Theology That Bites Back
“A proper humility before God and modesty concerning himself and his capabilities are not to hinder the preacher from the bold assertion of the authority of the message he has to deliver. Indeed, it is a dereliction of his duty if he does not claim that authority.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 44
“His grandfather was a revival preacher named Stump Hutchins from the Tupelo old school, and was capable, whenever he got going good, of preaching a pretty wide swath of blue ruin.”
“The Reformers all interpreted the power of the keys as the Church’s preaching.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 43
“If that conversation had been the North Atlantic just several generations back, there would have been U-boats everywhere.” Flags Out Front, p. 117 ...
“This is why Calvin calls the pulpit the throne of God: voila the pulpit, which is the throne (le siege) of God, from which he wills to govern our souls.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 42
“Maria could see at a glance that Willow must have settled in on some peculiar kind of feminasty revenge and that she needed to be near Tom to do it. Her outfit was like a sale at Macy’s—forty percent off—and Maria started to fume, but then checked herself. No need, no need.”
“The preacher needs courage — not courage to believe but courage to proclaim the truth, however unpalatable, and to rebuke where rebukes are necessary. It is inevitable that he will arouse opposition. ‘They that intend to serve God faithfully and to proclaim his Word will never lack enemies.’”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 40
“The ceiling of the room where the cocktail party was held was thickly covered with numerous chandeliers, the hotel ballroom kind of chandelier, and with all of them putting out the kind of light you might see at the lower wattage end of a brown out. The lights, however, were not flickering, which made you realize that somebody was doing it all on purpose. Despite the lighting, and perhaps because of it, the room was filled with major media figures, television personalities, editors and other detritus from the publishing world, a handful of decrepit rock stars, and throbbing electropop. Oom cha oom cha oom cha. Oh, and money. The room was full of money in very adult amounts, Manhattan scale, while the crackling envy and flirtation levels were all still stuck in junior high, Hoboken scale. The ‘atrocious lighting,’ as Dr. Tom summed it up, made it look like one of Dante’s circles done up in sepia tones.”
“It would be better for him to break his neck going up into the pulpit if he does not take pains to be the first to follow God.”
Calvin, in Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 40
“Pretend you just told me that you read about some people who crept into my house in the middle of the night and they swear they found some porn in my library or under my bed. And you want to maintain that they are dishonest enough to break into my house like this, but honest enough not to plant the porn there? How did you get criminals like this with just the right balance of honesty and dishonesty?”
