The Old Testament prophecies of the glories of the new covenant era teach us to look forward in faith to a stupendous pileup of grace at the culmination of human history. God’s goodness to us has already been overwhelming, and much more is on the way. But in order not to get tangled up in …
Chump Change Violence
In discussions of violence and the nature of God, one of the biggest issues before us is that of sorting out the relationship of the Old Testament to the New. Also, as it happens, sorting out that relationship is critical to a host of other issues as well — from baptism to church government, from …
1975 Was a Good Year
Nancy posted this picture of our wedding on her blog, along with an account of the proceedings. This was thirty-three years ago today, and I continue to be as grateful as a man is allowed to get. I got married at the tender age of 22, and have been married, therefore, for sixty percent of …
Tired Thinking
One of the natural but intellectually lazy responses of theologians in the 20th century was to react to the advent of nuclear weapons with the idea that just war theory was now somehow outdated or tired. There were some exceptions, like John Courtney Murray and Paul Ramsey, but the general tendency was to pay lip …
Armchair Globo-Politicians
As I write, Israeli troops are massed on the border of Gaza, and they are about to go in to topple Hamas. They are doing this in response to a steady stream of rocket/mortar attacks from Gaza. Hamas is trying to provoke just such an invasion, in an attempt at a rope-a-dope strategy. Israel has …
An Atheist Challenge Answered
Last night I read through a small booklet that was really quite good — it was called The Easter Answer, and addressed the problem of harmonizing the various accounts of Christ’s resurrection appearances. The author, Stephen Kingsley, is a fellow Idaho pastor who addressed our NSA Disputatio a few years back. In this booklet, he …
Up to My Waist in Global Warming, Shovel in Hand
Okay, I had to shovel my walk again this morning. Our Ponderosa pine are beautifully flocked again. We have had more snow than I ever remember having here. Snowfall records are shattered in Spokane. My truck hasn’t been out of four-wheel drive in weeks. As a friend asked me at church yesterday, where is Al …
Christ the Soldier
Even if we differ with it, and even if we differ with it sharply, we are all still affected by the idea of Jesus as the prototypical hippie. Those who adopt the idea may do so with the applause of pacifists, or with a Nietzsche-like disdain. But it is a very common and very influential …
Better Than That
John famously begins his gospel by saying that the Word was in the beginning with God, and that the Word was God. We have two things associated here that we don’t normally associate — identity and togetherness. I am me, but I don’t normally think of myself as being with me. I am generally close …
Hitchens on CBN
CBN has now posted the half hour show that Christopher Hitchens and I recorded with them in October. A number of clips from this show do appear in the documentary, but the show ought not to be confused with the documentary. The same goes, incidentally, with the debate that occurred at Westminster, which has its …