When Community Isn’t

The contemporary use of the word “community” has troubled me for some time. I couldn’t put my finger on it until today. It came to me during a drive across the vast wasteland that is Nevada. Folk routinely speak about the “online” . . . Continue reading →

Luther’s Rhetoric Versus Melanchthon’s

The little fellow is a godly man…his intention is not bad…but he hasn’t accomplished much by his method. I think…that my way is still the best. I speak right out and scold my opponents like schoolboys. For a knotty stump requires a . . . Continue reading →

Why (Some) Reformed People Are Such Jerks

The Oxford American Dictionary gives this informal usage of the noun jerk: a contemptibly obnoxious person § About as soon as I left my evangelical (Southern Baptist) congregation and started associating with Reformed folk, I began to hear this question. I remember taking someone . . . Continue reading →

Calvin On Paul’s Defense Of The Gospel To Peter

That the truth of the gospel. There was no danger that Paul would be deprived of his liberty even by yielding to them; but the example would have done harm to others, and therefore he prudently inquired what was expedient. This shows . . . 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.

How Did Christians Speak In Public?

I do not follow Australian rules football, the career of Australian pastor Guy Mason, or that of television presenter Ryan Kochie but, a month ago, they collided on Australian television. Andrew Thorburn is a banker who has a lay leadership role in . . . Continue reading →