And thou, sweet Poetry, thou loveliest maid, Still first to fly where sensual joys invade; Unfit in these degenerate times of shame, To catch the heart, or strike for honest fame; 1 In general, it is accurate to notice that poetry has . . . Continue reading →
For a long time I have noticed that I have two sides to my interests and personality. I can be very rational and analytical in my approach to faith and life. I also have a love of the arts, particularly literature and . . . Continue reading →
I remember seeing my first one. It was beautiful, and I could barely take my eyes off of it. There before me on a simple piece of paper lay the answers to so many of my questions. This was the secret, the . . . Continue reading →
Part one of my review discussed the perceived (by me) strengths of the book. My review continues with part two, in which I will discuss its perceived (by me) weaknesses. Perceived Weaknesses 1. Social Gospel 201. I do not recall finding Walter . . . Continue reading →
This stimulating volume by two highly regarded biblical scholars is introduced invitingly: Jesus and the Powers has one objective: to say that, in an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crises, Jesus is King, . . . Continue reading →
The Reformation looms large as one of the pivotal moments of Western history. It stands alongside only a few other major events by which we segment the full sweep of the past two thousand years in our thought. For Christians in the . . . Continue reading →
With this installment we come to the end of the series reviewing and critiquing John MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus. Remarkably, like the Old Testament prophets searching and enquiring “carefully what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was . . . Continue reading →
The concept of covenant is found cover to cover in the Bible. It is not simply derived from the Hebrew and Greek words translated “covenant” in English (berit and diatheke, respectively). The covenantal structure goes far deeper into the biblical drama than . . . Continue reading →
Chapters 22 and 23, “The Cost of Discipleship” and “The Lordship of Christ” do not add anything that MacArthur has not already said. Essentially, chapter 22 is a rejection of the Christian life of discipleship as a second blessing.273 It is interesting . . . Continue reading →
James Waddel Alexander (1804–59) was a Presbyterian pastor and professor who served churches in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York, and labored for a time as a professor at the College of New Jersey. Like his father Archibald, James also served as . . . Continue reading →
Chapter 21 of MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus is typical of this work. There is much that is true and helpful, there is not a little irony, and there are one or two significant mistakes. Again, as I have said many . . . Continue reading →
Preaching begins with Bible reading and interpretation. Before a minister can preach a given text, he must decide what it says. To interpret a passage, the preacher necessarily brings to bear his broader reading of Scripture, a system of doctrine, and the history of interpretation. Continue reading →
The apostle John ended his first letter with a simple command for believers: keep yourselves from idols. Idols, of course, take various forms and shapes. For many American evangelicals today, common idols are political and cultural ones. So argues journalist Tim Alberta . . . Continue reading →
Throughout this series, despite my documented concerns about this volume, I have worked to be scrupulously fair. When MacArthur gets things right, I have given him credit for that; and he gets some things right in chapter 20, “The Way of Salvation.” . . . Continue reading →
Covenant is an unavoidably and obviously important category in Scripture. Throughout the history of the church, beginning in the very earliest years of the post-apostolic church, there have been numerous attempts to account for the covenants, but it was not until the . . . Continue reading →
“If you want to almost-instantly humble any Christian, ask him about his prayer life,” or so the maxim goes. Prayer is one of those practices of the Christian life which every Christian will affirm in importance; in practice, however, many will struggle . . . Continue reading →
The rise of Donald Trump, the renewed call for a “Christian America,” the novel promotion of Christian nationalism—these three things are recent realities in the American political and religious scenes. Indeed, they are related realities. Furthermore, these three realities are not helping . . . Continue reading →
“These are the guys in your footnotes.” That is a good way to describe “Classic Reformed Theology.” If one peruses a manual Heppe or reads Richard Muller, he will come across names such as Heidegger, Cocceius, and Olevianus. If he then tries . . . Continue reading →
This story, much like the story of every man, does not end with Orual’s confrontation with the divine as a judge—reciting her case as a wannabe plaintiff and being given (supposedly) no answer, or worse, divine judgment—as the only possible outcome of her meeting with God. Continue reading →
In the first two parts of this analysis of C. S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces, I laid a foundation by providing a brief summary of the original myth of Cupid and Psyche and noted the similarities between this myth and so . . . Continue reading →