Introduction: He does not know it, and almost certainly would never admit it, but Anthony Bradley wants to live in a world where black men can get lynched because of white women’s tears. He ...
Anthony Bradley, Conflicted Apologist for Bad JuJu
November Epistolary Admonitions, the First Two Particularly
Letter to the Editor: From "Empathy as the Headwaters of Cruelty": "There are of course some people’s children who never paid much attention in English class, and who simply use ...
No Raw Merit
“Despite all the intramural differences in how we put things, it is distinct from a strict merit system which sees Adam as the first failed Pelagian.”
Evangelical Doctors, Coughing Up Blood
Introduction: This last week, the voters of Ohio enshrined a right to abortion in their state constitution, in what might be called Ohio's suicide note. In the heady days after the Jericho of ...
High in the Rockies
“I am a high Calvinist. For almost twenty years, I have been standing here well past the tree line, up amongst the boulders. I am prepared to be rebuked for lots of things but living in a semi-Pelagian swamp is not one of them. Try something else. Try something plausible.”
Dikai-Decimals
“For some that naïveté is a function of having decided thirty years ago to translate all discussions of theology into the metric system, just to keep life simple. If ten won’t divide into it, then it can’t be part of the dikai-word group. For others the reason for the naïveté is more obvious—graduate school is still a fresh memory. They are just out of the egg with bits of shell on their heads.”
A True Alpha
Like Annie Oakley
“Shooting reformational solas into the air is not the same thing as defending the faith.”
Empathy as the Headwaters of Cruelty
Introduction: Is it really the case that our November car here has no brakes? Is it really the case that this switchback grade we are currently careening down has no guardrails? The answer ...
Works as Grace After Reverse Engineering
“The non-elect reject God’s grace. That is the distinguishing mark of the non-elect; they cannot live by grace through faith. But they are surrounded with the apparatus of grace—Word, sacraments, promises, fellowship, and so on. Grace is everywhere—except in their hearts. So what they do (and they always do it) is construct a covenant of works out of the materials around them. This is the high rebellion of reverse engineering. This is why people can come to the Lord’s Table as though they were doing a good work, or they sign a card at the revival, or the memorize the Shorter Catechism. They can take pride in a confession of unworthiness. Who among us has not known a Calvinist who was proud of his knowledge that creatures cannot take pride in anything?”