Luther, Beer and 1522
I have received unexpected and unsolicited gifts of two drinking vessels recently. The first, from the person we at the Spin know simply as Evil Amy the Less, the author who last year had the slanderous temerity to base (and…
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The Descent of Man
Reading Augustine's De Trinitate this semester with a group of students, I was struck by this brilliant analysis of the way that sin operates. It comes from Book XII: "For just as a snake does not walk with open…
Ecclesiastical Eclipse: Evangelicalism and the Reformation
The Reformation’s heritage–a topic of intensifying reflection as this quincentenary year rolls on–will be the theme of the Evangelical Theological Society’s annual meeting in Providence, RI. This is a good thing; however, my expectations are limited because the broadly evangelical…
The Ecclesiastical Pendulum Swing
I was baptized in the Reformed Episcopal church, spent time in Reformed Presbyterian Churches (mainly PCA and OPC) as a boy, was extremely rebellious and dechurched for over a decade, came to Christ in repentance and faith in my 20’s…
Redemptive History, Union with Christ and the Liturgical Calendar
The word “liturgy” continues to be a trendy–yet often indeterminate–buzzword among young(er-ish) Christians. This is especially so with regard to those who have recently made the shift away from broad evangelicalism and toward historic worship practices of Christendom. Alongside this…
From Beer Flights to Book Flights
Okay, my friend Dana gets the credit for this one. She was selected as a beer tasting judge for the Quad State Beer Fest Amateur Home Brewing Competition after submitting in her qualifications, “but have you ever had a housewife…
Evangelism, Baptism and Evaluating Church Health
If I’ve heard it once I have heard it a thousand times: Christians who are members in Reformed Churches tripping over themselves to apologize about how poorly the Reformed Church does evangelism. Related to this is the tried and true…
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 that, rather unpromisingly to modern ears, begins not with star-cross’d…
Questions Regarding Girls, Testosterone, and Wrestling
A couple of years ago, while writing about a transgender man trying to compete as a woman in Mixed Martial Arts, I commented that I think we are going to see more clashes between LGBT rights and women’s rights. And…
Lectures in Systematic Theology: The Doctrine of God
Greg Nichols. Lectures in Systematic Theology: the Doctrine of God, CreateSpace, 2017. 680 p. With the release of Lectures in Systematic Theology: the Doctrine of God, Greg Nichols has given us a feast that is marvelously pastoral and practical, deeply theological and consistently exegetical.…