Tom McLeish focuses on the book of Job in his excursion through Faith & Wisdom in Science. This is not the whole focus – or even the conclusion – but it is the summit. ‘Nature’ plays an important role in the book. Both Job and his friends have an incomplete and/or incorrect view of God’s creation. The friends are sure that creation operates according to God’s justice and the retribution principle. God gives rain to the righteous and drought to... Read more

What makes a behavior, a praxis, or a way of life Christian? Is it one that follows the rules? Is there something deeper at the core of it all? What makes something profoundly Christian? It is too easy in our Christian or post-Christian North American world to think our way of life is a Christian way of life. What our way of life is comes from a tradition of practice and socialization and enculturation and discipleship all rolled into one... Read more

I’m starting a series today for post seminary reading. A pastor recently wrote me and asked about what to read now that he is pastoring. He expressed an interest in intellectual challenges for the pastor and for continuing education. I thought five books would be a good number but there’s one problem: perhaps the pastor read one of these books in seminary, so I’ll add a sixth. My specialty is New Testament studies so I will begin there. These are... Read more

Yes. Many times Yes. Here’s what Paul says: Gal. 6:10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. 1Th. 3:12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 1Th. 4:11 to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as... Read more

The third essay in the new book Four Views on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design was written by Deborah Haarsma, President of BioLogos. Unlike the first two essays (by Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis, and Hugh Ross, Reasons to Believe) this essay focuses on science. While Deborah Haarsma and BioLogos have a  high view of Scripture the interpretation is different. While in general I am skeptical when a statement of faith (What We Believe) starts with Scripture rather than God,... Read more

What is Kuyperianism? In much of the modern discussion (I hear) it has to do with two features: first, sphere sovereignty, by which Kuyper meant there are specific ways of indwelling various spheres of life that have their own sovereignty, and spheres are economics, education, church, politics, arts, etc. The second feature I often hear is about influencing the public sector by participation in various spheres. Accurate or not as precise as it could be, this is standard fare. Craig... Read more

Source: WENZHOU, China (Reuters) – When authorities in China’s southeastern city of Wenzhou outlawed Sunday School earlier this year, Christian parents determined their children must still learn about Jesus and the Bible. Churches in Wenzhou started teaching children in private homes or at other venues. Some billed Sunday School classes as daycare, not education, or moved them to Saturdays, more than a dozen local Christians told Reuters. Wenzhou, sometimes known as “China’s Jerusalem” due to its sizable Christian community, is... Read more

By Mitchell East, an intern for the university ministry of St. Aldates Church in Oxford, England. At the university I attended, some seminary students went through a ritual. The goal of the ritual was to become an Enlightened Reader of the Bible. Here were the steps. First, they would become disenchanted with one way they used to read the Bible. Then, they found out about another way of reading the Bible. We’ll call the new way of reading “The Best... Read more

By Carl Trueman An Affair to Remember The death of Christine Keeler  a few weeks ago marked the passing from the scene of the last major character from the most notorious sex scandal in British politics of the latter half of the twentieth century. The Profumo Affair brought down the Macmillan government, paved the way for the election victory of the Labour Party in 1964 and shaped the political landscape of Britain for a generation. The details of the scandal... Read more

The book of essays by Dorothy Sayers Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World reprinted as The Whimsical Christian contains an essay entitled “A Vote of Thanks to Cyrus.” In this essay Sayers reflects on the way we classify different kinds of literature – in particular the implicit, even unconscious, distinctions we make between the bible, classics, and history. I owe a certain debt to Cyrus the Persian. I made his acquaintance fairly early, for he lived between the pages of... Read more