Christian Life

Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784) and her Sovereign God Whatever moved the Wheatleys to buy the little slave that had just arrived from Africa, it was not her physical strength. Small, frightened and skinny, she looked too frail to do much work. The Wheatleys’ choice might have been due to the fact...
“Would You But Permit Me to Cast Myself at Your Feet?” – Marriage Proposal of 18 th -Century Ministers This is a sequel to an article I wrote a few years ago about some marriage proposals by 16 th -century Protestant Reformers. [1] Most of those were practical, from Heinrich Bullinger’s (1504–1575...
Roald Dahl provided for my wife and I, when we first got married, a proper philosophy of home with his memorable instruction, “Please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away. And in its place you can install, a lovely bookshelf on the wall.” 2019 saw many more books added to that...
Have you ever wondered why Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14? Perhaps the ready answer is that the quote substantiates the virgin conception and birth of Christ, which is true enough. However, the text raises a number of questions. For instance, why did God promise a virgin conceived and virgin born...
Brad Mercer
When Gilbert Meilaender writes a book, I press "pre-order" at Amazon. Not because I agree with everything he writes, but because he, as an astute theologian and ethicist, is consistently insightful about the nature of what he calls "the perennial problems of moral life." I was first introduced to...
Derek Thomas Articles
Another, much anticipated book by J. I. Packer (and a second co-authored by Carolyn Nystrom). This one, as the title makes abundantly clear, on prayer - or, as the action-word suggests, praying. A century and a half ago the Scottish professor "Rabbi" Duncan sent his students off to read John Owen,...