I enjoyed Schneider’s next chapter, but don’t have a lot to say about it. That is probably because he is interacting with the claim of “radical Christianity” that Jesus completely identified with the poor in His Incarnation, a claim that I tend to take less seriously than Schneider does. To insist that Christ was impoverished …
When Ignorance Is a Sin
The word amathes means unlearned, and it is used once in the New Testament. Peter is talking about how the apostle Paul is sometimes difficult to understand. This means that there are things in his letters which unstable and unlearned people twist to their own destruction (2 Pet. 3:16). Here the problem is obviously not …
Out of the Groove
“It would be very easy to prove that revivals of religion have usually been accompanied, if not caused, by a considerable amount of preaching out of doors, or in unusual places” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 236).
And That Means Nobody
“Nobody who rejects the first four commandments’ call to reject idols and worship the true and living God can be expected to recognize any ultimate significance in the last six commandments’ ethical requirements” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, p. 47).
Tech Problems
In the course of the last week, we have had an unusual number of people encounter difficulties in trying to register here at Mablog in order to make comments. If that applies to you also, and you haven’t already emailed in about it, could you please do so? We are trying to track down the …
A Layer of Pea Gravel
John Schneider continues his good work in chapter four, and reminds me of another book I am currently reading (and which I would recommend), which is Nancy Pearcey’s Total Truth. She says that when evangelicals begin their presentation of the gospel with the fact and reality of sin, they are presenting the gospel out of …
Desire Runs Deep
INTRODUCTION: One of our central duties—as Christians seeking to live obediently in this fallen world—is to learn the true nature of the temptations before us. The oldest trap in the world for us is to “objectify” sin in a simplistic way, placing certain items on a list of prohibitions, as though it would be so …
Anticipation as Wisdom
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 135 “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished” (Prov. 22:3). Short term thinkers and long term thinkers are as apparent in the world of business as anywhere else. “What is …
Holding Back the Word
Green Baggins has responded to my last comment, and has also finished his review of my book “Reformed” Is Not Enough. He invited me to have the last word on our paedocommunion exchange, which I will do just briefly. He then asked a few questions which I will try to answer. His question on paedocommunion …
Unprofitable Experiences
The New Testament describes sins of omission in different ways. One of them is found in Heb. 13:17, where the saints are told to avoid making their rulers’ assigned task a grief. They are to be the kind of parishioners that are a joy to serve, not a grief. When this is not done, the …