‘Who do I say that I am?’
“Be holy, for I am holy” ~ 1 Peter 1:16 One of the most difficult things to do is tell the truth…about ourselves. The church prides itself on being a bastion of truth in a world of lies, yet her…
Category Reformation21
#FergusonDecision: 3 Don’ts of Ethnic/Cultural Dialogue
Various social media websites and the news outlets are still ablaze after the #FergusonDecision. While I am concerned about how the world is reacting, both positively and negatively, I am also concerned about how the Church is responding. As I…
Finding Gratitude in Unlikely Places: A Thanksgiving Reflection
“My cup overflows.” – Ps 23:5 Within Christian circles, it seems verboten to mention death and thanks in the same sentence, which is a shame, really. Death, no doubt, is an evil intrusion on God’s good order, and, as Dylan…
#FergusonDecision and the Lord’s Supper: A Plea to African-Americans
According to some sources, Officer Darren Wilson could have been indicted with one of several crimes (e.g., first degree murder, second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, or others) for killing an unarmed African-American young man. Many around the world were quite…
Blow-out Price for a (Hardcover) Book on John Owen
Alright folks, here is a great Christmas present to get someone who likes John Owen, the Puritans, or Reformed theology: The Ashgate Research Companion to John Owen’s Theology, edited by Kelly Kapic and Mark Jones. The price has been dramatically…
Ant Farm 101
Sitting in the Heathrow airport en route to Johannesburg to lecture Seminary students, I thought it might be good to disclose my vision for a course at Seminary that, I believe, is nowhere offered at any major Reformed seminary in…
Gratitude: An Intellectual History
Peter J. Leithart, Gratitude: An Intellectual History (Baylor University Press, 2014), 340 pages. $49.95 The latest book from the prolific Peter Leithart is another installment of what we have come to expect: an accessibly written synthesis of specialist research advancing…
The Seven Deadly Sins in a Digital Age: 3. Greed
Given what I have said in the last installment about Gluttony, you might well be wondering what we could possibly say about the distinctive shape of Greed in a digital age. Digital content, by its nature, cannot be possessed in…
Origen on Scripture
I’ve been doing a little reading in Origen’s On First Principles today (written sometime before 225). It’s a scandalous work on several counts, but is likely the first attempt at a systematic exposition of the faith in the post-apostolic era and…
Semper reformanda, numquam reformata
This month’s edition of Tabletalk magazine features an impressive lineup of church historians (namely, Bob Godfrey, Carl Trueman, and Scott Clark) discussing the historical origins — as well as popular uses and abuses — of the slogan “reformed, [and] always…