False understandings of the etymologies of words sometimes cause minor confusion or bad jokes. Only rarely does it cause significant problems, but one exception to this is the difficulty caused by some Christians who believe that only elderly men are qualified to be elders of churches. Not only does this mean that many capable men …
Circling the Drain
“What greatly complicates the quest of those who are attempting to walk a more constructive path which is also postmodern, however, is the fact that in the aftermath of the Enlightenment, there is a gravitational pull toward the death of all worldviews. Not every postmodern thinker moves consistently in these directions but every postmodern thinker …
The Temples Still Standing
“In the ancient pagan world, belief in the gods usually died long before a willingness to dispense with the forms of worship. It is the same here. We no longer believe in the gods of education, but our commitment to their temples is still religious and deep” (The Case for Classical Christian Education, p. 54).
Wisdom From All Over the Place
We need to let the Super WalMart come to Moscow now. No, not for those low, low prices. We need to head off the violence. Some Dutch pederasts are forming a political party. Gives a whole new meaning to those yard signs saying “Say Yes for the Kids!” I am currently having a fun time …
Bitterness
Bitterness is something which tempts us to be distracted, and this keeps us from looking where God’s Word requires us to look. And because bitterness has deceived many, it is our responsibility to pray that the God of heaven would teach us to be wise about this great evil. And when they came to Marah, …
But Not Even Rorty Can Explain the “Left Behind” Movie
“Intellectuals like Foucault and Derrida are undoubtedly contributors to postmodern thinking, but what is often left unexplained is how we get from Foucault to MTV, from Derrida to the centerless young people whose canopy of meaning in life has collapsed, from Fish and Rorty to our movies.” [David Wells, Above All Earthly Pow’rs (Grand Rapids, …
But They Both Have the Same Kind of Hammer
“If two men were building a house together, but they both held tightly to differing sets of blueprints, it would not be to the point to say that they still had much in common. They both own hammers, saws, nails, carpenter’s belts, and so on, and let us say that both of them were of …
Pentecost Sunday 2006
Introduction: It is characteristic of the Holy Spirit that He draws attention away from Himself. Sometimes, the Spirit of God is neglected because of a deficiency in theology. But other times this happens precisely because He is active and doing His work. The Text: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will …
A Really Creative Judgment
“Indeed, it has led those who are heady with triumph to speak of this moment as being postmodern. It is, to say the least, a galling epithet to those still enamored with Enlightenment beliefs, for, to those who still believe in progress, to be called passé is a thunderclap of judgment more dreadful, it would …
This Should Actually Be “Lokism,” Prejudice Against Norse Trickster Gods
“At Smith College, a brochure is distributed to incoming students rehearsing a long list of politically incorrect attitudes and prejudices that will not be tolerated, including the sin of ‘lookism,’ i.e. the prejudice of believing that some people are more attractive than others” (Tenured Radicals, p. 9).