“These forces are brought to fruition not so much in films of the horror genre itself as in more mainstream and critically acclaimed movies like Cape Fear and Silence of the Lambs (both 1991). These stories exalt the artistic boldness of their evil supermen, who put into question the timid mores of conventional society and …
Refried Beans
“The melodrama of modern evangelicalism has gotten really bad, and it is time to start an enthusiastic throwing of the popcorn” (A Serrated Edge, p. 82).
Scribes Haven’t Changed
I shouldn’t really be surprised anymore. McLaren devotes the chapter entitled “Why I Am Fundamentalist/Calvinist” to a detailed explanation of why he is not a fundamentalist or a Calvinist. Not surprisingly, in order to make this case, an old workhorse in the debate against Reformed folk is brought out of the stables and made to …
Christmas Sunrise
Introduction And the evening and the morning were the eighth day. We should not be surprised at the pattern of darkness and then light, a pattern which we see not only in the creation of the world, but also in the re-creation of all things. The Text: I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify …
Sneaking Standards Back In
“The need of most human beings to believe in a moral universe is proof for Nietzsche that lies and self-deception are essential conditions of human life . . . . But there is a tension in Nietzsche between an amoralism that repudiates all objective standards and a distinctively hierarchical kind of thinking that ranks souls …
Sound Effects
“There is a difference between insulting the truth of God and insulting some lunacy that a televangelist is maintaining as the truth of God. There is a difference between kicking puppies and lampooning the self-righteous and pompous, although sometimes the sound effects are very similar” (A Serrated Edge, p. 82).
Deep Confidence or Deep “Confidence”?
Some of McLaren’s chapters are outrageous, some are stupefying, some are intellectually dishonest, while others, like this next one, are just plain sad. This is the chapter where McLaren explains how he is a “charismatic/contemplative.” I am not really going to say anything about the sad parts, and there were only two other comments worth …
That Good Old Narrative Trajectory
On the first page of the next chapter (“Why I Am Biblical”), Brian McLaren states this: “My regard for the Bible is higher than ever” (p. 159). And this about sums the whole problem up. Regard? After having read through the chapter, this is like hearing a divorced couple say they are still the “best …
The Virgin Bears Salvation
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Praise the Lord! All you servants of the Lord, Praise the name of the Lord! Bless the name of the Lord, From this moment out, Forever and for aye! From the point of the sun rising, To the place it goes down, …
The Worldview of Christmas
This is the fourth Lord’s Day of Advent, the year of our Lord, 2005. Worldviews are more complicated than a being just a simple bundle of propositions. Propositions are of course involved—no one has a worldview who cannot answer questions about what he believes. But in our circles, this tends to be the only aspect …