So here was a thought that popped into my head today while listening to sports talk radio and hearing about a promotion for a local jeweler who “makes love happen.” I’m sure this fellow would not be opposed to gay marriage, but what happens in the realm of gold and diamonds for gay persons planning on marriage? Do they propose and become engaged? Do they use an engagement ring, and who wears it? The conventions of sex might make it... Read more
Revivalism and Presbyterianism have a long and complicated history. Presbyterians in the United States split twice over revivals, the first time (when they weren’t yet Americans) in 1741 after (Boy) George Whitefield invaded the North American British colonies. They split again in 1837 when Charles Finney’s preaching and methods became objectionable. Calvinism more generally is the faith said to produce God’s “frozen chosen.” A common complaint about Presbyterians is that they put the Holy Spirit in a box whose confines... Read more
Can someone, anyone, explain why John Piper is so popular among evangelicals? The reason for asking is his tendency to overreach on the way to reinforcing his doctrinal brand — an earnest Calvinism that seems to resonate with the young and restless fans of Jonathan Edwards. Consider the following where he argues a believer can have assurance of faith and not be saved (for anyone who’s a Calvinist, as Piper pretends to be, this is scary): It is possible to... Read more
Pete Enns a while back channeled Rachel Held Evans on the value of candor among Christians. It made me wonder if Enns and Evans had ever seen Whit Stillman’s film, Metropolitan. This is a movie that sets Jane-Austen-like characters within a group of upper crust high school seniors during the late 1970s as they go through the rituals of Manhattan’s debutant season. During one of the after parties the group decides to play Truth or Dare and one of the... Read more
U.S. national holidays generally bring out the worst of American civil religion. A sure fire way to justify any human enterprise is to invoke divine sanction. This becomes especially important when the lives of humans are on the line. If you fight a war, doing so to defend territory, family, and a way of life are good reasons for combat. But how much better if you can claim or imply that divine purposes are at stake? Perhaps no better example... Read more
Mad Men has just concluded and various encomiums have followed. For David Letterman fans, the timing is unfortunate if only because Dave has to share praise with Don Draper. When Walter White rode off into the Albuquerque sunset, I don’t recall him having to be so generous. My own estimate, shared by the missus, is that David Simon’s The Wire is the best moving picture production ever made. It’s a cop show, yes. And that was my first reason not... Read more
Patrick Deneen’s comments about Indiana’s RFRA has been making the rounds but they leave me scratching my head (and wishing we lived closer to Ann Arbor). The decision by corporate leaders to take a political stand over a controversial issue is therefore of great interest. Corporations and business leaders almost always avoid political statements and announcements, recognizing that such declarations have the effect of unnecessarily alienating potential customers. Corporations live in constant fear of bad publicity that can ruin a... Read more
How many times when watching a tv show or movie do we see a man and a woman, on a first date, or after meeting at a bar, or striking up a conversation on a train or airplane, decide within the course of their chance meeting or initial outing to go to bed and consummate their attraction? The level of physical intimacy that follows a relatively personal exchange of ideas or identities has always struck me as disproportionate. When someone... Read more
The subject of the West’s treatment of non-Christians has come up of late, if only because President Obama tried to walk delicately around questions of religious pluralism in his remark at the National Prayer Breakfast. At the time the President said this (and received blow back because he said it): Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history. And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during... Read more
The reason for asking is that he doesn’t seem to be all that impressed with power, in this case divine power. But if you don’t like an all powerful God as Calvinists portray him, then you might also like your national government to be appropriately small and limited. Here’s one of the points that Olson made against Calvinism: I ask the Calvinist “Why do you worship God?” The typical informed answer is “Because God is glorious.” “But what does ‘glorious’... Read more
Putting the Protest in Protestant
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