I may say this without fear of contradiction because a poet, one of our own, has taught us that love is a many-splendored thing, and no less than the apostle Paul himself has taught us that love is the fulfillment of the law. “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one …
Theocracy and the Tijuana Brass
Introduction: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. The Gospel Coalition and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission are holding a conference in April to commemorate it (MLK50: Reflections from the Mountaintop). Anticipating the conference, earlier this week Russell Moore took the opportunity of MLK day to write …
Like a Dog Chasing a Firetruck
Introduction: What I would like to do, if you all will be kind enough to permit it, is further explain what I mean when I say that all societies are theocratic, by necessity, of necessity. I would also like to do it in a way that is compelling to absolutely everyone on the planet. But …
I Will Be Brief If I Can
So brief. So the president allegedly called certain other countries a name that I will not repeat here, but it was rude, crude, and unattractive. In response, I tweeted this: “In response to the president’s alleged rude comment about certain countries, I call upon Christian leaders everywhere to refrain from giving any theocratic admonitions.” What …
A Primer on Theocracies
Introduction: A number of years ago, John Piper was being given some grief for having anything to do with me, and he was handling some hot grounders on the subject. In one Q & A, the topic came up (and I think the issue was something federal-visiony), and so he answered the question. He said …
Tribal Truth
Introduction: I want to offer a “get yourself oriented” explanation for the lunacy that has apparently descended upon virtually everybody. A fogbank of dunsical folly, stretching the length of the entire East Coast, has worked its way across the nation, and so it is that we hear distant, muffled cries, from out there in the …
Outrage Goes in the Purple Bin
So in something of a prescient move, in my last post I mentioned my widening circle of irrelevance—my particular brand of toxicity is now being increasingly opposed, and out of the blue, by various important voices, modulated voices, voices of sweet reason. The latest is from Elizabeth Bruenig, a columnist with The Washington Post, who …
Troubler of Israel
At least as things now stand, Judge Roy Moore will probably walk through his election to the Senate with his hands in his pockets. Because of the “peculiar” stand he has taken on several issues, he is drawing the opposition of some conservatives. And I do not put conservative here in scare quotes, because I …
Boy Scouts in the Original Greek
I think it is time for us to distinguish the Christian temper from various ideologies of the left and right that claim the mantle of scriptural authority. For example, socialists have confounded taking with sharing and libertarians have confounded autonomy with liberty. And both can produce Bible verses that commend sharing and liberty to us …
Shooters, the Tower of Babel, and Gun Control
Whenever God is formally excluded from anything, we should always suspect a power play. The “exile” of God, the “death” of God, the “silence” of God, are always seen by the unbelieving heart of man as constituting some kind of a job opening. The primal temptation was “you shall be as God” (Gen. 3:5). In …