“Although clever allusions still have their place, the breakdown of modernist ideology means that it’s no longer necessary to hide aesthetic pleasure behind postmodern irony and camp” (Virginia Postrel, The Substance of Style, p. 13).
Here. Try This First.
“Let this be a constant rule: Never make use of severity till you have tried what clemency will do” (Burroughs, Irenicum, pp. 371-372).
The Forgotten Duty
INTRODUCTION: Forgiveness of sin is forgiveness of sin, not redefinition of sin (Rom. 13:8-10). “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven” contains a glorious truth. But, misapplied as it frequently is, it also represents a travesty of biblical living. THE TEXT: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against …
They Will Look on the One They Have Pierced
The second oracle, the second “burden,” begins. Now a burden is a negative prophecy. In some sense, this contains hard words for Israel, but in another sense it is full of consolation. “The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of …
Moral and Moralistic
The word athemitos occurs twice in the New Testament. The first time, in Acts 10:28, it is rendered as “unlawful thing.” 1 Peter 4:3 contains the word also, where it is translated as abominable. In the former instance, Peter uses the word to describe how it had been “unlawful” for Jews to keep close company …
The Reformers and Typology
“As everyone knows, the rallying cry of the Reformation was ‘the one sense of Scripture,’ the sole authority of the literal meaning . . . this precept by no means led to prosaic literalism. As we shall see in more detail later, the tirades against medieval allegorizing leveled by Luther, Tyndal, Calvin, Perkins, and many …
Spiritualize It
“Within limit, my brethren, do not be afraid to spiritualize, or to take singular texts. Continue to look out passages of Scripture, and not only give their plain meaning, as you are bound to do, but also draw from them meanings which may not lie upon their surface. Take the advice for what it is …
Rescuing Art from the Artists
“Aesthetics has become too important to be left to the aesthetes. To succeed, hard-nosed engineers, real estate developers, and MBAs must take aesthetic communication, and aesthetic pleasure, seriously” (Virginia Postrel, The Substance of Style, pp. 4-5).
Stay Tuned for the Logrolling
So, then, Romney won in Michigan. All we need now is for Thompson to win in South Carolina on Saturday, and we will have ourselves an interesting race. If Ron Paul keeps coming in with his significant percentages, and as the other candidates approach the convention, nobody will be in a position to blow the …
Charles Darwin, Call Your Office
I am delighted to be able to report that my reply to Sam Harris is going like gangbusters, and is now out in paperback. This means that you can get a copy now for the low, low price of nine clams. Take a look at it here. While we are talking about atheism on the …