Mike Huckabee makes me nervous. He gives me the willies — to wit, the fantods. Other than all the potential fun games we might have with his name — Huckaboom, Huckabust, and after the first great scandal of his administration, Huckagate — the whole thing gives me cold duck bumps all over. The first round …
What Are the Rules For?
“While reactionaries seek rules that would ban change and technocrats want rules that will control outcomes, dynamists look for rules that let people forge new bonds, invent new institutions, and find better ways of doing things” (Virginia Postrel, The Future and Its Enemies, p. 112).
Disciples of Jesus Haven’t Changed That Much
In the clean-up preparations for Christmas services at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, fisticuffs broke out between rival factions of priests. At least the original disciples of Christ had their squabbles on the road before the resurrection.
Good News, Lord Caiphas!
N.T. Wright sometimes overstates his case. By this I mean that he says things like “X is not Y” when it would perhaps be more helpful to say “in addition to Y we must also be careful to say X.” For example, he maintains that the gospel is not about how to get saved, but …
A Little Cyber-Anarchy
“The Net not only managed to become big and important before any would-be regulator noticed, it evolved both software rules and social norms without official direction” (Virginia Postrel, The Future and Its Enemies, p. 36).
Ken Doll Republicans
So despite warnings from the judicious, our nation continues to careen toward Iowa and New Hampshire. And, given the lay of the land, and what the possibilities are, it appears that the American people will once again get what we deserve, good and hard. Ron Paul is the one doctrinal anomaly in the race — …
The Judge in the Dock
In chapter three, John Piper continues to interact with N.T. Wright’s take on the law-court aspect of justification. At the center of the discussion is this now famous section from What Saint Paul Really Said, which needs to be quoted at length. “The result of all this should be obvious, but is enormously important for …
We can Easily Arrange for a Scene
Once there was a little girl who was always copying her older sister. Now this is what younger brothers and sisters ought to do—we all learn by imitation. This is how God made us. But God created us to learn by imitation in a spirit of admiration and gratitude, and not in a spirit of …
A New Human Race
INTRODUCTION: The birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem marks the Advent (arrival), not only of the long promised Messiah, but also the advent of a new humanity, established in the last Adam, the one St. Paul calls the man from heaven. We sometimes emphasize that Immanuel means “God with us,” and it does. But let …
Gripping the Sides of His Coracle
In the second chapter, John Piper starts to get down to brass tacks, and he begins with the definition of justification. N.T. Wright defines justification as God’s (legal and forensic) declaration that someone is already within the covenant family. Quoting Wright, Piper writes, “‘Justification’ in the first century was not about how someone might establish …