Visionaries, I appreciate Andy’s use of our sources because I honestly think he is trying to understand what we are saying before critiquing it. And I would just like to add one additional note to his summary of our presuppositional approach, which was generally quite fair. All finite creatures must have an axiomatic starting point …
Is Slavery Good?
Visionaries, Roger asks this, a reasonable question: “The two Dougs from Christ Church cannot have it both ways. Either slavery is evil or it is not. Which Doug are we to believe?” Actually both of them, since we agree completely on this issue. Now I want you all (or at least anyone interested in something …
Foundation Stones of Grace
Gracious Father and God, Your kindness toward Your people is an everlasting river, and we thank You that we will never arrive at the end of it. We know that You call us to worship You before all things, and that You summon us to this for our good and Your glory. We praise You …
Historical Mojo
Visionaries, The psalmist, in one of his controversies, lamented the fact that every day his words got twisted (Ps. 56:5). Sometimes the twisting was deliberate, and sometimes it was probably just a matter of somebody not getting the joke. And now comes Joan, trumpeting the mojo of local professional, credentialed historians, men who do not …
Shrill Relativistic Crusades
Visionaries, Rootless relativism and the high moral indignation of a shrill crusade do not go well together. If some things are absolutely wrong (every day of the week, in every century, in every culture), then surely it should be easy for those fundamentalists who are propounding such absolutism to answer some simple questions about it. …
Black Sheep and White Goats
Visionaries, Just a brief response to Andy: I actually do think that R.L. Dabney had some racist assumptions, and these assumptions sometimes came out in truly odd ways. My favorite is found in his Systematic Theology, where he takes on redheads who do not know that they are objectively inferior. These racist assumptions of his …
The Browner Parts of the Globe
Visionaries, Two comments, if you all have moment. I separated “y’all” into “you all” as a concession to others on a sensitive topic. First, I agree completely with Roger’s exposure of the hypocrisy that pervades this kind of issue. A color-blind society should mean one of two things: either nobody gets to do it, or …
Old Testament Law
Visionaries, Just back from Houston, and had a time wading through the accumulated email. Just a few general comments, and then a few specific answers to the questions put to me by Steve. First, in response to some general laments, I would be happy to agree to a cease fire (in this forum) on this …
Nuanced and Complex
Visionaries, Rachelle wrote in to say that “history, like any academic discipline, is nuanced and complex.” Judging from the local response to the first hint of nuance or complexity, you could have fooled me. She goes on to say that “ownership of another human being, regardless of the quality of living conditions provided, is loathsome …
Margaret Sanger’s Racism
Visionaries, Margaret Sanger argued for the elimination of human weeds, “for the cessation of charity, for the segregation of morons, misfits, and maladjusted,” and for the sterilization of “genetically inferior races.” From The Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. “This following is a very important point to emphasize. Like abolitionism, all …