One of the unfortunate features of the current Trinity debate is the moaning over “tone.” Such a complaint fails in at least two ways. First it fails in not affording proper weight to the content of the debate. In generations past men . . . Continue reading →
Of Nice and Men
Truth Offends Narcissists
Truth as a proposition is found to be offensive by what it implies. That is, if the proposition is correct I must be wrong, ergo you are judging me. Or, if we are passionate about the truth the response is normally, ‘why . . . Continue reading →
Open Discussion Leads To Peace. Squelching Dissent Does Not
By the way, I accept it as fair that if a person advocates positions in writing, his ideas may be criticized and disagreed with vigorously—I won’t squeal about spirited and rational public discourse. Indeed, more of that may lead to more peace . . . Continue reading →
So There ARE Limits To Self-Identity?
Trueman: Why Churches And Institutions Go Bad
In my experience, churches, institutions and organizations do not go bad because of coups by liberals. They go bad because otherwise orthodox people sit on their hands – hands of whose cleanness they are always so very proud, yet hands which are . . . Continue reading →
The Cruelty Of Nominalism
Are Symbols Arbitrary? Recently there has been considerable controversy generated in a university classroom where the prof required students to create a sign with the word “Jesus” on it and then to step on the same. One student, a Mormon, refused and was . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 92: Of Nice And Men (1)
With this episode we begin a new series: Of Nice And Men. The argument, thesis, of the series is that niceness is one thing and Christian virtue is another. Niceness is a pervasive ethos among evangelicals. The dictionary defines ethos as the a spirit “characteristic . . . Continue reading →
Why Brian Williams’ Lies Mean More Than You Think They Do
By now you know that anchor of the NBC evening newscast, a position once held by the likes of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley,1 has admitted fabricating stories about his experiences reporting from Iraq. He is under investigation by his network. When . . . Continue reading →
Sometimes Even Charles Hodge Was Not Nice
WE are disposed to think there must be, on an average, at least one misrepresentation for every page in this work. As it requires more words to correct a misstatement than to make it, we should be obliged to write a book . . . Continue reading →
It All Comes Down To Aesthetics
It is interesting that the crisis finally came only when the aesthetics flipped the other way, when Driscoll and his antics became more distasteful than the words of his critics. It is important to notice that it was not the embrace of . . . Continue reading →
Sometimes Nebraska Is Just Too Nice (UPDATED)
Until now the only thing for which Irving Middle School has been notorious was that the infamous spree murderer Charlie Starkweather (1938–59) attended there, in the 1950s, when it was a Junior High School. It is in the news today, however, because . . . Continue reading →
Facts, Evidence, Wisdom, And Gossip
I’m not sure why, as a child, the TV show Dragnet captured my attention and imagination. Perhaps it was theme song with its beat and blaring horns or perhaps it was the staccato, film-noir dialogue or the claim that the episodes were . . . Continue reading →
The Cruelty Of Political Correctness
Even though reports were reaching social workers of the crimes in Rotherham as far back as the 1990s, nothing of consequence was done for more than a decade. The police were pigheaded and clueless, and the fear of being called “racist” paralyzed . . . Continue reading →
Catastrophically Stupid
The catastrophically stupid assumption in Boyle’s op-ed is that recognizing acts as evil and trying to understand them are incompatible. —Alan Jacobs.
Being “Nicea” And Leaving Church
Two recent podcast episodes that I found helpful on two topics about which I’ve been giving some thought: millennials and niceness. The first is Theology You Should Know with my friends Jared Beaird and Dan Borvan. Both have written for the HB. . . . Continue reading →
Calvin On The Image Of God In Man
In this way only we attain to what is not to say difficult but altogether against nature, to love those that hate us, render good for evil, and blessing for cursing, remembering that we are not to reflect on the wickedness of . . . Continue reading →
Lewis: Living In A Society Of Possible Gods
It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, and to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you . . . Continue reading →
Murray To Azusa Pacific Students: Think For Yourself
The task of the scholar is to present a case for his or her position based on evidence and logic. Another task of the scholar is to do so in a way that invites everybody into the discussion rather than demonize those . . . Continue reading →
An Elitist Mob Tells The Unwashed Masses
As with all such discussions, an elitist few take it upon themselves to tell the unwashed masses what they may and may not say — or by logical extension, what they may or may not think. These self-appointed arbiters of speech and . . . Continue reading →
Mollie Is Ok With Being A Woman
I love being female, and I’m actually quite confident about being a woman, but the only time I even come close to feeling bad about myself is when major media outlets and elite feminists use their power to tell me there’s some . . . Continue reading →