We have no right to legislate morality in any area unless God has spoken to that issue clearly and directly. Apart from this, all things are lawful in their substance. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it. We have already considered that all men are covenantal partakers of something. God has embodied …
Let The New Testament Explain the Old
In this series of posts we have been presenting what is, for many, a very different way of looking at the Scriptures. We have been talking about historical optimism, as opposed to the rampant historical pessimism of the modern evangelical world. But we must be careful in using phrases like “way of looking at the …
Is Slavery Good?
Visionaries, Roger asks this, a reasonable question: “The two Dougs from Christ Church cannot have it both ways. Either slavery is evil or it is not. Which Doug are we to believe?” Actually both of them, since we agree completely on this issue. Now I want you all (or at least anyone interested in something …
Israel After the Flesh
As we come to the Table, Paul tells us to “behold Israel after the flesh.” Look, he says, at Israel in the Old Testament, and take special care to note how their condition was similar to yours. We partake of Christ in the bread and wine. They were partakers of the altar as they ate …
Foundation Stones of Grace
Gracious Father and God, Your kindness toward Your people is an everlasting river, and we thank You that we will never arrive at the end of it. We know that You call us to worship You before all things, and that You summon us to this for our good and Your glory. We praise You …
Historical Mojo
Visionaries, The psalmist, in one of his controversies, lamented the fact that every day his words got twisted (Ps. 56:5). Sometimes the twisting was deliberate, and sometimes it was probably just a matter of somebody not getting the joke. And now comes Joan, trumpeting the mojo of local professional, credentialed historians, men who do not …
Shrill Relativistic Crusades
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 …