Just back from a few days in Chicago. Managed a quick tour of the "Cézanne to Picasso" exhibition at The Art Institute of Chicago . Took the "Admission Free on Tuesday" option, to mingle with the plebs! No point in paying to see "cubism" I thought! To be honest, loved the Monet and Renoir, but can'...

Gilbert Meilaender, who holds the Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair of Christian Ethics at Valparaiso University, scorches N. T. Wright in the current issue of First Things (Februray 2007). For once, it's not his assertions on Paul and the New Perspective that has Meilaender bent out of shape;...

The tiresome story of the "Tomb of Jesus" rolls on, proving once again the eagerness with which unbelief will grasp at anything to believe a lie. Informed responses can be found at the following sites: Andreas Kostenberger , Ben Witherington , Darrell Bock , and Charles Quarles .

The new edition of Ref21 has been up a day or so, and I thought I'd draw your attention to Trueman taking the middle ground! Intrigued? Go here .

My best response to the NEW blog theme, so far, came this morning from my good friend, Iain D. Campbell of the Free Church of Scotland: How should Reformed Christians celebrate Valentine's Day? Answer: With Tulips !

Thanks Phil! Readers might like to note that two additional items have been added since last week: an extra article on Spurgeon and aiming for conversions in preaching written by Jonathan Watson (General Editor of The Banner of Truth Trust). {Some day, I must relate to you a practical joke he did...

I've been involved in teaching one of those one-week, all-day courses that allowed me little time except to "monitor" the blog. I noted that some lefty cab driver threatens to vilify the Welsh and a good friend from North Wales is arming himself in preparation, he tells me. And I am stockpiling,...

Thanks Phil. We arrived back from a family funeral last night to be met by Ligon at the airport. Now, why did he remind me of Father Christmas? Strangely, I had been been reading Dr. Mark Garcia's fine piece in the latest Westminster Theological Journal in which he links Osiander with Luther's...

Rodders, jealousy will be the undoing of you!

At the risk of waking the sleeping giant (Rodders) I thought I'd share with you my morning. It began with a headache (literally) which has all the portents of being here to stay! Then, exams -- not the taking of them of them but the composition of them: what makes for a good examination in these...

Thanks Phil. You are quite correct. I am a three-month old grandfather of a beautiful girl named "Hannah May." In Belfast, where my daughter and son-in-law live, she is known as Hannah, but in Mississippi, these sweet folk have a penchant for the double name and she's been "Hannah May" since I...

Richard Dawkins will not appreciate the math, but probablitity theorists now claim that it is 62% certain that God exists, according to yesterday's The Times . Is this where we cite the text about God "laughing"?

Thanks Phil! I'm at home and in bed with "the dreaded lurgy" -- some kind of cold/flu thing. I got the flu shot but I guess it didn't work! Stephen Dawkins -- who is he? I meant Richard Dawkins. In any case, check out David Robertson's review. [Scroll down].

Our good friend, David Robertson (Free Church, Dundee) has written a review of Stephen Dawkins' latest book, The God Delusion . His review was posted on the Dawkins web page (initially on the front page!). The responses (most are vitriolic) are phenomenal. His second article has also been posted on...

Carl, since we're commending good reading, I thought you should all know that Ligon is off to see "Santa Claus 3" this evening! Was there a 1 and 2? Hopefully, we're in for some edgy blogs with "missional" import, discerning contextualization and cracking good sermon illustrations! Watch this space...

Over the past few years, I have witnessed the fall of several colleagues, some of which have had catastrophic consequences, two of whom are still serving prison sentences. In most cases, I never saw it coming. It occurs to me as I have reflected on this over the past few days that each one has had...

I have just returned from a delightful couple of days Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. Sorry, Justin, I thought initially I was heading for Sioux City and have to confess that I wasn't aware of just how far apart Sioux City, Sioux Center and Sioux Falls are! You asked for my impression --...

Thanks for this entry on divine impassibility, Phil. I haven't see it as yet but will look forward to reading it. Here are a couple of quotes from J. I. Packer on the issue which I found helpful.

Oxford University Press have just released the paperback edition of Augustine's Commentary on Galatians in a fresh translation and lengthy ( very lengthy!) introduction by University of Scranton professor, Eric Plumer (hardback edition appeared in 2003). What caught my eye (amidst some tantalizing...

Kelly Kapic informs me that several updated editions of works by John Owen are due for publication in the next year.Due in October (by Crossway) are three classic treatises on sin and temptation: Overcoming Sin and Temptation: Three Classic Works (edited by Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor). Due in...

I am just back from one of Carl Trueman's haunts: tell it not in Gath, but I slept in his bed! I refer to a trip to Canada for Sola Scriptura Ministries , and my good friend Heinz D. Now, I'd tell you his second name, but it is impossible to spell from memory! I stayed in a wonderful home (shades...

Just FYI. A new Understanding the Times has been posted in this issue, as well as a few book reviews. Carl, I have made some self-deprecating statements about the Welsh.

These have been some of the most frustrating two weeks in a while! God knew, of course, what he was doing and that I needed it. I refer to the loss of my laptop! A call from (what sounded like) an Italian-New York detective last week suggesting that I should search for it on Ebay had me (in the end...

Be sure to check out the front pages as a new issue of Ref21 was posted this afternoon. Yes, I'm back. Sort of. I had been enjoying a few days away with my brand new granddaughter and upon returning through Newark airport, my laptop (and house keys, car keys etc) was stolen. There I was, rechecking...