“Men are naturally subject to sloth, and may not this principle [of coercion in conscience] suggest such a temptation as this? Why need we take care or pains to search into truths, to be able to convince gainsayers, to carry things with strength of Scripture and reason, seeing we have power to compel men to …
Gifts and Friends
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 108 “Many will entreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts” (Prov. 19:6). Like the previous passage we treated (v. 4), this one can be taken in two senses as well. …
Latest Film Project
On a trip to New York last year, my son Nate and his friend Aaron found themselves, through a series of circumstances that would be hard to explain, walking through the set of a film being shot. When the film in question — The Devil Wears Prada — was recently released to video, it was …
Those Who Are Bread Should Get Bread
As we have said before, your baptized children are welcome to this Table. All who are bread get bread. But we have also explained it with several provisos. Young children should have the Supper explained to them by their parents in each observance of the Supper, and they should be able to attend to what …
False Reproach As Glory
Peter tells us that we are happy when we are reproached for the name and sake of Jesus Christ. He tells us that we should not be astonished when we are confronted with attacks, persecutions, and slanders. But more than this, Peter states, in line with what the Scriptures tell us elsewhere, that it is …
The Source of the Problem
“Islam does not countenance accepting part of the Koran and disdaining the rest. Islamic authorities insist that all of the Koran is God’s word settled in heaven from eternity past — abrogations, hell-threats and war verses included. Thus the Koran itself is a de facto crowbar radical Muslims can use to leverage moderate Muslims away …
Reformational Rap
“The Psalms, which Luther loved so much as peerles barometers of the human heart, leapt out of his translations in sparkling, associative, direct, venacular language, as urgent in their rhythms as rap, his reverent irreverence rediscovering them as the wild poetry and lyrical yearning which they are” (Matheson, The Imaginative World of the Reformation, pp. …
Not Silly Or Shallow
“As art is tied to reality in this way, there is a place to speak about truth in art. Does it do justice to what it represents? Does it do this in a positive way? Does it show the depth and complexity of what it is talking about? Art may be simple; it must be …
The Folly of Preaching
“The foolishness of preaching saved those who believed, and the preaching of the gospel continues to manifest itself as the power of God after conversion. But to those who perish, preaching is always held in contempt; it is foolishness. Those who believe the Scriptures should not be astounded that preaching today is held in such …
Like A Feather Boa
A shrewd observer of my exchanges with Dr. Clark contacted me privately and made a point that I think is well worth repeating here. I would urge anyone who needs the refresher to read through our respective posts, along with the comments. You can look through the Auburn Avenue Stuff on this blog for the …