connected to all who love Jesus Christ all over the world and throughout history. We are the Church. We are also individual Christians. And we know that, while the elect are saved, not everyone who …
Wine of Astonishment
In Psalm 60:3, the judgments of God are described as making Israel drink the “wine of astonishment.” That astonishment was the result of seeing God shake everything. God makes the earth tremble and shake, and those who observe are undone. The wine we drink here at this Table is also the wine of astonishment. The …
Justice Java
William Cavanaugh’s second chapter of Being Consumed, on attachment and detachment, was — with the exception of a page or two — simply outstanding. His critique of consumerism contained some standard elements (but still driven home effectively), as well as some unique insights. For an example of the former, he points out how much contemporary …
I Don’t Usually Link to Blogs Like This. Humor Me.
One of the more influential design blogs out there is called Design Mom, and she has just featured my daughter’s Amoretti line of skirties. Take a look here.
This Atheist Crew
The title is taken from Paradise Lost, which I am currently listening to (piecemeal) in my truck. Moscow is not very big, and so I usually only get three or four minutes at a time. That said, listening to that glorious poem read is far more compelling than simply reading it quietly to yourself. At …
Why Does Cavanaugh Believe Jeshurun?
I enjoyed and benefitted from William Cavanaugh’s Theopolitical Imagination, and am now working through his Being Consumed. The subtitle of this second book is “Economics and Christian Desire,” and I believe I really need to post a few installments on it. In my view, Cavanaugh is playing into the new Constantinian error and this is …
Fifth Decade of Psalms/Psalm 47
INTRODUCTION: Throughout the Old Testament, we are frequently given glorious visions of God’s glorious plan for our fallen world. It is tempting to say that we are given glimpses of this, but when we finally understand what God has promised us, we start to see His promises everywhere. This psalm is one of many examples. …
Patriotism With Pom Poms
Yesterday we had a stimulating discussion at the NSA graduate forum, and I was going to take a moment here to let some of my afterthoughts spill over. We were discussing whether the left wing/right wing distinction is inherently an idolatrous one. Anyone who has followed this blog for very long knows that there is …