If You Want to Know About John Owen

Carl Trueman is your man. I know it’s unusual to see me flogging someone else’s book. That’s   why you should pay attention when I do so. This is a really good book. Why? Because Carl is an   excellent scholar who . . . Continue reading →

Packer’s Involvement in ECT Didn’t "Just Happen"

It had a precedent that goes back to 1970. Many American evangelicals were caught by surprise by J I Packer’s involvement with and defense of Evangelicals and Catholics Together. The first ECT was vague, misleading, and even gobsmacking. The second was, for . . . Continue reading →

Between Donatism and Liberalism: Trueman on Losing the Plot

One way of accounting for the decline of churches into liberalism is to find the villains and tell the story of how the bad guys snuck into the church and corrupted an otherwise pure institution thereby stealing it from under the noses . . . Continue reading →

Newman’s Unquiet Grave and Non-Confessional Evangelicals

After reading (devouring) Carl Trueman’s excellent book on historiography I took his advice and got (I had to drive to La Jolla during rush hour) and quite enjoyed John Cornwell’s, Newman’s Unquiet Grave: The Reluctant Saint. I knew the outlines of Newman’s . . . Continue reading →

From Taboo To Conformity

The conversation also reminded me of one of the supreme ironies of the contemporary politics of homosexuality. A movement originally built upon the idea of transgression, the breaking of taboos and the crossing of boundaries has become one of the most intolerant . . . Continue reading →

Censorship By The Humorless And The Top Men

“And in a world where evangelical comment is increasingly censored from within by the humourless and the Top Men, a samizdat operation is unlikely to lose its purpose in the near future.”* —Carl Trueman, “On Mortification and Narnia” — * Samizdat = . . . Continue reading →

The New Normal

Internet pornography is probably the number one pastoral problem in the world today. I wonder if it is set to become yet more so: as the social shame dimension passes away, it will be harder to maintain discipline on this issue. The . . . Continue reading →

The Irrelevance Of Indolent Impressionism

Second, I was struck by the fact that the last chapter – on post-confessional, mainline Presbyterianism – indicated just how irrelevant Presbyterianism has become in its liberal forms. With dull preaching, and always appearing to be a day late and a dollar . . . Continue reading →

Carl And Todd Are Not Nice

So far the best thing about the Mortification of Spin podcast has been the occasional appearances—an odd word for a aural medium—of Aimee Byrd. One of these days she might just roller-skate right over to Philadelphia and then whammo! Certainly they are proving . . . Continue reading →

The Politics Of Sexual Identity

It also explains the politics of sexual identity. While it is true that homosexuality has been a common phenomenon in many societies throughout history, it has now achieved the novel status of defining the very essence of a person. Some Christians do . . . Continue reading →

The Ninth Commandment And The New Media (UPDATED)

The ninth commandment is still a part of the moral law of God. It requires that all humans tell the truth. It says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” As my dear friend Don Treick always says, “It’s in . . . Continue reading →