So far in this brief series I have alluded to Aquinas’ discussion of the ordo amoris (order of love). It was by reading Thomas that I was sent back to Augustine but now we come to Aquinas’ own discussion of the order . . . Continue reading →
Carolyn Arends wants to give an argument for the benefits of God’s moral law, but she lacks the categories by which to do it. Her argument has only two categories: good/bad, and relationships. The title and subtitle of her essay should alarm . . . Continue reading →
We live in an uncertain age. One German sociologist characterizes our time as defined by liquidity. This is a term we might associate with financial matters, but it applies to vocation and to virtually every other sphere of life. There was a . . . Continue reading →
In the 1960s it was common to hear American civil rights leaders appeal to natural justice and natural law in defense of the extension of civil rights to oppressed peoples, namely African Americans. Those arguments were compelling to Americans because they are . . . Continue reading →
On February 21 of this year, near the end of the annual American observance of Black History Month, a congregation in the Presbyterian Church in America, held a special dinner. The church website said, “This is a dinner with our special speaker, . . . Continue reading →
Darryl Hart (as always) has a provocative (in the best sense) article at Old Life.1 His use of the categories “militants” and “moderates” is very useful and helpful. To anticipate a criticism: yes, Reformed people can sometimes be jerks.2 Neither Darryl nor . . . Continue reading →
In reaction to Rick Phillips’ critique of a response by a Federal Visionist to his (then) presbytery, one of the proponents of the Federal Vision made the following argument: Surely, we all know there’s a difference between how we use terms in . . . Continue reading →
It is no longer revolutionary (no pun intended) to hold that the earth revolves around the sun, but it was not always so. The observation of Nicholas Copernicus (1473–1543), that the universe is heliocentric (sun-centered) and not geocentric (earth-centered) was met with . . . Continue reading →
I do not like thinking about death, but I have been doing a good lot of thinking about it lately. It is no fun to think about death. As an American, always moving, restless, ever conquering, I resist it. Death is the . . . Continue reading →
Three times in his discussion of the nature of virtue Thomas Aquinas (c. 1224–74) referred to Augustine’s AD 388 treatise against the Manichaeans, On The Morals of the Church (De moribus ecclesiae) regarding the “order of love.”1 Even though it was a . . . Continue reading →
Doctrine. Theology. For many evangelicals these words are as pleasant as the phrase, “impacted tooth!” That theology is irrelevant to Christian life has essentially become a received dogma. Nevertheless, as much as indifference about Christian truth reigns among evangelicals, to the same . . . Continue reading →
James Fisher published a widely-read (and oft-reprinted) Exposition of the Shorter Catechism (1753). Ebenezer Erskine and others of the “Marrow Men”—that is, those who were the gospel-men in eighteenth-century Scotland (as opposed to the moralists of the time)—were also associated with it. . . . Continue reading →
In 2008, Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom published Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism.1 The book was measured in its answer, but in an interview at the time of publication, Noll said, yes, the Reformation is over. . . . Continue reading →
The Christian Nationalists have discovered a new toy: Augustine’s language about the “order of love” or the “order of charity” (ordo caritatis), and some of them are putting it to the service of racism and kinism.1 This calls for some explanation and . . . Continue reading →
The evangelicals in Denver and Colorado Springs are said to be quite excited about Tim Tebow’s immanent arrival to the Mile High city. He has been drafted by the Denver Broncos, and former Colorado Buffaloes football coach Bill McCartney says that Tim . . . Continue reading →
No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States (Constitution of the United States, Art. VI). In recent weeks at least three people have contacted me to notify me that Secretary . . . Continue reading →
Clair MacMillan, National Director of the Church of the Nazarene in Canada, published a characterization of what it is to be evangelical in Canada: Evangelical Christianity begins with the biblical assumption that God loves all people equally and throughout history has been . . . Continue reading →
As difficult as it was to reform the Dutch churches, rarely have Reformed people been in our situation: free churches (i.e., not state churches) that must persuade a free people to reform worship by giving up the only way of worship most have ever known. Continue reading →
The “Black Rubric” was so-called because it was set in black print in the 1661–1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. It was first inserted into the Second Edwardian Prayer Book in 1552. It was intended to explain that when communicants . . . Continue reading →
The question before us is how to regard the swords and the herem (חרמ) holy war implied in Psalm 149:6–9 alongside the tambourines, lyres, and dancing of Psalm 149:3. Continue reading →