Imperial Narratives, Urban Planning and Architecture

The movie Downfall (Der Untergang) contains many fascinating scenes but there's one in particular that recently came to mind. In the movie Hitler is pondering a magnificent scale model of the Berlin he imagined, the Berlin that he dreamed up with his architect Albert Speer. This Berlin was not just the Berlin of Bismarck and the Hohenzollerns but a new Ultra-Imperial Berlin, the "Welthauptstadt Germania" the city of not just a European power but a world empire. It was a city that would exhibit art and culture from around the world.

Dispensationalism, the Restrainer and the NKJV

As much as I appreciate the New King James Version for both its textual basis and philosophy of translation I was disappointed to find a theological insertion. At this particular point they deviated from principled translation protocols and made a judgment call. The judgment favours a certain type of theology but is without substantial textual basis. It is therefore misleading and ought to be corrected.

Paul, the Cretans and Addressing Social Sins

Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons (Titus 1.12)

This quotation taken from Epimenides and utilised by the Apostle Paul is used by some to argue that Paul was 'taking on' the evil forces at work in the culture. He was challenging the culture of Crete and therefore those Christians who argue for Two Kingdom theology, those Christians who reject Dominionism are necessarily in error.

Imperialist Wars, Conscription and Democracy

If you're listening to the second season of the Serial podcast then you're learning about Bowe Bergdahl and the circumstances of his capture and the swirl of events that surrounded it.

I'm mildly interested in the story but if you're listening there's a lot more that you can glean. There's something to be learned about these modern wars, how they're fought and it leads one to reflect.

Inbox: Lutheranism, Kuyper and the Two Kingdoms

In terms of the differences between the confessional Lutheran position and my own maybe I can shed a little light, but I will be brief and paint with a broad brush. I'm also throwing a variant of Reformed Theology into the mix because I think it's pertinent and may shed a little light for some readers on a seemingly obscure point of dispute in contemporary Reformed circles.

Addendum to the Fifth Republic

This is a follow-up discussion to the previous essay:

http://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-us-fifth-republic.html

In that article I posited the following scenario: