“The Lord raised up Islam as a parody or mirror of Christianity, which is designed to expose our failings and to call us to faithfulness. Indeed, Mohammed’s life strikingly recapitulates the history of Israel. Called (so he claimed) by Allah, Mohammed led his people out of Mecca to Medina, established his rule in Medina, and …
Back to Lateral Metaphors
“Our minds are not infinite; and as the volume of the world’s knowledge increases, we tend more and more to confine ourselves, each to his special sphere of interest and to the specialized metaphor belonging to it. The analytic bias of the last three centuries has immensely encouraged this tendency, and it is now very …
Not Draped in Tinsel
“We should be preaching in such a way that sinners are altered, but never accommodated. We should be preaching in such a way that the truth is adorned, not draped in tinsel” (Mother Kirk, p. 76).
Coming Soon
We are pleased to announce that American Vision in Atlanta is (as we speak) in the process of publishing my response to Sam Harris’ book, Letter to a Christian Nation. We will let you know when we have them in hand (should be just a matter of weeks), and you will of course be able …
A Second Battle of Tours V
Introduction: In this series we have referred from time to time to the concept of Sharia law. This is a distinctively Islamic concept, but it is important for us to see exactly where the distinction is. It is not because Muslims believe that their god should make the laws—everyone believes that. The issue is more …
Like a Coal Seam
“But the hatred of Jews and of Israel that neo-Nazis, skinheads and violent Muslims share makes the possibility of collusion between them a danger for which law enforcers should prepare. Anti-Semitism underlies Europe like a black coal seam: thin here, thick there; deep here, surfacing there” (Richardson, Secrets of the Koran, p. 197).
A Series of Metaphors
“The fact is, that all language about everything is analogical; we think in a series of metaphors. We can explain nothing in terms of itself, but only in terms of other things” (Dorothy Sayers, The Mind of the Maker, p. 23).
Who Actually Needs to be Accepted?
“The point of preaching is never to make Christ acceptable. But in a man-centered era, this is automatically thought to be the task of the preacher — how to make God acceptable to man. The problem which confronts us in the Bible is actually quite different. The real problem is one of sin, and how …
Like a Man Dragging a Rope
I am afraid that Westminster West is disgracing itself. I finally had a chance to begin reading Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry, edited by R. Scott Clark, and released by Presbyterian and Reformed, proud publishers of Norman Shepherd’s Call of Grace. The first essay in this new bucket of fruit is by Clark, and is …
Let’s Fritz Our Brains At Them
Richard Dawkins wants to raise our consciousness — to “raise consciousness to the fact that to be an atheist is a realistic aspiration, and a brave and splendid one” (p. 1). And his new book, The God Delusion, certainly does have some high aspirations in this regard. As high, that is, as approximately one hundred …