“For example, someone might want to blame the Protestant Reformation for our modern social balkanizations, but this is way too convenient, and besides, why don’t these same people thank the Protestant Reformers for indoor plumbing?” (Rules for Reformers, p. 151).
To Make the World Like Ireland
“War is declared in the third chapter of the Bible, the central victory is accomplished when the Lord Jesus crushed the head of the serpent at the cross, and the rest of history consists of believers in Jesus being sent out into the world in order to manhandle all the snakes they can find” (Rules …
Blind Philosopher’s Buff
“Without some light from God, we cannot even know we are in the dark, although lots of our modern johnnies pretend to know that, so that they may begin work on their bulging forehead workarounds. But if Kant can’t know anything ‘in itself, as it is,’ then one wonders how he figured out the limitations …
Anywhere He Said It
“You shall not suffer a witch to live, objects falling down at 9.8 meters per second squared, and nature itself teaching us that long hair is a woman’s glory are all expressions of the same personal and divine will . . . When we confess Jesus as Lord, we have to take care to listen …
Living in the Same World With Unbelievers
“Unless we hold to a covenant of creation distinct from a covenant of grace, we will have no basis for speaking to certain public policy issues of the day, like homosexual marriage” (Rules for Reformers, p. 145).
Inescapability of Natural Law
“Worship and honor were required by the knowledge that natural revelation brought. This they refused to do, in defiance of this light from natural revelation, and this light from natural revelation can certainly be called a natural law. It has all the ingredients — a lawgiver, a standard, a subject, and moral responsibility. Nothing is …
Now Hiring . . .
“So we should be in the market for young Christian men and women who are willing to be trained in genuine cultural engagement. They won’t be embarrassed by old-fashioned virtues, like hard work and discipline. They will respect authority and defy the authorities. They won’t get fired from jobs because of laziness, and they will …
No Handles on the Right
“Those who had taunted these religious conservatives for being disengaged were dismayed by what their engagement looked like, and so they began to taunt them for that. We were only to be allowed back into the public square if we immediately veered over to the left” (Rules, p. 137).
Tired of Paradise
“Adam did not rebel against God because he was tired of living in a slum. No, his children live in slums because he grew tired of living in Paradise . . . The cause of the evil is our revolt against the good, which we routinely justify by pointing at the evil” (Rules, p. 135).
Not the Story They Wanted
“Apart from Christ, all sorts of people in black robes and white lab coats, want to be the final word. They want to act like they are pacing back and forth on the widow’s walk of humanity’s great house, gazing heroically out to sea, under the azure sky, when they are actually down in the …