St. Anselm, the Praying Monk
Several years ago, I was texting another pastor while I was waiting for a somber meeting. I remarked that I at least had Anselm to keep me company. He shot a wonderfully nerdy reply: “That’s the greatest way to pass…
Category Reformation21
Why I Decided to Preach Extemporaneously
Preaching is the most evident supernatural activity that Christians can witness on a weekly basis. Dr. Charles W. Koller bears witness to this as he writes, “Preaching is that unique procedure by which God, through His chosen messenger, reaches down…
Mind the Gap(s)
Note: This article was originally published on reformation21 in May 2011. Error and heresy are not always immediately obvious. Some problems are indeed glaring, and ought to require only a functioning pair of eyes and ears in order to determine…
Stop Telling People to “Just Get Married”
“You shall not commit adultery.” For a single Christian, marriage is often sold like 21st-century snake oil: “Having trouble with lust? Feel assaulted by a hyper-sexualized world? Do you sometimes struggle to find purpose? Do you ever feel distance between…
Covenant and Ontology: An EFS Rejoinder
I recently published an article of Ref21 where I challenged Dr. Owen Strachan’s views on EFS/ERAS and especially his use of 1 Corinthians 15:28 in defense of his position. I knew that writing such an article would evoke various responses…
Galatians (CCF)
Galatians. Commentaries for Christian Formation. N. T. Wright. Eerdmans, 2021. 439 pp. Hardcover. $39.99 Many Ref. 21 readers will recognize N. T. Wright as one of the biggest (and one of the most controversial) names in Pauline studies. He has…
Marriage and the Essence of Eden
Of nature’s elaborate courtship displays, none is more elegant than that of the western grebe, a swanlike bird with ruby eyes. Each spring the grebes congregate on the lakes of Oregon to find a lifelong mate. Two by two, the…
Two Sisters, a Desert Monastery, and a Palimpsest
Tourists travel from all over the world to experience the expansive deserts, remote wildernesses, peoples, foods, and sites of north Africa and the Middle East. Many of these (occasionally naïve) travelers have been drawn to the region by the adventures…
Sex-Positive
Note: This article is part of a series on terminology related to homosexuality. The term “sex-positive” describes an open and approving attitude toward various sexual identities and behaviors. It is meant as a contrast with the traditional view that sex…
Slavery for Our Time
“You shall not murder.” Death. It happens every day, everywhere across the world, and yet there is something about death that sets it apart from other common events in the world. We approach it with a mixture of contradictory feelings,…