One of N.T. Wright’s more important points is the one he has adapted from the teaching of the great Elizabethan Anglican, Richard Hooker. This is the observation that justification by faith is not accomplished by affirming or believing in justification by faith. Believing the doctrine of justification by faith alone as a way of being …
The Hinge That Turned
Stephen sat on the back of his horse, and tried to make out the figures moving silently around him in the early morning. When it came to preparing for action, Capt. Dunstan’s forces were obviously well-disciplined, although from the stories told last night, they did not appear to be too scrupulous when it came to …
Miers the Nondescript
It appears that we have another stealth candidate for the Supreme Court, and it also appears to me that the president may have been too clever by half. Let me begin by noting that the nominee may be pro-life, may be a constitutional originalist, and may be a solid conservative vote on the court — …
Let Israel Say
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! If You, our God, had not been on our side . . . We would not live to sing Your praise. But now, alive, let Israel say If it had not been for the Lord on our side, When men rose up …
Learning from Scandal
Some of the lessons that God appoints for His people to learn from time to time are the lessons that come with scandal. Whenever a situation arises within the Christian community that shocks, grieves, angers, or scandalizes the people generally, we have to remember that this also is from the hand of God. And because …
Head and Heart
The metaphor we use of head and heart is not really a scriptural metaphor, but we are referring to a profound scriptural truth when we use it. James points to the truth that this metaphor of ours is highlighting when he talks about hearing the word and doing the word. But there are certain lessons …
In the Name of Relevance
While recently walking in the meadows of public discourse, William Bennett stepped in the cow pie of truth. He mentioned that if evil, pragmatic outcomes were your only consideration, you could reduce crime by evil means. He said, “…if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort …
Reductio Ad Infernum
One of the standard observations made against the so-called legitimization of homosexual “marriages” in our country is that once you throw the biblical standard of marriage out (one man, one woman, ideally one time), you have not just opened the door for homosexual unions, but also for every other kind of union the troubled gonads …
Apostles or Refugees?
All Christians at all times live in the culture they live in. The ancient Christian in Ephesus spoke Greek and wore the clothes available for purchase in that city. When he went for lunch, certain foods were available to him and other foods were not. At the same time, he was called to live in …
Got My Fingers Crossed!
A few days ago, I recorded here the news that the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression had included Southern Slavery As It Was on their list of banned books. There was an article about this in the UI student newspaper, and today William Ramsey, one of our our intolerista professors here, wrote to the …