A while back, it hit me that Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” may be an alternate ending for Luke 16:19-31 (the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus): “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham,... Read more
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” I want to challenge us to meditate on this verse of Scripture in the aftermath of the 2016 election. All of us. For a lot of reasons. First, political progressives and Hillary Clinton supporters should consider the Apostle Paul’s words carefully as they reflect on the past few months, and more importantly, on the eight years before that. We’re seeing hand-wringing and consternation in major cities,... Read more
Faced with two of the most despised presidential nominees in modern American history, the temptation to play the electoral equivalent of Vizzini’s battle of wits from the movie “The Princess Bride” is nearly irresistible. It’s not about choosing the right cup, we’ve been told ad nauseum for months. It’s about not choosing the wrong cup. But what if both cups are poisoned? Since most voters have no more immunity to corrupt and debased politicians than they do to iocane powder,... Read more
“Men or nations who think they can revive the Faith in order to make a good society might just as well think they can use the stairs of Heaven as a short cut to the nearest chemist’s shop. Fortunately it is quite easy to coax humans round this little corner. Only today I have found a passage in a Christian writer where he recommends his own version of Christianity on the ground that ‘only such a faith can outlast the... Read more
A while back, my friend Steven Wedgeworth wrote an outstanding essay over at The Calvinist International on the origins of Halloween. It’s an annual must-read. The gist is that Halloween is not some ancient pagan festival or even Christian subversion of demonic shenanigans (as a lot of Christian writers have claimed over the years). The truth is far more boring. Halloween as we know it is really little more than a 20th century invention designed to sell stuff. After I posted... Read more
It’s tough to express how strange it is seeing pastors and columnists hawk theological liberalism as the solution to Christianity’s troubles. Why? Because we’re standing in the ruins of theological liberalism. The new soup de jour is luring Christians away from the Bible and doctrine, toward a way of living allegedly modeled after Christ’s. But “Christianity as lifestyle,” or the increasingly popular “living the Gospel,” isn’t a new idea. It’s just warmed-over late 19th-century mainline Protestant gruel. And it’s being... Read more
Like probably most of you, I read Josh Harris’ “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” as a rite of passage when I entered my teenage years. Harris, a single young adult at the time his book was published, became a bestseller because what he pointed out–that the modern dating scene had become “a training ground for divorce”–was unarguably true. Kids in the 1990s (and today) pursue exclusive romantic relationships with the opposite sex from the time they’re in middle school and easily... Read more
What shapes our fate, most? For many people in world history, the answer was unarguably outside forces. For the hundreds of thousands brought to North America in chains from Africa, it was the will of European slave traders, not personal decisions, that most shaped their lives. Likewise, for the vast majority of women born in the Islamic world, life is a script written by fathers and husbands. And for nearly a million babies in the womb this year, personal choices are... Read more
My friend, Seraphim Hamilton, has prepared an outstanding list of reasons he believes in Christianity–not just as the true faith, but as the story of reality. He’s given me permission to reprint them here in full: Somebody asked me why, given the inference to design, I held Christian theism to be superior. This is my response. The inference to design is not going to carry a person all the way to Christianity. Personally, I am very impressed by a consilience... Read more
When I was growing up, I thought that Romans 10:9 was the Gospel: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Excepting the bit about the Resurrection, that is not the Gospel. That is the Apostle Paul telling a convert what to do in light of the Gospel. Believing is not the Gospel, either. Nor is justification by faith. And contrary to... Read more
Troubler of Israel
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