“There was nothing more cast up to the orthodox by the Novatians and Donatists, than that they were defective in this, in admitting to, and retaining in the ministry, men that were corrupt. Yet after many trials they were never able to prove what they alleged upon some eminent persons when it came to trial, …
Living in Story
One more comment on modernity’s whipping boy, Constantine. One of the central problems with many pomos is that they write turgid philosophy in praise of narrative, but they don’t understand story, and the same goes for their frothy popularizers. As a result, they are the ideal audience for hair-raising melodramatic cliff-hangers. Constantine is converted and …
Everlasting Kindness
God does not reveal sin to us so that we might be simply humiliated. Rather, God reveals sin to His people so that they might be humbled, and in that humbling, receive His grace that strengthens, and enables them to stand. The humbling of conviction is a small crucifixion, and the grace of forgiveness is …
Covenant Renewal
When we worship the Lord, we are renewing the covenant with Him. He knows our frailty, and how easily we flatter ourselves, and so He seeks to bring us up short – every week. But we might mistake this language. We might begin to assume that God expects us to be constantly and consistently defeated. …
Trinity Fest Day One/Pictures
I have some bugs to work out, but I will be uploading a few pictures from Trinity Fest 2006, just finished this last week. God was good, the experience was wonderful. This is a photo of St. Brigid’s Feast on Monday night, with 760 in attendance. People came from as far away as England and Iraq. …
Faith Is No Supplement
[Speaking of Anselm] “This glad acceptance of the complete authority of Christ is one of the most striking things about the intellectual life of the medieval period. Faith was not added on to the life of the mind; it was the only possible foundation for the life of the mind” (The Case for Classical Christian …
How Adam Ate the First Orange
“[C]ontemporary research reveals that music possesses universal characteristics that mark it as a similar behavior present in all human societies. For example, the principle of ‘octave equivalence’—the treatment of two pitches, one with a frequency twice that of the other, as the same pitch sounding at different octaves—is ‘present in all the world’s music systems,’ …
Tell Us What You Really Think, John
“[T]hose concerning whom I am about to speak insinuate themselves in the name of the gospel so tha by indirect whispers they may alienate whomever they can from Christ. Those people in fact consist partly of hungry vagabonds who, unless you fill their bellies, will bury you under wagonloads of calumnies, partly of worthless and …
Facing the Threat
“Never did men run to quench fire in a city, lest all should be destroyed, with more diligence, than men ought to bestir themselves to quench this in the church. Never did mariners use more speed to stop a leak in a ship, lest all should be drowned, than ministers especially, and all Christian men, …
Police Forces of Modernity
One more comment on Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? The problem with “robust and confessional dogmatism” in a postmodern world is this. There are only a limited number of options here, and all of them but one are variations of what Leithart identifies as “Christianity.” As he uses the word in his book Against Christianity, Christianity …