Living in community means that the very nature of the case requires that we submit to demands from outside our selves. These demands encompass every aspect of our lives, and this means that our use of money is included. No man is an island, as Donne put it, and so we don’t have the right …
Justice Java
William Cavanaugh’s second chapter of Being Consumed, on attachment and detachment, was — with the exception of a page or two — simply outstanding. His critique of consumerism contained some standard elements (but still driven home effectively), as well as some unique insights. For an example of the former, he points out how much contemporary …
Momentary Men
We have a short attention span. We like to think of ourselves as current with everything; we are, after all, modern men. But, to use Andrew Lytle’s striking phrase, we are not modern men at all, but actually momentary men. We careen from one thing to the next, thumb on the remote. Our presidential debates …
Got My Pomojo Working
And another thing . . . Whenever I write on postmodernism, I usually get one of four basic responses. The first is a popular one these days with folks who have one remaining screw set firmly in the one remaining hinge. It involves setting up witty websites at my expense, with the wit employed showing …
Being Evangelical For the Time Being
Time for our daily dose of squirting water down the hole into the postmodern rabbit warren, as part of my on-going project of trying to prevent these guys from emerging into the garden of orthodoxy in order to nibble on the carrots of truth. In his next chapter, Brian McLaren discusses why he is still …
Corporate Testimony
Tim Enloe has raised a very good point about the care that Protestant apologists should take in representing the Catholic faith to others. In short, we ought never to maintain that official Roman Catholic teaching affirms what it plainly denies, or vice versa. In other words, apologetics ought never be a battle with a straw …
Learning to Detest Hypocrisy
During a portion of the sermon this last Sunday, I spent a little bit of time on the problem of lowlife authenticity. After the message I had a good conversation with a good friend over my professed bafflement over what causes the attraction to this lowlife ethos. He made the point that the cause of …
Apostles or Refugees?
All Christians at all times live in the culture they live in. The ancient Christian in Ephesus spoke Greek and wore the clothes available for purchase in that city. When he went for lunch, certain foods were available to him and other foods were not. At the same time, he was called to live in …
More on Race
Readers of this blog should remember that postings under “Apologetics in the Void” are publications from a couple years ago, and there is a tag line at the bottom explaining in detail. This one contains a response to an article in our newspaper, an article that helped kick off the slavery fracas. Visionaries, Below please …
Lambs and Geese, Foxes and Wolves
Also in this morning’s paper was an editorial response of mine to the column of Rose Huskey and Saundra Lund last Saturday. Here it is: If I might, I would like to briefly respond to Rose Huskey and Saundra Lund, who served up a veritable casserole of charges to your readers on Saturday last. This …