Post by Nathan Rinne Note: what follows deals with the “worship wars” in my denomination, the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (see the second paragraph here for more resources about that). I think that it might have much wider applicability as well though! In John 6:66 we are told that many of his own disciples went away from Jesus after he explained to a crowd that without eating His body and drinking His blood persons cannot have eternal life: “As... Read more
This is my second lecture from the AALC Eastern Regional Conference on the two kinds of righteousness. The title of the lecture is “Equipping the Saints to Live Coram Mundo.” This lecture focuses on active righteousness. In it, I discuss the importance of good works in the life of the Christian, and their role in Christian preaching and living. I explore the importance of serving the spiritual and physical needs of those around us. Here is the audio. This is... Read more
This is Milton Valentine’s major apologetic work. In this book, Valentine defends a robust natural theology, arguing that Theism is the only rational worldview in contradistinction to the materialistic rationalism which pervaded the nineteenth century. Valentine stands within the nineteenth century apologetic tradition among the likes of B.B. Warfield an Charles Hodge. Though some of the science of this book is dated, this work still stands as a convincing rational defense of the Christian faith. You can purchase the book... Read more
This is a lecture I gave at the 2015 AALC Eastern Regional Conference on passive righteousness. The full title of the lecture is Equipping the Saints to Live Coram Deo. In the lecture, I explain the difference between active and passive righteousness, and how passive righteousness defines the Christian life before God, and specifically in the divine service. Here is the audio This is the outline for the lecture: Equipping the Saints to Live Coram Deo Read more
Post by Nathan Rinne “But because we have for so long been persuaded of the opposite by that pestilential saying of the Sophists that the Scriptures are obscure and ambiguous, we are obliged to begin by proving even that first principle of ours by which everything else has to be proved—a procedure that among the philosophers would be regarded as absurd and impossible.” — Martin Luther, AE 33:91 Recently, at the recommendation of a Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LC-MS)... Read more
Death. The idea is perhaps more real to us this Good Friday than in years past, as 147 people were killed at a Kenyan University by Muslim terrorists on Thursday. These terrorists specifically targeted Christian students, opening fire at a morning prayer meeting. These horrific actions are unthinkable, and we mourn as a society and as a church when such death and destruction come upon the innocent. This event portrays for us two different views of God: a God who... Read more
Post by Nathan Rinne UPDATE: Please note that in this piece I am offering my opinion to Christians and not saying what government laws should look like. In light of new developments with “Memories Pizza”, noted indirectly in the article, I recommend reading what David Brooks said a couple days ago. Earlier this week, I re-published an old post, now retitled “How Should We Show Christian Love in Indiana and Beyond?” Things are definitely heating up there. This is a... Read more
The past few days in the media have been full of discussion about a supposedly anti-gay discrimination law in Indiana. Like most events covered by the media, a quick false impression has been given about the law, and anyone who supports such a law is declared to be a bigot, stuck in the stone age, on the wrong side of history, or one of the other usual phrases thrown out at people who hold to the ideals of the past... Read more
I did a second Question and Answer program today, dealing with multiple topics. I talked about the AALC, differences in beliefs about fellowship between synods, theonomy, the relationship between baptism and salvation, and many other important topics! Here is the Program Read more
Post by Nathan Rinne The recent events surrounding the newly-passed religious freedom law in Indiana – particularly as they have been framed by Brandan Robertson on his “Revangelical blog” here on the patheos site (you can see the comment I left for him here) – have got me thinking hard again about how the world sees Christians. It seems the Christian’s attempt to rightly love is now increasingly seen as anything but. I offer the following post, re-published from my... Read more
Just and Sinner
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