As recent events to Ferguson demonstrate, lawlessness dislocates everything in the system, up-and-down the entire line. People are complicated, especially when they are in sin, and situations are complex. So when people make up their minds about a particular allegation based entirely on the color of the participants, they are establishing nothing other than their …
When You Say “Mean,” What Do You Mean by Mean?
Last week, my daughter wrote about the problem of theological cone bras, which is, as we all acknowledge, a very real problem. Well, the comments section erupted and a common theme in many of them is what I briefly want to address here. Let me assemble my own version of this objection as registered. “I …
Betting With Real Money
I want to answer two very basic questions. Let’s all wish me luck. First I want to define marriage — what is marriage anyhow? — and I want to explain why the answer to this first question is any business of the civil magistrate. The two matters are wound tightly together, as we shall see. …
Remanded to Sensitivity Camps
When two armies happen to meet, the battle is not necessarily over the terrain they are fighting on. Sometimes it is that, of course, but there are also occasions when the place where they are fighting and the place for which they are fighting are two entirely different places. The current battle is at the …
Surveying the Text: John
Introduction: The apostle John was overwhelmed by the vastness of Jesus Christ. This fourth gospel is a cosmic gospel, but with profound ramifications for us here on earth. It is cosmic, but it is in no way removed from us. No, the ultimate and divine Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The …
Book of the Month/November 2014
I really appreciate this book. In it, Rodney Stark applies some of the tools of analytic sociology to a particular historical phenomenon which in this instance matches the title of his book exactly — the rise of Christianity. Full disclosure: I won’t be done with this book for a couple more days, but it is …
Surveying the Text: Luke
Introduction: If Mark is the shortest and punchiest of the gospels, Luke is the most detailed and meticulous. Luke claims to have done very careful research (Luke 1:1-4), and everything about this book bears that claim out. The Text: “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and …
Something to Use, Something to Risk
I have written critically in the past about James Davison Hunter’s approach to not really changing the world. In the last analysis, his tag phrase “faithful presence” ought to be a means to victory, not a goal in itself. If we make it a goal, it is as though the coach settles for getting his …
Steeples of Pride
All of this is submitted to God, but, Lord willing, our church sanctuary is going to have a steeple. And a steeple illustrates the perennial problem that believers have in this fallen world. A steeple can be illustrative of the humility of man before God, but it can also be a glaring example of the …
To Join the Orgy Porgy
A couple of stories came to my attention today. One was the decision of California to require a verbal yes at every stage of sexual activity on their college campuses. And if that doesn’t work, they will toughen the law, requiring a “yes, oh yes!” at every stage of the proceedings. Certain tropes are like …