Once there was a young Christian man who had a terrible day. Everywhere he went, and everywhere he turned, there was some temptation waiting for him there, leering. On the way out the door to school, his mother asked him three times if he wanted his gloves, and by the time he got to the …
Death and Resurrection Both
This is, for us, a cup of blessing. We rejoice here, and we give thanks here, as the Scriptures teach us to. At the same time, we must remember that the cup that the Lord drank—and at a basic level, it is the same cup—was a cup of agony. Just before the Lord asked for …
The Postmill Culprit?
In a discussion this morning at breakfast, some of the men in our gathering were talking (not surprisingly) about the federal vision controversy that has recently heated up again. One of the things that was noted is that there are some issues that are not currently part of the controversy, but which are real indicators …
Soi-Disant Postmodernism
In my various posts on the subject of postmodernism, I have in time past advanced an argument that I believe to be a real pippin. But thus far, I have not really seen anyone attempt to engage with it. This is either because the argument is beneath contempt, and it would sully the minds of …
Invisible and Eschatological
The Westminster Confession of Faith defines the invisible church as “the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one” (XXV.i). Some of you may know that over the last several days, I have been commenting on Scott Clark’s blog, and trying to carry on a discussion there, albeit …
Meaning in the Particular Now
“Less naive, the Puritans centered their elegies about adults on life this side of the grave and only conventionally and briefly mentioned the afterlife. Their elegies, like their sermons, were rarely eschatological. The meaning of a man’s life was to be found in the details of that life, not merely in the confidence that he …
The Troubling Role of Artistic Theory
“In the arts, theory comes after the fact of original creation and, far from improving future work, usually spoils it by making the artist a self-conscious intellectual, crippled or mislead by ‘ideas.’ Not everything that is good can be engineered into existence” (Jacques Barzun, The Culture We Deserve, p. 19).
How Christ Arranged It
“The canonical books of the Old Testament are thirty-nine in number. Our Lord referred to this canonical range when He spoke of the death of certain martyrs from the Old Testament . . . (Matt. 23:35). Abel was killed toward the beginning of the book of Genesis, the first book of the Jewish canon, and …
His Real Sin
“In Job’s case, the definition of ‘wickedness’ is his refusal to give in, his independence of judgement, his determination not to yield to the terrifying mimesis of the herd” (Girard, Job, p. 119).
Federal Vision Haiku Poetry Contest
In the spirit of whatever it is, I thought I would offer a short cycle of federal vision haiku poems. Anyone who feels similarly inspired can make their contributions in the comments section. Once it is apparent the creative springs have dried up, or perhaps never got started, as the case may be, I will …