Sola Scriptura and the Onus Probandi
Last month, I participated in a Protestant & Roman Catholic dialogue about the Reformation at a nearby Christian university. The experience has left me reflecting on the fundamental issues that…
Aaron Denlinger
Luther’s Lion-Hearted Historians
Luther expressed his appreciation for history and historians on numerous occasions. History, he believed, provides fodder for both fear and praise since God is sovereign over the course of human…
Affliction Evangelism
“This light momentary affliction,” Paul writes, “is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17). Paul’s use of the singular noun “affliction” in 2…
My Jesus, I Love You; Your Bride I Despise!
Last week the Barna Group informed us that a whopping ten percent of America’s population “love Jesus but not the church.” Lack of “love” for the church, for Barna’s purposes,…
Protestantism, Scripture and the Judgment of the Church
A few weeks ago, I participated in a conference which explored the promise that careful attention to Protestantism’s past holds for Protestantism’s future. It was exciting to see scholars, students,…
Imitatio Sanctorum
“The things related in Scripture are not always proper to be imitated.” So notes Calvin midway through his commentary on the story of Isaac and Rebekah’s engagement and marriage–a story…
Luther on History and National Identity
I’ve been preparing a talk on Luther and education for a conference this summer, and so have been reviewing Luther’s 1524 “To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany, That…
Creation Calls For Wonder
“The work of creation is, God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.” Thus the Westminster…
The Soul Felt Its Worth
We all wrestle with feeling worthless at some time or another. The world imputes value to individuals, whether it admits such or not, on the basis of gender, race, age,…
A Cross-Shaped View of God’s Attributes
Talk of God’s attributes that is not tethered to concrete stories of God’s dealings with his people in history tends toward abstraction (and so away from doxology, where all talk…