On August 22, 1572, Gaspard Comte de Coligny (1519–72), Admiral of France, bent to adjust his shoe or perhaps to open a letter. That unexpected movement saved his life. The bullet, fired by Charles de Louviers (d. 1583) from an upstairs window . . . Continue reading →
Basham is right that many “shepherds” are, in fact, “for sale.” But the unintended irony—and fundamental flaw—of her book is that the corrupting money is not on the evangelical left, as she claims, but on the populist right. The rise of such . . . Continue reading →
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris was four hours long. Part of the ceremony featured the return of Celine Dion, the procession of competitors, and other highlights. The most controversial aspect, however, was the introduction into the ceremony . . . Continue reading →
All my reading material was on my computer, so on the way into the air and on the way down I read the American Airlines American Way magazine.1 It is not often that one finds stories about churches in the in-flight mag, but . . . Continue reading →
There is a risk in writing about fast-changing news. As of this writing, we do not know why a disturbed young man tried to murder the former president of the United States. He appears to have been a loner, bullied, who lashed . . . Continue reading →
The Harry Potter movies were enchanting movies (pun intended). They are shot through with overt theological themes: ontology, good and evil, cosmology, sin, and redemption. Part way through one of them, I remembered something that Bob Godfrey once said, something that I . . . Continue reading →
Researchers at Kansas State University created a map of the prevalence of the seven deadly sins (envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath) across the USA through statistical analysis.1 I initially examined “wrath” simply because of the apparent (assuming the validity of . . . Continue reading →
According to John Witte Jr., Althusius did consider the question of religious liberty, whether a private person has the right to “alter amend, or even abandon” the duties prescribed under the first table (the first four commandments) of the Decalogue. Continue reading →
We seem to live in a Malthusian age—an age of increasing scarcity, or perhaps fear of scarcity, where concern over how to divide an economic (and environmental) pie of limited size (called a “zero sum game”) has replaced the idea of expanding . . . Continue reading →
Perhaps the most fundamental problem with the Statement appears most clearly in its final article, “On ‘Neutrality’ and the Separation of Church and State.” WE AFFIRM that the Church and the state each possess their own sphere of influence. For example, church . . . Continue reading →
While Christian Nationalists busily try to put the theocratic band back together (i.e., to restore Christianity to its privileged place in American society), the culture continues to disintegrate at an alarming rate and to an alarming degree. Christians do well to spend . . . Continue reading →
As the culture descends further into post-Christianity and even the memory of Christianity fades in the minds of most Westerners, Christians will find themselves facing many of the same questions faced by the Christians of the first and second centuries. Many of . . . Continue reading →
It is useful to review Augustine’s humane account of just war to refresh our memories or to introduce the reader to Augustine’s approach to war, as a background to considering the Statement on just war. In his Reply to Faustus (c. 397; . . . Continue reading →
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Mid Vermont Christian School and two families filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday [November, 21, 2023] against Vermont officials for denying the Christian school and its students from participating in the state’s tuition program and sports league because of . . . Continue reading →
“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36) One of . . . Continue reading →
In an essay dated 1 March 1996, Fred Pugh sketches what has become a fairly standard view among many neo-Kuyperians.1 His account probably obviously leans to the cultural-political right, and the antithesis is established as “secular humanism.” Continue reading →
In 2024 when we see the participle gaming, we are likely to think of computers and headsets, but for centuries the word signified gambling. It still does. Several state governments in the USA have “gaming commissions” or the like. One of the . . . Continue reading →
The concept of a worldview is essential. Derived from the German Weltanschauung, the English noun denotes “a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world.”1 Worldviews are like belly-buttons. Everyone has one. Continue reading →
Last time we saw that the very reason Calvin adopted the language of a “twofold kingdom” (i.e., the doctrine that God’s kingdom is one and administered in two distinct spheres) was to oppose the Libertines and Manichaeism. But it remains to be . . . Continue reading →
James Bond, Agent 007, had a “license to kill.” There are Reformed folk who also seem to have a license of some sort or other, based on what they call “the Christian world and life view” (hereafter, CWLV). This concept is interesting . . . Continue reading →