Reformation21

I start with a shameful confession. I belong to a family which regularly watches the frightful drivel called American Idol . All I can plead in mitigation is that my children are avid followers of the program; and both sons compensate for this failing by having otherwise impeccable music taste,...

The last few weeks of international news have carried multiple reports of the rioting that has broken out across great swathes of the world as a response to the publication of apparently offensive cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed. I say `apparently' because none of the news media in the US...

At the risk of being labeled a musical snob, I venture a comment or two on one of the twentieth century's greatest composers, the centenary of whose birth we celebrate this year--Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975). He is to music what Alexander Solzhenitsyn is to Soviet literature. Finding early...

Is it possible for men to hug other men, or young boys without the suspicion of being gay? It is a serious, if offensive question, raised by the "pansexualist" agenda foisted upon the culture by Hollywood. We are reaching a point where almost no communication is free from sexual connotation of some...

Rarely, rarely comest thou, Spirit of Delight! Wherefore hast thou left me now Many a day and night? Many a weary night and day 'Tis since thou art fled away .--P.B. Shelley So wrote the poet, Shelley, suggesting that life had darker moments more than brighter ones and though much modern...

How to Listen to a Sermon Understanding the Times Derek Thomas Sermons! They are the stuff of jokes! Like this on, which makes the rounds in different guises: "Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of...

Escaping Vanity Fair: A Word of Encouragement from Nietzsche Wages of Spin Carl Trueman The domestication of radical ideas is a well-know phenomenon to anyone who has ever spent time reflecting on history. Browsing in Borders recently, I found Marx's Communist Manifesto on one of the shelves. This...

Simplify Family Worship Donald Whitney A man who is like a spiritual father to me began what he called a "family altar" with his wife before they were married, and has faithfully continued the practice through the arrival of children and grandchildren for more than fifty years. Sadly, it seems that...

Beyond the Limitations of Chick Lit Wages of Spin Carl Trueman A friend recently asked me to put down a few reflections on Roman Catholicism, whether I thought it was on the whole a good or a bad thing. The conversion of Francis Beckwith, the ETS President, to Roman Catholicism has perhaps made the...

We cannot overemphasize the importance of our seminaries in shaping the theology and spirit of the churches and denominations and missionary enterprise. The tone of the classrooms and teachers exerts profound effect on the tone of our pulpits. What the teachers are passionate about will by and...