If you sin should you confess your wickedness to a pastor? Protestants say no. Roman Catholics say yes but turn “pastor” into “priest.” And Kathy Schiff explains that the Roman Catholic practice of confession of sins rests on the Protestant understanding of the Bible only: Catholics don’t just confess their sins to a priest. The priest is an “alter-Christus”; that is, he stands in for Christ. When a Catholic confesses his sins in the presence of a priest, it’s Christ... Read more
Yet more hysteria from cultural Christians about the slights of the wider culture. Mark Bauerlein explains that Christians should avoid Starbucks because of its neutral red cup. First he quotes the press release from Faith Driven Consumer: Brands are in a race to attract consumers and earn their business this Christmas. Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are both free to design their cups and express their values as they see fit. By creating cups that specifically message the Joy of the... Read more
A mantra in evangelical higher education as long as I’ve been around it (I no longer teach at one) is that born-again Protestant colleges offer a distinct alternative to secular institutions because evangelical faculty bring Christianity to bear on all teaching and subjects. Maybe. But the problem of such a boast is that it invites professors, some of whom have no more expertise about Scripture of theology, to apply their Sunday-school level understanding of the faith to a host of... Read more
Peter Leithart’s want-list for 2015: I want the Pope to give up his claim to infallibility. In our day, the Papacy stands as a global symbol of Christian faith, and popes of recent decades have been among the greatest Christian leaders of recent history. The Pope is a universal teacher, a stout defender of Christian morals, a living icon of charity, a father to princes and presidents. None of that makes him a definer of dogma. No matter how narrowly... Read more
A common complaint among Roman Catholics about Protestantism is that it broke up Christendom. What had been a united Christian civilization ended once Martin Luther came along and introduced another version of Christianity. Odd it is that some Americans — even Roman Catholics in the United States — who promote religious freedom and even the freedom of the will don’t like Luther’s dissent or the novelty of presenting Christians with a choice. Be that as it may, why Protestants take... Read more
The desire for church reform was widespread in the 15th and 16th centuries. One major reason was the papacy. Carl Trueman provides a useful reminder: Yes, it is true that Protestant interpretive diversity is an empirical fact; but when it comes to selectivity in historical reading as a means of creating a false impression of stability, Roman Catholic approaches to the Papacy provide some excellent examples of such fallacious method. The ability to ignore or simply dismiss as irrelevant the... Read more
In a recent talk in London, reports have it that: Wright said that there should be no separation between religion and politics, and that Jesus “came to institute God’s rule on earth, theocracy.” He said that “To hear the call of Jesus right now [is] to be part of [a] kingdom project.” “The whole meaning of God’s kingdom is about the one true God calling time on the world’s wicked empires and setting up a radically different empire instead.” The... Read more
Most Americans are familiar with Thomas Jefferson’s edition of the Bible, the one in which he cut out the objectionable parts. H.L. Mencken proposed his own version of the Bible, an expurgated one. Here‘s a sample: As the Bible would have to be edited if it were printed as a serial in The Sun: For a fire is kindled to mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest h–l.—Deuteronomy, xxxii, 22. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;... Read more
Gene Veith asks for a theological rationale for a state church: What is the theological basis for a state church? As an American who takes for granted the separation of church and state and as a Missouri Synod Lutheran, whose religious forebears fled the state church, it’s hard for me to understand. And yet, the golden age of Lutheran orthodoxy in the 17th century took place in state churches. Doesn’t the concept violate the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms? I... Read more
So John Fea and Scott McKnight have a little fun at Calvinists’ expense by linking to Stephen Altrogge’s post about Adult Onset Calvinism (AOC): To help you navigate the treacherous waters of AOC, I’ve listed the possible symptoms you may encounter. A sudden urge to correct everything and everyone all the time about every possible thing. A growing conviction that every worship song you’ve ever sung is heretical and should be excised from the church catalog, including the Nicene Creed,... Read more
Putting the Protest in Protestant
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