“We are like Yeat’s falcon, increasingly oblivious to the voice of the falconer. The center no longer holds. All is flung to the periphery, where its meaning is lost . . . We have become T.S. Eliot’s ‘hollow men,’ without weight, for whom appearance and image must suffice.” [David Wells, God in the Wasteland (Grand …
The God of Calvin is the God of History
“Part of the reason the Reformed have been so influential in history is that they have such a strong doctrine of history. This in turn is because they have a strong doctrine of the providence of God over all history. And without that doctrine of providence, the whole thing starts to unravel” (The Paideia of …
Audible Confetti
“The public sphere, dominated as it is by the omnipresence of bureaucracy, systems of manufacturing, the machinery of capitalism, and the audible confetti spewing out of countless radios and television makes it virtually impossible to think that in this world God has any meaningful place. He may have a place somewhere, but not here, not …
How Are Arminians Saved?
“We must also confess that we do not determine the boundaries of salvation — God does. We must follow His lead and must not seek to have higher fellowship standards than He does. For example, did God fellowship with you and have communion with you before you understood these truths? Salvation is based on the …
Postmodernity: Modernity’s Hiccup
“I have spoken of the emergence of the global cliché culture as the birthmark of Our Time. Until modernity was ushered into our world, cultures were always local. They were, by definition, sets of meanings and morals, beliefs and habits that arose in specific contexts of history and religion, a people’s social organization and place …
Can the Old Heart Act Like the New Heart?
“If the Father does not do the drawing, if the Father does not give it, then a man cannot come. But does this mean that no one ever comes? No — it means that everyone who comes has been drawn by God. And further, when the Father draws, that drawing is inexorable: ‘All that the …
Convenience Store Therapy
“Television entertainments tend to avoid problems that can’t be solved by the end of the hour.” [David Wells, No Place for Truth (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1993), p. 200.]
Lazarus Didn’t Help Do It
“A dead man is in no shape to prepare himself for resurrection. He is impotent. When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, it was not a cooperative effort between the two. Christ raised him, and then Lazarus came forth” (The Paideia of God, pp. 62-63).
The Power of the Cultural Vacuum
“What is now in place is not exactly an alternative system of belief. What is in place is no system of belief at all. It is more like a vacuum into the quiet emptiness of which the self is reaching for meaning – and finding only itself. But this is to put the matter more …
What Kind of Objection?
[Speaking of Acts 4:27-28] “They gathered together to commit a heinous crime, but they only did what God’s hand and purpose had settled beforehand. We therefore see that God can control sinful actions without being defiled by those sinful actions. Of course, objections crowd into our minds, but they are not textual objections — at …