Introduction: I confess myself a bit surprised at the reaction I have gotten from my recent interaction with Russell Moore’s apparent position on the aftermath of Obergefell. But what that reaction confirms to me is that the Christian opposition to secularism really needs to work through some of the foundational issues of political theology. Those …
With Both Hands
“If the law is grace, and if grace has a backbone, perhaps we ought not be too dismissive of those who have learned how to hold the Word of God in both hands” (Writers to Read, p. 113).
Viewing the Game Film
The morning after the Clinton Debacle appeared among us, I was walking somewhere in our little town. The sun was shining, and everything was bright and calm. Our little town is divided, but as the primaries here in Idaho showed, it was more of a Sanders/Cruz divide than it was a Clinton/Trump divide. In the …
Grace Gets On the Floor
“When the wineskins burst, grace sometimes gets on the floor . . . Find me a place where grace has gone and taken deep root, and I will show you a place where vivid prose flourishes” (Writers to Read, p. 111).
That Time Russell Moore Ran Over My Dog
Introduction: I believe that a few people are wondering if Russell Moore ran over my dog or something. In a post last week I said that Moore was setting the stage for a cultural abdication that I did not want to see happen, and in saying this I am afraid that I annoyed some people. …
On Kicking the Can’t Down the Road
I was not surprised at the election of Donald Trump. I was actually expecting that. Neither was I surprised at the decisiveness of his win in Electoral College terms. I was expecting that also. And neither was I surprised that my preferences remained in place—I knew that I would much rather have Trump in the …
Trumpsit. Golly.
Introduction: So a number of officio-pundits are gobsmacked, flummoxed, pole-axed, and otherwise discomfited. Brexit. The Cubs. And now this. What a year. My initial reactions run along the lines of jumping Jehoshaphat, land of Goshen, and oh, my stars and garters. But let me make a number of other snapshot observations, perhaps a tad more …
An Imagination Fortress, Not an Imaginary One
“One of the reasons many apologists are not nearly as effective as Lewis is that they want the cold granite of reason to do everything. But true reason will collapse before a false imagination. False imagination must be answered by a true imagination, and when that happens, reason can flourish in its native habitat” (Writers …
Hunker Down, Everybody
Introduction: Yesterday I exhorted the saints at Christ Church to remember their down ballot duties. I did not mention any specific candidates or issues there because worship is not the place for partisan politics. But it is a place for God’s people to be reminded that their presence in this society is inescapably political. And …
What the Actual Mistake Was
“Keep in mind that the battle between Galileo and the church was not a battle between science and mindless fundamentalism. It was a battle between new science and old science, and the error of the church had been that of getting into bed with the best science of the day. And we all know, as …