I have written critically in the past about James Davison Hunter’s approach to not really changing the world. In the last analysis, his tag phrase “faithful presence” ought to be a means to victory, not a goal in itself. If we make it a goal, it is as though the coach settles for getting his …
The Two Guys in the Car
Nancy and I got to see Saving Christmas last night, and I wanted to say just a few things about it right away. I plan on writing more about it in detail after the movie releases in a few weeks, but here are just a few anticipatory thoughts. First, I recommend you make a point …
In Case Somebody Asks
Five Yards of Truth
“The rationalism that we inherited from the Enlightenment has trained us all to think that everything that we really ‘know’ is that which can be objectively measured and doled out in credit hours. We have created a great illusory mechanism for making ourselves think that we know how people actually know things. And we identify …
On Being Too Hard on the Christians
I remember a commercial from many years ago that featured a football coach in the locker room at half time, and he was chewing out his team in a royal way. They had missed that tackle, they had screwed this up, they had failed to do something else, and so on. Finally, after a good …
Because There Will Be Lots of Them
“You don’t know whether any of your ancestors prayed for you, but wouldn’t it have been glorious if they had? So apply the golden rule, and pray for your descendants” (From To You and Your Children, p. 200).
Widgets and Weddings
One of the reasons why libertarianism is starting to commend itself to a certain kind of Christian — in ways that it never does in all those manifold areas where libertarianism is correct, e.g. regarding the manufacture, sale, and distribution of all widgets — is that it provides a convenient way of collapsing in the …
America in C Major
I do understand there has been some debate over whether America was once a Christian nation. But whether it was or no — and I believe it was — there should be no debate among Christians over whether it was a normal one. Defenders and revolutionaries alike insist that those norms be defended, or smashed, …
Mozart: A Life
Title: Mozart Author: Paul Johnson Genre: Biography & Autobiography Publisher: Viking Adult Release Date: 2013 Pages: 164 A portrait of the genius eighteenth-century composer focuses on his significant output of music and how it reflected his ability to master virtually all of the musical instruments of his period, and challenges myths about his health, finances, …
Not Curious Enough
“How would our loving father not answer such a prayer? But too often the reason we don’t ask is that we don’t really want to know. We belong to that shortsighted school of car maintenance and repair — don’t lift the hood if you don’t want to know” (From To You and Your Children, p. …