Schneider’s next chapter undertakes the very important task of reconciling two disparate strands of teaching in the gospels. He does well with this task too. First we find the well-known demands of an all-or-nothing discipleship. “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke …
Jesus and Halliburton
I enjoyed Schneider’s next chapter, but don’t have a lot to say about it. That is probably because he is interacting with the claim of “radical Christianity” that Jesus completely identified with the poor in His Incarnation, a claim that I tend to take less seriously than Schneider does. To insist that Christ was impoverished …
A Layer of Pea Gravel
John Schneider continues his good work in chapter four, and reminds me of another book I am currently reading (and which I would recommend), which is Nancy Pearcey’s Total Truth. She says that when evangelicals begin their presentation of the gospel with the fact and reality of sin, they are presenting the gospel out of …
A Big Shout Out to the Pope
One more quick comment on penitential seasons. I do believe it is possible for good, sound Protestants to observe such seasons, provided they redefine everything and do something very different from what gave rise to the historical practice in the first place. But it seems to me this is done with success rarely, and when …
Risen Indeed
We have declared it already. He is risen. He is risen indeed. Christ has risen from the dead, and He is alive in a way that makes it impossible for Him to go back again. Death no longer has dominion over Him, and this means that, although He is still fully and completely human, He …
Historical Idolatry
“All things work together for good to him that is in tune with the times. Trying to ‘turn back the clock’ becomes more serious than impropriety or stupidity; it is an act of impiety” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, p. 17).
Why Jeremiah Wright is No Jeremiah
In the dust-up following the release of video clips of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s rants, there has been a lot media attention, and the chattering classes have been . . . well, chattering. As I have reflected on this, it occurred to me that I wanted to comment on several reasons why the general indignation …
A Chilling Effect
Well, today Obama denounced remarks made by his incendiary preacher, and I must say I view this with a measure of alarm. Speaking for incendiary preachers everywhere, what kind of message does this send? What sort of chilling effect might it create? If a member of my congregation ever ran for president . . . …
Fox News Indignation
A lot of attention in this last news cycle is being rendered to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Obama. Apparently there have been cameras running when he unleashed some of his loonier sentiments, to wit, that the United States government has been actively trying to kill black people by inventing the AIDS virus. This …
Supreme Virtue Cheating
Hillary Clinton has come out in opposition to “do-overs” in Michigan and Florida. At the same time, she now wants the first-time voting in those states to count. This, even though she and the other candidates had agreed not to compete in those states (because they had violated DNC rules by moving their primaries to …