“Before we can answer this question rightly, we have to ask it rightly. This is one of those situations where even to ask the question–“How do we tell the right time for satire and the right time for tenderness?”–answers those who want to say that there is never a time for polemical speech. But of …
And Lo
“I have sometimes thought about writing an article advocating the courtship model found in the book of Ruth — work hard in the field at harvest, have enough to drink to make the heart merry and sleep sweet, go to sleep on the threshing floor, and wake up in the middle of the night to …
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Real Discernment
“Not only is the fashioning of deity hard physical labor, it takes a good deal of shrewd discernment. It is not just anybody who can look at a log and see which end of it should be used for cooking dinner and which end should become the object of worship and adoration” (A Serrated Edge, …
Sugar Levels
“When God rebukes Job our of the whirlwind, Job has the humility and sense to cover his mouth with his hand, thoroughly abashed. But modern evangelicals chatter on. They have embraced the theology of the foolish women Job mentioned at the beginning of the book, and, judging by the posters in their Bible and bauble …
A Place of Dubious Honor
“The Bible even goes in for a little bimbo humor. ‘As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion’ (Prov. 11:22). Here, let us consider the parable. Is feminine beauty worth anything? Absolutely, between three and four hundred dollars an ounce. But what is her lack …
Glitterati
“Woe, in other words, to those who roll around on their beds like they were really something, with mirrors on the ceiling, pink champagne on ice. These people think they are rock stars at the Grammies, gathered together with all the glitterati, all ready to receive the award for Best Album, and with a prepared …
The Trees of the Lord
“In other words, the real dilemma should confront those who would undertake a biblical defense of writing like the author of the Elsie Dinsmore stories. While there are things in the Bible that might even resemble Swift’s Modest Proposal, there is nothing that remotely resembles 19th century sentimentality. So why is it that those who …
Getting An Advance
“When Jesus is teaching against anxiety and worry, He uses the striking image of those who run out of worries for the day, and so they have to get an advance. I don’t have enough troubles — and so I have borrow some from next week. ‘Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the …
Have a Witness
“Jesus even makes fun of how men pray. Jesus, the One in whose name we pray, during His incarnate ministry, leveled the guns of satire at those who sought to ‘have a witness’ by praying openly in restaurants so that people could see how holy they were. Jesus told us not to pray so that …
The Hinder Parts of a Bull
“But one edifying thought experiment (there are many such) consists of William Tyndale paying a tumultuous visit to Tyndale House, publishers of the inane Left Behind series. One pictures broken windows, crying secretaries, sirens, a major scene, an arrest, and a board meeting the next day with the suits and haircuts trying to decide if …