Wright’s chapter on the case for ordaining women starts off a little oddly. He acknowledges that he used to teach that “the creation of man and woman in their two genders is a vital part of what it meant that humans are created in God’s image. I now regard that as a mistake” (p. 64). …
The Butterfly’s Boots
I am continuing to work through Wright’s book, Surprised by Scripture, and so I now come to Chapter 3 — “Can a Scientist Believe in the Resurrection?” Look. This chapter was fantastico. Top drawer. First class. Stupendous. Marvelous. Top flight. Really cool. Fantabulous. This is how Wright deservedly got his high reputation. Am I overdoing …
Centers and Edges
In his wonderful book on the Westminster Assembly, Robert Letham says this: “In short, the Assembly, within limits, was inclusive rather than exclusive. It sought to reach the widest measure of agreement possible, within acceptable limits of doctrine and practice” (Letham, The Westminster Assembly, p. 117). In many ways I think this should serve as …
Hellfire and Damnation
I want to begin by acknowledging that the metaphors of damnation that we find in Scripture are quite possibly not literal descriptions — where the worm does not die, where the fire is not quenched, where it is an outer darkness, where there is a lake of fire, and so on. But before assuming that …
The Bagpipes of Hard Sovereignty
A few posts ago I wrote about how God loves cliff-hangers. In the comments to that post, one person asked about long term unanswered prayer, and I wanted to briefly respond to that concern here. There is the emotional side of this question, and there is a logical side. If the emotions are just answered …
God Loves Cliffhangers
As we deal — as we all must do — with troubles, affliction, difficulties and so on, the toughest thing to remember is that God is handstitching these problems for us, and He is doing this so that they will fit us perfectly. We don’t grasp this because we are victims of a metaphor. When …
Only Blood Can Answer
One of the central things we have to remember about accusation is that condemnation has a point. “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56). It will not do for us to say that the devil accuses the brethren day and day (Rev. 12:10), and the …
My Sunny Ecumenical Side
One last post on the whole issue of Protestantism, and then I will give it a rest. But this time I want to give things a push from the other direction. In this post, I want my little ecumenical self come out to play in the sunshine. In my last post I mentioned that at …
With Hair Ablaze
Now I know that I have some Roman Catholics readers of this blog, and I know that when I get on a jag like this you must feel like I do when I read Chesterton writing about Calvinism. That feeling being an approximation of something like epistemic anguish and head-wrenching, I can only assure you …
Some Doctrinal Triage
Okay, one last follow-up post to the Future of Protestantism discussion. Again, I am grateful for the entire discussion, and to the folks who arranged it, and also grateful for the opportunity to participate here in the nickel seats — even if the only thing I do is throw a little popcorn. Most of what …