So I have been using the phrase mere Christendom. What does the mere mean? First we need to address what it does not mean. It does not mean Christendom Lite. It does not mean “faith-based” civilization, the same way you might have faith-based soup kitchens, with the content of the faith being diluted enough to …
The Levee Gonna Break
Whenever there is a craze about something or other, it is not long before that craze is referenced in the public life of a society. If it is a big deal, then at some point it will blow up on television, news sites, or youtube, and then late night comedians start talking about it, and …
Deep Within the Recesses of His Own Head
According to the secular catechism we all learned somewhere, violence is primitive, barbaric, superstitious, and intertwined with that other great throwback, religion. And Christians (who profess not to accept that catechism in its entirety) are nonetheless affected by it, and are dutifully apologetic for the Crusades. Evangelical Christians, who do not want to ditch the …
Avoid that Bummer
Many of our prophetic voice brethren are willing, like Jonah, to speak truth to power. They, also like Jonah, would be entirely flummoxed if power listens to them. Jonah’s reluctance to preach to Nineveh was not driven by cowardice, or anything like that. He hated Nineveh, a godless power, an oppressor of Jonah’s people, and …
No Peace Treaties with Amalekites
The notion of Christendom is not just a personal pipe dream. It is not a collection of “wouldn’t it be nice” surmises. A Reformed understanding of the gospel, of worship, of education, of politics, and so on, is incoherent apart from a commitment to Christendom. Christendom is an essential part of a Reformed theology in …
The Streetcar of Democracy
Christians who argue for a secular public square are caught on the horns of a dilemma. Either Jesus wants this or He doesn’t. Or maybe He doesn’t care. If He doesn’t want it, then why do they? If He does, then are they not advocating a civil arrangement based on the will of the Lord, …
On Its Last Leg, and Hopping Around
In the midst of a teetering secular society, with personal liberty rapidly eroding, to put forward the idea of a mere Christendom (as I am doing) is to invite fears of repressive regimes, religious intolerance, and so on. This is because we still love the name of liberty, but no longer understand what it is …
Where There Are No Sidelines
God has fashioned the world in such a way that we always have to come down to the point. However much we might want to obscure the issues, however much we might build great universities with trained brains to cover everything in a dark mist, however much we reward those pundits who make ample room …
Tolerance as a Christian Virtue
There are two basic points to make about tolerance as a civic virtue. The first is logical and the second historical. The logical point is that tolerance cannot be a free-floating virtue. This is because no virtue (or vice either) can be found in a transitive verb. It is not a matter of whether you …
A Decorated Altar is Still a Cold One
From the very beginning the Christian faith has had to deal with imposters who gain control of the governmental mechanisms of the church, doing so in order to undermine the entire point of the Church. Think, for example, of Diotrephes, who would put out of the church anybody who had even voted in favor of …