In this series we have been considering Christian eschatology, i.e., what should we think about the last days, about the relations between heaven and earth, and how that informs how we think about and live the Christian life between the ascension and . . . Continue reading →
Just before our Lord Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, he gave the visible, institutional church as twofold mission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, . . . Continue reading →
Joe Biden wants preachers Continue reading
The claim that “God is on our side” usually surfaces when politically active American evangelicals see themselves in another skirmish in the ongoing culture war–contending with secular-progressives for the soul of the nation in a Manichean struggle between good and evil. In . . . Continue reading →
This past Thursday, senior figures associated with what Rome calls the “Institute for Religious Works” (known to the rest of the world as the Vatican Bank) were convicted, in a scheme worthy of the Mafia, of money laundering and embezzlement. Remarkably, they . . . Continue reading →
The first time I remember reading Psalm 2 it was in my hometown newspaper, now known as the Lincoln Journal Star. If memory serves, it appeared every week, probably in the Sunday edition, which, as every paper carrier knows, is the largest . . . Continue reading →
Those who study such things tell us that, across the globe, no religious group is more persecuted than Christians. Those who profess the Christian faith have been all but driven out of Iraq. Christians in China suffer in untold ways. Christian in . . . Continue reading →
And to the extent that conservative arguments about the culture war seem polarized between Saint Benedict and Constantine, between the monastery and the crusade, perhaps the synthesis, the change of fortune, will arrive when God sends America a Saint Paul. Read more» . . . Continue reading →
This morning I am thinking of younger American Christians, especially of those who have come of age during the Trump administration. A young person who was 16 when the Trump administration began is now approaching 20 and is perhaps becoming more politically . . . Continue reading →
Tish Harrison Warren, a priest in the ACNA (a denomination in the Anglican tradition), writes in Christianity Today, We have an impoverished and inadequate political theology. It took us generations to get here, and this one election, regardless of the results, will . . . Continue reading →
A popular political commentator published a book a few years ago titled Shut Up And Sing, in which she argued that famous athletes and other entertainers should keep their political and cultural opinions to themselves and not seek to use their fame to . . . Continue reading →
The City of Moscow, Idaho, which Christ Church (Moscow, ID) expects one day to transform into a bastion of adherence to the Mosaic judicial laws, reports (HT: Alexis Van Horn) about the recent publicity stunt and protests disguised as “Psalm sings:” From . . . Continue reading →
Some of the responses to yesterday’s essay by members of Christ Church, Moscow, ID (known locally as “The Kirk”) most certainly did not meet even the minimal standards for the comment box. The comment policy reads: “Comments are welcome but must observe . . . Continue reading →
I guess that Dutch Calvinists in Orange City and Sioux Center, IA do not often feature prominently in the New York Times but they did in an August 9, 2020 story by Elizabeth Dias. The dateline is Sioux Center, IA, one of . . . Continue reading →
Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA has been at the center of a heated theological and cultural controversy over whether churches should abide by public health orders (ostensibly) intended to curb the Coronavirus and if so, how. As previously chronicled in this . . . Continue reading →
This came over the transom this morning: Continue reading →
Introduction Grace Community Church met for worship this past Sunday. Ordinarily that would not be news but we are not living in ordinary times. In order to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the State of California has forbidden churches to meet indoors . . . Continue reading →
It is time for the monthly Heidelcast call-in show and, as always, we have thoughtful and interesting questions on how to learn church history (and what to read), whether I agree with the 1646 edition of the Westminster Confession of Faith or . . . Continue reading →
The Covid-19 Shutdown of 2020 has begun to produce a reaction, at least in the USA. Recently we have seen demonstrations large and small in several states and particularly here in California. The various orders issued by governors, mayors, and county executives . . . Continue reading →
In the introduction to his new volume, Politics After Christendom: Political Theology in a Fractured World (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020) David VanDrunen defines a term and a concept that we must understand: Christendom. By Christendom I mean the vision of Christian . . . Continue reading →