“Many surrendered to, all were influenced by, the dazzling figure of Calvin . . . The fierce young don, the learned lady, the courtier with intellectual leanings, were likely to be Calvinists. When hard rocks of Predestination outcrop in the flowery of the Arcadia or the Faerie Queen, we are apt to think them anomalous, …
And No Fudging
“Well. obviously, the first thing you have to do is to deal with meaning of your text. At this point there is one golden rule, one absolute demand — honesty.” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 199).
Sex as Metaphysical Greed
“Since sex for the homosexual is essentially an attempt to appropriate the masculinity that he feels lacking in himself from someone who seems to embody it, sex with girls has no purpose, since girls do not have what he lacks. Once construed in this way, sex becomes, essentially, vampirism” (E. Michael Jones, Monsters from the …
Rabbis in Trousers
“Now of course, Christ was not requiring rabbis to wear trousers (everyone wore robes) any more than He was requiring them to be cranky and sullen in the marketplaces, refusing to return greetings. As mentioned above, the point of His warning was the common temptation to have an undue love of such things. But He …
The Puritan Epithalamion
“To be sure, there are standards by which the early Protestants could be called ‘puritanical’; they held adultery, fornication, and perversion for deadly sins. But then so did the Pope. If that is puritanism, all Christendom was then puritanical together. So far as there was any difference about sexual morality, the Old Religion was the …
And Don’t Forget Poetry. Or Fiction.
“This is really dangerous, and the way to counteract it is to prescribe balanced reading for yourself. What I mean is this. Read theology, as I say, but always balance it, not only with Church history but with biographies and the more devotional type of reading. Let me explain why this is so important. Your …
Though Technology Would Like To
“But even after a cure for syphilis had been found and a sure-fire preventative for pregnancy invented, a monster would appear after the revolution, as it did in 1979 with Alien, because the monster symbolizes the ineradicable nature of man’s conscience. Technology can never kill it” (E. Michael Jones, Monsters from the Id, p. 133).
Rev. On My Good Days?
“But Christ was insistent that the leadership of the Church must never pursue honor through the use of titles. The leaders of the Church are to be distinguished and set apart, but this is to happen through service and self-sacrifice. Pastors have to avoid the common sin of wanting to be known as a servant …
Relief and Buoyancy
“Relief and buoyancy are the characteristic notes . . . It follows that nearly every association which now clings to the word puritan has to be eliminated when we are thinking of the early Protestants. Whatever they were, they were not sour, gloomy, or severe; nor did their enemies bring any such charge against them …
First, Tune the Instrument
“The preacher’s first, and the most important task is to prepare himself, not his sermon” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 166).