Remaking Civilization, Part 2: Recapturing Intrinsic Value

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 2:59 pm By Anthony Costello

In the previous post in this series, I argued there are three fundamental aspects of reality that the Bible presupposes as true. The first of these unchangeable features of God’s world is the reality of hierarchical structures. Human beings cannot avoid hierarchical structures or undo the authoritative roles that constitute them. In fact, it is better to say that because there are indispensable relations of authority, hierarchical structures exist. We shouldn’t put the cart before the horse. The reasons for... Read more

“Whiteness” and The Splitting of the Evangelical Mind

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 2:58 pm By Anthony Costello

I am digressing from a series of posts to discuss something I think is rather obvious about the Church in America today but which may need some additional pointing out. There seems to be a very real and serious bifurcation of Christian intellectual activity into two broad camps. This bifurcation mirrors a similar division in secular scholarship, and is, in fact, a result of it. Further, this bifurcation seems to be causing an equal amount of division among professing Christians as it... Read more

Remaking Civilization: Part 1 – The Necessity of Hierarchy

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 2:58 pm By Anthony Costello

At the heart of the biblical view of reality are three deep and abiding claims about the world. The claims themselves are found throughout the Scriptures. However, they are not always made explicit. The Bible simply presupposes them as true. They are true in virtue of the fact they accurately describe indelible features of the world God created. By “world,” I mean more than either the natural scientist or the social theorist would reduce the world down to. The “world”... Read more

Tim Keller and the Evangelical Elite: Where Are Their Minds?

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 2:57 pm By Anthony Costello

This is a Guest Post by my friend and colleague Logan Zeppieri. Logan holds an MA in Philosophy from Talbot School of Theology, a BA in Philosophy of Science and is a current graduate student in Clinical Psychology. His work includes political and business research, pastoral training, animation, and essay contributions to several publications like the Claremont Institutes, “The American Mind.” Recently, pastor and theologian Tim Keller has ventured into the twitter-verse to make a new name for himself as the arbiter and sooth-sayer of... Read more

When Enemies Attack: Lessons from The Book of Nehemiah

Last updated on: October 6, 2023 at 11:35 am By Anthony Costello

When God anoints a man or a woman to do a great work, there will inevitably be resistance. That resistance can take many forms, issuing in a variety of attacks. Also, the greater the work ordained, the more intense and more subtle the attacks will be. This is a spiritual truth that anyone seeking to please God and follow Christ must be ready to accept. Perpetual blessings and comfortable lives are rare commodities for those heaven-bent on imitating Christ. In... Read more

5 (or so) Podcasts That Really Are Worth Your Time

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 2:55 pm By Anthony Costello

Time spent online, posting on social media or watching podcasts or reading these articles, can often be a tremendous waste of our most valuable resource. We all know the feeling of catching ourselves after hours of clicking, viewing and commenting have seemingly passed into oblivion. We awake from our web-induced slumber wondering where our day went and whether or not it was worth it. With so many options and so much freedom to click and view this, that, or the... Read more

The First Temptation(s) Of Christ: The Temptation of the Eyes

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 2:54 pm By Anthony Costello

In this series I have looked at each of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness. First I discussed a “proto-temptation,” the test of waiting, that precedes Jesus’ three direct temptations by the Satan. In the second article, I looked at the trial of the body and in the last one I examined the test of the ego. In this final entry, I will look at Satan’s most direct attack against Jesus– the temptation of the eyes, or covetousness. All The Kingdoms... Read more

Critical Freedom: Critical Theory and The Messianic Light

Last updated on: October 10, 2024 at 10:30 am By Anthony Costello

Karl Marx, the great prophet of liberation for modern man, considered man’s alienation inextricably connected to his labor. For Marx man was, at bottom, homo faber–man, the maker of things. Further, since man was not created by God, he was not only the maker of tools and artifacts, but, in a sense, the maker of himself. Marx didn’t mean man literally creates himself, in the strict metaphysical sense (man, for Marx, is an accident of nature), but he did mean that... Read more

Is Christianity Abusive?: The Claim of “Spiritual Trauma” and Religiously Induced PTSD

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 2:52 pm By Anthony Costello

Recently I have seen on social media a certain kind of claim being made. The claim usually goes something like this: Person “X” claims they grew up Christian and now, as an adult, are no longer Christian. Their upbringing, it is usually said, occurred in a “fundamentalist” Christian environment or some type of conservative Protestant, usually Evangelical, church or home. The claimant then reveals they are now either an atheist or, at most, agnostic about religion. Now, at this point,... Read more

The First Temptation(s) of Christ: The Trial of The Ego

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 2:51 pm By Anthony Costello

In this short series I am looking at the three temptations of Christ as recorded in Matthew 4:1-11. In part 1, I considered a possible temptation that occurs prior to Jesus’ going out to the desert. This is a kind of “proto” temptation, a temptation within a temptation. This is the test of having to wait and be tested at all. It comes when one feels absolutely ready to start the mission God has called one to do but then... Read more