Tim Enloe has raised a very good point about the care that Protestant apologists should take in representing the Catholic faith to others. In short, we ought never to maintain that official Roman Catholic teaching affirms what it plainly denies, or vice versa. In other words, apologetics ought never be a battle with a straw …
41 Kinds of Tylenol
“This premise leads business writers to emphasize rapid product introduction as a key to corporate success. According to Peters, healthy corporations are roiling hives of gutsy executives called ‘product champions,’ each one enraptured by a delphic vision of superficial novelty — perhaps of a soft drink with an advanced sweetner or unprecedented hue . . …
Rejecting Affectation
“But in the same way, simple reaction back is not reformation either. Some die-hard traditionalist defenders of orthodusty have no more understanding of what they are doing than do the contemporary worship dervishes. And this is why we need the simple honesty of satire. Pietism is an inadequate protector of piety, which is why pietism …
Water From the Cartesian Well
“However, while the temptation has been present a long time, succumbing to the temptation as a way of life is the fruit of modern rationalism. And while we do not wish to blame everything on Descartes, who is, for example, not directly responsible for the Spice Girls, we may certainly mark the ascendancy of Cartesian …
Lord’s Day Prayer 49
Father and gracious Lord, we are so grateful for Your continued covenant kindness to us. That covenant has brought us salvation in Jesus Christ; that covenant is Jesus Christ, and we thank You that You have given us the gift of living and rejoicing in Him. That life, and that joy, includes our Sabbath feasting, …
Glory In the Highest Comes To the Lowest
We want always to remember and commemorate our holidays like Christians. We must never attempt to recover the “meaning of Christmas” through some Reader’s Digest approach to inspirational stories. The meaning of Christmas is not found in a rejection of rank commercialism, but is rather the meaning of the whole Bible—sin, promise, redemption, faith and …
Rich Christians In An Age of Expensive Authenticity
Chapter One of A Generous Orthodoxy is actually Chapter Two, because of that odd Chapter Zero, and is a chapter which, for our purposes here, I will be calling Chapter Six. No, not really. The chapter is titled “Seven Jesuses I Have Known,” and is an outstanding example of the dabbler approach to truth that …
As Ever, the Logic
“For all the tattoos, Details message is no different than any other lifestyle magazine: Who you are depends on what you consume, and how hip you are depends on how enthusiastically you keep up with the new. Nonconformity may be the language, but fashion is, as ever, the logic.” [Frank and Weiland, editors, Commodify Your …
Lawn Sprinklers for Jesus
“My wife and I were recently on vacation, and being strangers in a strange land, we sought out a place to worship while there. We picked a place that, judging by the name, seemed safe enough. But the service started out with a thumping worship band playing some up-beat pep rally songs. One of these …
Translation As Interpretation
“In Scripture, translation is interpretation. The activities here range from what we would call translation to what we would call interpretive etymology. The rationalistic mind sees this as far too sloppy and wants a master key — and three point landings every time. But they cannot have it; God did not make language the way …