The redoubtable Rachel Miller has found some fascinating instances of what would appear to be plagiarism. To quote Yogi Berra, 'It's like deja-vu, all over again.' But Rachel's only a woman, so I guess she has no authority to point this out. Back to business as usual, then?...

Four or five years ago, I pointed out that a certain well-known sociologist who had built his career railing against Moralistic Therapeutic Deism was reviewing his own books on Amazon and giving them five stars. I indicated that I was a bit old fashioned when it came to book reviews and still held...

Paul Helm dropped me a note to comment that, although it is true that we live in a world which fears exclusion, there are still many socially acceptable voluntary organization which do exclude people: political parties, for example. This is a good point. I would respond by saying that a full...

I recently had the pleasure of doing a double act with my old friend, Bruce Gordon, of Yale Divinity School, at the launch of the new journal, Unio cum Christo . Bruce's lecture (on Calvin and Bullinger) and mine on Benito Mussolini's little known biography of the Bohemian reformer, John...

On the back of Todd's post yesterday , about Steven Furtick and the Southern Baptist Convention, there comes this from his friend, Perry Noble . In his essay on the Brumaire coup, Karl Marx quotes Hegel as saying that history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce...

To begin with a question: What would Gresham Machen think of the current state of the union with regard to sexual ethics and the connection between these and the increasing pressure on religious freedom? I suspect he would be shocked by the particularities of the case, that the most private of...

One of the strangest aspects of American Christian culture to a foreigner like myself is the popularity of dispensationalism. There are probably many reasons for the large numbers of supporters this system commands in the New World but high among them is surely the role of the Scofield Reference...

This autumn is proving a vintage season for books on ministry. Jason Helopoulos’ book arrived a few weeks ago, and Kent Hughes’ massive tome is about to be published. Plus the redoubtable Jim Garretson has another gem on a Princetonian due for publication in October. If it is anything...

Anyone who has a child at a college or university will know the huge pressure that is put on students these days to conform to the sexual mores of the age. The Love and Fidelity Network is an organization desgined to promote sane views of sex on campuses, with an appropriately thoughtful philosophy...

Rod Dreher has a typically pungent piece on the matters that have apparently caused much hilarity and Scotch drinking in Moscow, Idaho. I wonder what Rod's particular problem is? Is he an idiot incapable of reading English? A buffoon who doesn't understand the brilliance of self-published...

Can Christians vote for Carly Fiorina for President? If so, aren't the questions of whether women should lift weights in the gym or how they should give traffic directions to men a bit of a non-issue? Or am I missing something here? I think we should be told...

The return of Tullian Tchividjian to a ministry role is scarcely surprising, though the speed would no doubt make even Jimmy Swaggart green with envy. It is the logical outcome of the culture of celebrity which has been consciously cultivated most disappointingly by some in reformed evangelical...

Perhaps six days is a little short for an accidental feminist retrospective, but, given the feedback Aimee and I have received for our two posts on John Piper, the time seems ripe for such. Some cheered us for speaking out against the increasingly patriarchal sounds coming from leading...

Karl Marx commented that history repeats itself the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. When it comes to ministerial falls, sadly the tradition today is to go straight to farce. Thus it is with Tullian Tchividjian’s fall and rise. All of the celebrity conventions are there: The use of...

Over at First Things , a Lutheran pastor has offered a critique of Gerhard Forde's Lutheran theology and connected it to the recent fall of Tullian Tchividjian. Mark Jones has offered a measured response at Reformation21 . Both articles make good points. Tchividjian's understanding of...

Dave Moore has an excellent post on the selective outrage of evangelicals over gay marriage. Here is the core of his argument: " We believe homosexuality is a sin. We also believe that gluttony, gossip, adultery, sex outside of marriage, racism, unscrupulous business practices, the love of...

I was reminded by events elsewhere yesterday how much I rely on my elders. The task of the elder is to pastor the pastor. If they do not do it, nobody else will. That means there will be times when the elder has to confront his pastor because he sees that his teaching, or his life, or maybe both,...

While Aimee was off not doing stairs and trying to become a female Bond villain, on Tuesday the rest of Team Spin was refreshing the parts ot the theological world which other, more transformational, evangelical organizations cannot reach. Day Two of the Yale seminar was somewhat more sedate than...

At our recording session last week, la Diva was complaining in a loud, if not stentorian, voice that the Alliance doesn't promote her like other more prestigious outfits promote their famous housewife theologians , complete with snazzy photo shoots and respectful interviews. Soooo... the Puppet...

On Wednesday night, Banner of Truth and Westminster Bookstore finally launched the new edition of Bannerman. Patman from Banner HQ was there in the Bannermobile. Benny was absent due to illness but the Jets turned up to man the bookstall (yes, we still 'man' things at Westminster). Even the...

Paul Levy has a penetrating review of Paul’s Tripp’s Dangerous Calling over at ref21. He rightly sees the problems with the dangers of detachment of well-known conference speakers from everyday life, of continual self-reference (naming ministries after yourself simply proves the point...

The Banner of Truth’s retyped and reissued edition of James Bannerman’s The Church of Christ is, like so many of their books, beautifully produced. It is also most timely. Reading this book and putting into practice its basic theology will set your church in good stead for handling the...

Over at ref21 the other week, Jonesy and Levy upset the Big Eva establishment by decrying the strange American habit of clapping after Christian conference addresses. Well, it seems that these two estimable champions of stadium modesty are also in the vanguard of contemporary feminism. For it is...

Rusty Reno at First Things has now published the reflections on Evangelicals and Catholics Together. You can find Mark McDowell’s introduction and rationale here , Timothy George’s piece here , Thomas Guarino’s here , and mine here . My approach is slightly different to what might...