Introduction: In all the various controversies we have seen recently, what is common to them all? The common theme is confusion with regard to the intersection between Scripture and the world, and the role faith plays in understanding this rightly. Suppose a precocious young boy, after his father has finished saying grace over the evening …
666
The gloomy old reprobate Ambrose Bierce said this about the book of Revelation: “A famous book in which St. John the Divine concealed all that he knew. The revealing is done by the commentators, who know nothing.” It is indeed unfortunate that we by our sloth have made a revelation into one of the most …
Expertise
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 54 Vocation is important in business, and when a man is called to his profession, one of the things that develops over time is expertise. “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall …
Sidelong Glances
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 53 In the world of business and vocational callings, one of the hardest things for the Christian heart to mortify is the carnal reaction to what other people make. Even the ludicrous examples illustrate the principle. In a free country, …
Let The New Testament Explain the Old
In this series of posts we have been presenting what is, for many, a very different way of looking at the Scriptures. We have been talking about historical optimism, as opposed to the rampant historical pessimism of the modern evangelical world. But we must be careful in using phrases like “way of looking at the …
Rat Farming
I have mentioned before that N.T. Wright is trying to hitch the white horse of the universal lordship of Christ to the wrong political wagon. The public nature of the lordship of Christ is an important doctrine, and Wright has performed a valuable service in reminding the Church of the necessity of that doctrine if …
Do Communion? Or Have Communion?
As we come to the table, we are charged to flee from idolatry. We do this in two ways. The first is that we leave all pagan idols behind. Whether these idols are actual gods made of wood or stone, or are idols of the heart and mind does not matter. We leave them behind …
Thy Kingdom Come
Many Christians want to avoid millennial wrangles, and in an important sense, they are quite right. It makes little sense to fight with one another about when the divine peace will come. But other Christians want to avoid debate on the subject because they believe it to be trivial or unimportant. “After all, is not …
More on Timeless Truth.
It appears to me that N.T. Wright has a peculiar phobia about timeless truths. Here is Wright again: “God wanted to judge Ahab and so save Israel. And so God delegated his authority to the prophet Micaiah who, inspired by the Spirit, stood humbly in the council of God and then stood boldly in the …
Marriage as Manifest Glory XXVI
INTRODUCTION: One of the hardest lessons for an egalitarian age to learn is the necessary lesson of honor. But this honor must not be carnal—we are called to render honor as understood in a biblical and Christian way. This directly affects how husbands and wives are to grow old together. THE TEXTS: “Thou shalt rise …