In his engaging and admirable book, Bad Religion, Ross Douthat mentions me in an aside,[1] and in that particular citation, he touches on a few things that need to be addressed at the very outset of any argument for a “mere Christendom.” They can be grouped under the heading of proposals that no one should …
That Seamy Chain of Syllogisms
Marriage is a political act, and not an individual choice. How you marry is a way of testifying to what city you belong to. Who defines marriage? The difficulty we are having in our generation in answering this question shows how theology shapes and drives everything. If God created the world, and put one man …
You Don’t Use the Whole Horse
“Transcendent politics can sometimes be a very dangerous politics, but is the only kind of politics for human beings” (Glenn Moots, Politics Reformed, p. xii). One of the reasons I like this quote — besides the fact that it is so gloriously true — is the fact that it collides so spectacularly with the actual …
Honest As White Paint
I have said kind things about Ron Paul in the past, and I will continue say them in the future. He continues to be one of the people I could vote for when Ringling Bros. finally brings the gaudy parade to my state. But he whiffed it last night in the debate when asked how …
Quite an Aesthetic Treat
It is a tad exasperating, but then one recalls one’s Calvinism again, and everything’s okay. I refer, of course, to the questions of high theology that have now beset the contenders for the Republican nomination for president. I shall respond briefly (and with my customary moderation) by means of three basic points. First, the fracas …
Pick-Up Trucks With American Flags on Them
Most people only know half of Stephen Decatur’s famous toast — “my country, right or wrong.” But the whole thing was much more admirable. “My country, may she always be right. But my country, right or wrong.” The abbreviated version makes it sound like national interest is the only standard that a full-tilt patriot would …
Our New Bird Feeder
The besetting sin of conservatives who see what is going on around us is the sin of being strident and shrill. The besetting sin of most other conservatives is to react against that shrillness by adopting a posture of cluelessness. For has not experience shown us that as soon as someone gets a clue, they …
Redemptive/Historical Embarrassment
When we look at what is happening to the culture around us, and we recognize that so much of the destruction is avoidable, and we consider also the fact that the people implementing these suicidal policies are not idiots — and indeed exhibit an intelligence of the highest order in other areas, the conclusion appears …
Maybe We Could Quit in the Third Quarter
This recent collection of quotes basically present an interesting question to us. What are the implications of Christendom being, as the authors argue, “done”? Well, if you are a Christian, and Christendom really is done, then the obvious answer is to rebuild it. Right? Frost and Hirsch argue that this situation “will require that we …
Fill In Details Later
The other day Nancy and I spent a lot of time at Logos for grandparents day. The kids had their projects out, we saw some impressive class exercises, and so on. My grandson Knox had an impressive statement about the Reformation, at a sixth grade level, along with a poem he had written about Luther. …