Visionaries, Rootless relativism and the high moral indignation of a shrill crusade do not go well together. If some things are absolutely wrong (every day of the week, in every century, in every culture), then surely it should be easy for those fundamentalists who are propounding such absolutism to answer some simple questions about it. …
Rat Farming
I have mentioned before that N.T. Wright is trying to hitch the white horse of the universal lordship of Christ to the wrong political wagon. The public nature of the lordship of Christ is an important doctrine, and Wright has performed a valuable service in reminding the Church of the necessity of that doctrine if …
Black Sheep and White Goats
Visionaries, Just a brief response to Andy: I actually do think that R.L. Dabney had some racist assumptions, and these assumptions sometimes came out in truly odd ways. My favorite is found in his Systematic Theology, where he takes on redheads who do not know that they are objectively inferior. These racist assumptions of his …
The Browner Parts of the Globe
Visionaries, Two comments, if you all have moment. I separated “y’all” into “you all” as a concession to others on a sensitive topic. First, I agree completely with Roger’s exposure of the hypocrisy that pervades this kind of issue. A color-blind society should mean one of two things: either nobody gets to do it, or …
Do Communion? Or Have Communion?
As we come to the table, we are charged to flee from idolatry. We do this in two ways. The first is that we leave all pagan idols behind. Whether these idols are actual gods made of wood or stone, or are idols of the heart and mind does not matter. We leave them behind …
Imitative Loving
“This means that our theology of Christ’s love will be determinative of how a Christian wife is loved. How a man understands ultimate covenant loving will settle how he sets about covenantal loving. How he understands the thing to be imitated will determine how and what he imitates” (Federal Husband, p. 10).
Old Testament Law
Visionaries, Just back from Houston, and had a time wading through the accumulated email. Just a few general comments, and then a few specific answers to the questions put to me by Steve. First, in response to some general laments, I would be happy to agree to a cease fire (in this forum) on this …
Thy Kingdom Come
Many Christians want to avoid millennial wrangles, and in an important sense, they are quite right. It makes little sense to fight with one another about when the divine peace will come. But other Christians want to avoid debate on the subject because they believe it to be trivial or unimportant. “After all, is not …
Nuanced and Complex
Visionaries, Rachelle wrote in to say that “history, like any academic discipline, is nuanced and complex.” Judging from the local response to the first hint of nuance or complexity, you could have fooled me. She goes on to say that “ownership of another human being, regardless of the quality of living conditions provided, is loathsome …
Margaret Sanger’s Racism
Visionaries, Margaret Sanger argued for the elimination of human weeds, “for the cessation of charity, for the segregation of morons, misfits, and maladjusted,” and for the sterilization of “genetically inferior races.” From The Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. “This following is a very important point to emphasize. Like abolitionism, all …