Chick Tracts ironically turn grace into the same kind of superstitious incantation that they passionately decry. —Samuel D. James
American Christianity
The Great Disappointment (October 22, 1844): A Reminder Of The Foolishness Of Ignoring Mark 13:32
William Miller (1782–1849), a lay Bible student (later a Baptist preacher), predicted that Christ would return to earth some time between 21 March 1843 and 21 March 1844. One of Miller’s followers postponed the date to 22 October 1844. When Christ did . . . Continue reading →
D. G. Hart On CSpan Talking About American Evangelicals, Politics, And Mencken
You can see it here.
Bad News: Survey Shows American Christians Are Heretics
A survey of 3,000 people conducted by LifeWay Research and commissioned by Ligonier Ministries found that although Americans still overwhelmingly identify as “Christian,” startling percentages of the nation embrace ancient errors condemned by all major Christian traditions. These are not minor points . . . Continue reading →
Face To Face Is Still Best
Perhaps as a result of the value they place on good sermons, church leadership and the style of worship services, many people – even in this age of technology – find there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction when seeking information about . . . Continue reading →
Trueman On Big Eva
…The Big Eva world is indeed run as the personal fiefdom of a few, even if many of those decent people involved on the various mastheads are unaware of this. But cross those few, or touch their dogmatic golden calves, and you . . . Continue reading →
On Distinguishing Christianity From The American Religion Of Optimism
Peale distilled the optimism and self-sufficiency of the American character into a simple creed. The first article of his faith was a warm patriotism. He called the U.S. “the greatest country in the world” and addressed his writing to “everyday people of . . . Continue reading →
The Power And Influence Of The Evangelical Top Men
The economy of evangelical power is complicated but I want to highlight just two aspects today, aspects which have been critical in the recent discussion and which have a profound doctrinal significance. First, there is the fact that the same narrow gene . . . Continue reading →
For Conservatives In The CRC: This Is Your Future
…The denomination had decided to allow the ordination of women as elders (1966) and as ministers (1968). The verbatim record of these assemblies show that this was declared to be merely permissive legislation and evangelicals were assured it would never be forced . . . Continue reading →
I Have Not Seen Miracles Here: Between Pentecost And The Parousia
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were . . . Continue reading →
O’Rourke On The Religion Of The Greatest Generation
During the 1950s denominations of the Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopalian kind had fitted the Light of the World with a lampshade so it wouldn’t produce distracting salvational glare and dampened the fires of perdition to avoid spiritual smoke inhalation. A stillness . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: The Great Disappointment, Graham Crackers, And American Religion
Nineteenth-Century American religion was wild and wooly. It began with an outbreak of Pentecostalism and concluded with the death of Dwight L. Moody and the beginning of the end of Old Princeton. In between saw the rise of Mormonism, the Second Great . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 104: Authority And Submission (3)
Nevertheless, despite all our natural resistance to authority and despite our suspicion of the church the fact is that our Lord Jesus, whom we profess to love and whose Word we profess to believe, instituted the very visible church against which we so easily rebel. Continue reading →
Act Like Elders Nonetheless
While the current bylaws greatly restrict our authority, we believe we must act like elders none-the-less,” they write. “It is time to take responsibility for our church, regardless of how much our current bylaws prevent us from exercising that authority. —Sarah Pulliam . . . Continue reading →
20th Anniversary Of Exiles From Eden
Readers and others sometimes ask which books have influenced the way I look at this or that. Sometimes I can answer, sometimes I can’t. One influential book that I read early in my academic career, while I was a graduate student, was . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 67: Recovering Mother Kirk
Before there was Recovering the Reformed Confession, there was Recovering Mother Kirk a seminal book for all Reformed confessionalists who are looking for a way between revivalism and fundamentalism or between QIRC and QIRE. Darryl Hart published Recovering Mother Kirk just over . . . Continue reading →
A Conspiracy Of Silence
Yet the leaders of the “young, restless, and reformed” have not typically allowed that concern to curtail their comments in the past. Many of them have been outspoken about the teaching of Joel Osteen, for example. In their early days, when the . . . Continue reading →
D. G. Hart On Americanism
This is from a conference co-hosted by Providence Reformed Church (URC) and Grace Reformed Presbyterian Church (OPC) in DesMoines. You can see all the talks here. (HT: Presbyterian Blues)
Pilgrims (And Their Hosts)
A wise traveler adapts to the customs and languages of the host country. When we lived abroad, people never asked us about our health. It is considered rude. The day we left England, however, we were peppered with questions by an American . . . Continue reading →
This Was The Life
As a boy I got up early in order to watch cartoons on Saturdays. I did the same on Sundays but back then, in the mid-60s, television on Sundays was a little different than it was on Saturdays. First there was a . . . Continue reading →