This commission is as great as the one in Matthew 28, if not greater, given its glorious setting. We learn: 1. All the success of the spiritual mission will be dependent on the power and activity of the Holy Spirit. 2. The . . . Continue reading →
Christian Nationalism
Tennessee Valley Overture On Christian Nationalism
Whereas, the duties of Christian citizenship are often disputed and prove perennially difficult for both elders and church members to discern; and Whereas, confusion exists about the proper relation between church and state; and Whereas, due to recent movements, publications, popular teachings, . . . Continue reading →
Machen Was Right
The old mother kirk of American Presbyterianism holds treasures of the mind and heart that few have ever seen. She has lived through a Revolution with England; divided over Black slavery only to be united again; welcomed seceding (Associate and United) Presbyterians . . . Continue reading →
Paul Wooley And Meredith Kline On The Spiritual Mission Of The Visible Church
The undersigned dissent from the decisions of the Committee on Foreign Missions to appoint medical specialists as members of the staff of the Eritrean Mission and from its decision to establish a hospital as part of that Mission. Our dissent is necessitated by the following convictions: 1. There is no . . . Continue reading →
Machen Opposed Fosdick’s Christian Nationalism
Harry Emerson Fosdick’s provocative sermon, “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?,” delivered on May 21, 1922, is as good a date as any to locate the start of the controversy between conservatives and liberals in the Presbyterian Church. It did prompt conservative reactions and . . . Continue reading →
The Order Of Love (Ordo Amoris): Proximity, Not Ethnicity (Part 3)
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 →
The Morally Corrupt Underbelly Of Christian Nationalism
In some circles, Christian nationalism has become a vehicle for race obsession. It is often tied to rhetoric that seeks to reframe Christianity as a predominately European religion, rejecting its deeply Jewish roots, North African developments, and universal call to all nations. . . . Continue reading →
It Is Not That Complicated
One of the reasons terminology matters is because the BCO is not just for professional presbyterians. Imagine the confusion of a member (maybe one under discipline or appointed or nominated for some office or role) who opened a PDF of the BCO . . . Continue reading →
The Order Of Love (Ordo Amoris): Proximity, Not Ethnicity (Part 2)
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 →
The Order Of Love (Ordo Amoris): Proximity, Not Ethnicity (Part 1)
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 →
Does Hegseth’s Religion Disqualify Him From A Cabinet Position?
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 →
Stuart Robinson On The Superiority Of The American System Over Christendom
Next, after a thousand years of repose and silence in the Church, the third was developed (Soteriology) through the labors of Luther and Calvin, proclaiming salvation as by grace through faith, leaving the fourth, Ecclesiology, yet to be developed. Do not the providences . . . Continue reading →
Isbell On The Types Of Christian Nationalists
There are at least three types of Christian Nationalists: the highbrow Wolfeans (HW), the folk evangelicals (FE) who have always spoken vaguely of “takin’ this country back,” and the barely Christian, mostly charismatic/megachurch dominionist-NARcrowd (I’ll call them CMDs). The self-consciously protestant HW . . . Continue reading →
POPLL: An Alternative To Christian Nationalism (And Theonomy, Christian Reconstruction, Theocracy, And Christendom) (Pt 10)
How Lawsuits Work I am not a lawyer nor am I practicing law in this space. What follows should not be construed as legal advice but broadly there are two kinds of court cases: civil and criminal. The latter are tried by . . . Continue reading →
POPLL: An Alternative To Christian Nationalism (And Theonomy, Christian Reconstruction, Theocracy, And Christendom) (Pt 9)
So far in this series we have considered four ways that Christians can engage secular politics in our time, between the ascension and return of Christ: Prayer, Organize, Persuade, Legislate, and Litigate. Certainly the first point, prayer, cannot be controversial, since Scripture . . . Continue reading →
The Limits Of Patriotism
In my first church out of seminary, I preached a sermon in which I mentioned specific atrocities of the 20th century as illustrations of human sinfulness. After the service a man came up to me livid that I had singled out Nazi . . . Continue reading →
Review: Empowered Witness: Politics, Culture, And The Spiritual Mission Of The Church By Alan D. Strange (Part 2)
We pick up again with Alan Strange’s treatment of Hodge in Empowered Witness. There are some questions raised by this work that bear consideration in a review. A reader who is not already in sympathy with the essential argument or who perhaps . . . Continue reading →
Review: Empowered Witness: Politics, Culture, And the Spiritual Mission Of The Church By Alan D. Strange (Part 1)
The debate last year over the overture by Evangel Presbytery to the General Assembly (GA) of the Presbyterian Church in America (overture 12), which was adopted by GA, presented acutely the question of the spirituality of the church. Overture 12 asked GA . . . Continue reading →
POPLL: An Alternative To Christian Nationalism (And Theonomy, Christian Reconstruction, Theocracy, And Christendom) (Pt 8)
The fourth of our five points of Christian citizenship is Legislate. Last time we considered briefly what it means to legislate, i.e., to draft and pass a law, but how does it happen? How does one become a legislator and how does . . . Continue reading →
A Tale Of Two Kingdoms
Ranging from William Parry’s “Jerusalem” (popularized in the hit film Chariots of Fire) to the Social Gospel to Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is a Place on Earth”, modern history has witnessed a struggle to define the proper expression of the kingdom of God “on . . . Continue reading →