The efficacy of worship goes far beyond the intentions of the worshippers. It is fitting and proper that all worshippers of the triune God fix this in their minds. We are worshipping God in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are doing so in faith, and are offering up a right worship of …
Co-Signing
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 103 “A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend” (Prov. 17:18). The book of Proverbs famously takes dim view of co-signing a note. But before we absolutize this, we should take note …
Aesthetic Puritanism
“Even in the plastic arts, then, the Puritans were willing to record the truth as they saw it and to appreciate the beauty of that record. On gravestones, in meeting houses, and in the works of over two hundred poets, they were not, in Moses Coit Tyler’s words, ‘at war with nearly every form of …
Good Will on the First Page
“There is no work in which holes can’t be picked; no work that can succeed without a preliminary act of good will on the part of the reader” (C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism, p. 116).
Life in the Provinces
“If a man is redeemed by Christ, then he is a member of this one Church — a Church founded in God’s decree before time existed, and by the grace of God manifested in history as long as sinful heirs of Adam have lived. Enter the modern rootless evangelical, who, with a bemused detachment, is …
The Victim is Always Ignored
“Job constantly reverts to the community’s role in what has happened to him, but — and this is what is mysterious — he does not succeed in making his commentators, outside the text, understand him any better than those who question him within the text . . . No one takes any notice of what …
Church of England in Exile
I want to begin by praising N.T. Wright, but I want to do so in order to critique the Church of England, along with Dr. Wright’s apparent approach to her. In Jesus and the Victory of God, Wright has a wonderful section where he shows that forgiveness of sins needs to be understood in a …
Critics of Puritan Poetry
“Subsequent critics have done just that and have constructed a variety of theories to account for the Puritans’ failure to write poetry. Usually in works centered on other subjects, these critics have offered major statements on Puritan poetry. Since so many such statements exist and since even modern critics of Puritan poetry have taken little …
And the Problem is not With the Non-Readers
“And modern poetry is read by very few who are not themselves poets, professional critics, or teachers of literature” (C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism, p. 96).
Non-Elect Branches
[Speaking of Romans 11 and John 15] “This does not mean that the elect can lose their salvation. But it does mean that branches can lose their position on the tree. The elect always bear fruit, and their fruit remains. And yet some false professors, with genuine historical connection to the tree, never bear fruit, …