I just recently finished reading Taking Sex Differences Seriously by Steven Rhoads. Certain irritating features of the book have to be discounted, like his ongoing evolutionary assumptions, but in the main the book is a dispassionate and careful look at what everybody in the history of the world has always known, until the feminists of …
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda
One of the exercises I have employed over the years in the study of history is the practice of trying to “take sides.” But this requires explanation because there is a sense in which such a practice is incoherent. All of us are shaped by our culture and upbringing in such a way and to …
A Cinder Block in the Goldfish Bowl
Some time this coming week I may be in the position of defending the relevance of scriptural authority in our contemporary culture wars. If this happens, it will be on a nationally syndicated radio show with a liberal host. I will let you all know time and place if and when the whole thing is …
A Satiric Voice
One of the most frequent questions I have to answer about our ministry here concerns what has come to be called the “serrated edge.” It is such a common question that I wrote a (short) book addressing the question, and explained why a satiric voice in certain settings is not only biblically permissible, but is …
The Tashlan Temptation
The election yesterday provided me a real sense of relief, and in several ways it was a very good night. On the positive side of the register, eleven ballot initiatives that defined marriage as consisting of one man and one woman passed, many of them by whopping margins. The Republicans gained in the House, and …
History and the Guild
Objectivity is a false god, and the worship of this idol is particularly pernicious in disciplines like journalism and history. It is not possible to be objective — although of course it is possible to be honest. By pretending to attain to objectivity, a writer’s fundamental faith commitments are not eliminated, but rather submerged — …
Grand Kleegle Archbishop
Chesterton, my favorite papist, once remarked that a man who does not stand for something will fall for anything. Evidence that this is true (as if more evidence were needed) can be found here. Turns out that radical priests and priestettes in the Episcopal church have not been content to be trendy leftists, but have …
The Inescapable Trinity
Just finished Ralph Smith’s new book called Trinity and Reality. The subtitle says that it is an introduction to the Christian faith, which is quite true. But if I were trying to figure out what shelf to put it on, it would probably land on the “Christian worldview” shelf. And quite a cottage industry along …
One Confused Puppy
A few days ago, I reviewed a volume of poetry by Rowan Williams, the current Archbishop of Canterbury. I knew a little bit about him before writing this, but a kind UK reader of that post sent me a couple links. One was the text of an address that Williams gave to a gay/lesbian organization. …
87 Billion
Part of the slipperyness of this presidential campaign can be seen in the taunts registered against John Kerry by the Republicans — “he voted for the 87 billion before he voted against it!” And I agree that Kerry’s explanations are lame, and that he is a flip-flopper, and so on. But none of this erases …