A woman named Faith once gave birth to twins, who were boys as it turned out. The firstborn was named Justification and the second was named Sanctification. As word spread in the village and throughout the region, it became impossible to keep this information from the moderator of the presbytery, who lived in a nearby town. …
As Clear As I Can
Many bystanders have been trying to figure out what the whole “Auburn Avenue” controversy is all about. As one of the players in this, I feel it is my duty to try to make this as clear as I can. Some Lutherans are concerned about us because they have heard that somebody might be questioning justification by …
Wu Tang Presbytery
A minister of tender years was once receiving theological bastinado from concerned brethren at Wu Tang Presbytery. He had been working three jobs in order to keep his family fed, and so his time for sermon preparation had fallen woefully short. This was not the direct cause of his problem, for had he received his …
Semper Deformanda
A certain ministerial candidate was being examined by presbytery, and because his children didn’t have any tattoos, smoke cigarettes, and get drunk every now and again, thinking themselves better than other preachers’ kids, the candidate was having a rough go of it. Not that the subject of his children came up in the examination or …
Giving Them What They Want
A Presbyterian minister in the pulpit was laboring mightily in the fifteenth chapter of John, trying hard not to look like a Congressman who had unexpectedly been given a copy of the Constitution. He was unsuccessful in this endeavor, and the congregation left the sanctuary greatly edified and blessed.
John Robbins is a Hoot
The most recent Trinity Review put out by John Robbins is dedicated to extinguishing the heresies of my good friend Peter Leithart. Congratulations to Peter are in order. It has been a long time coming, and he was beginning to worry. Of course for a Robbins to try to deal with a Leithart in this …
Christ is the Future of Nature
In order to understand our responsibilities in the world, the place to begin is with what God has told us to do. This instruction from God is found in Genesis, in what has come to be called the cultural mandate. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish …
Westminster Candy Shop
The reverend confectioners in the back of the Westminster Candy Shop one day decided to change the recipes because customers were no longer buying the Sawdust Swirl. But rather than continuing with their experiments, they took a vote and decided to return to the original recipes that had been in use when the shop first …
Nicodemus and Judas
The current controversy over the objectivity of the covenant is caused, in part, by the penchant certain theologians have for ignoring the importance of plot lines in story. These plot lines obviously show up in the stories of Scripture, and consequently, a lot of confusion results from theologians treating plot problems as though they were math problems. But …