A Different Sort of Non-Aligned Movement

When trying to explain how a First Reformation and non-resistance view might operate in today's world and how we might bear witness with regard to events, culture, and geopolitics - and yet not be part of it, I was reminded of the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War.

The Architect of Modern Evangelicalism (II)

In many cases his interpretation of culture, politics, and geo-politics will leave the American reader confused. Profoundly conservative, his views on economics are not at all in line with the American Right - and certainly not its waxing Libertarian wing. He condemns laissez-faire policies and the utilitarian arguments that capitalism so often resorts to. He understands that 'money creates power' and warns against it - but then still spends the whole of his life chasing after power and relying on alliances with those who possess wealth. I find it remarkable that he clearly understood and accepted the notion that a Christian political order without a regenerate populace would necessarily result in an oppressive system. It's something American Evangelicals largely do not grasp and of course they don't want to hear it as it flies in the face of the narratives about freedom and liberty. Americans can still dream and fantasize in a way never afforded to the claustrophobic ordering of nations in Europe.

The Architect of Modern Evangelicalism (I)

I recently finished reading James Bratt's 2013 work - Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. I cannot recommend it enough. It was an excellent work, well done, and at times even something of a page turner. While some American readers might struggle at times with the dynamics of 19th century European politics, enough is explained that I think most will be able to persevere through it.

Libertarian Myths Exposed and Refuted

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2024/05/07/1249203297/neoliberal-economics-the-road-to-freedom-or-authoritarianism

The report of this little exchange between Beveridge and Hayek is still relevant. This is all the more the case to me when I consider how the thinking of Hayek, von Mises, Rand, and other godless economists of the Austrian economic and Libertarian school continue to capture the hearts of many Evangelicals.

Historical Cycles: The Post-Napoleonic Context of Adolphe Monod, Reveil, and Some Contemporary Analogies (III)

As has so often been the case in Church history, persecution failed to defeat the faithful. They were instead defeated by peace and flourishing, and through compromise, the ability to attain status and respect in society. The American Beast did not persecute the Church, instead it seduced it. The crisis for American Christianity came at the turn of the twentieth century when the Classical Liberalism of its founding (with its secular assumptions) finally overtook and began to openly subvert the (by then) weakened and deformed Christian consensus – thus creating the crisis that would generate new cycles and chapters of reaction and compromise in American Church history throughout the twentieth century right up to the present.

Glorying in their Shame: Celebrating the Magisterial Reformation's Sacral Heritage (I)

or

The Distorted Thinking Which Dominates Reformed Political Thinking Today

https://americanreformer.org/2023/07/reformed-political-theology-today/

The article errs in its opening salvo. Psalm 2 must be interpreted in light of the New Testament. The tension Kennedy looks for is not there. The New Testament reveals Psalm 2 to be eschatological.

As a consequence of this error, there is an admittedly substantial heritage which Kennedy merely perpetuates. Begging the fundamental question, he offers nothing by way of remedy.

Postmillennial Clash: American Theonomy and British Whig-Revivalism

Having recently worked through Crawford Gribben's 2021 Survival and Resistance in Evangelical America: Christian Reconstruction in the Pacific Northwest, I was struck by many things but I have repeatedly revisited his reporting on the exchanges between American Theonomy and British outlets like the Banner of Truth. Later as Theonomy would emerge onto a larger stage it would be met with no small degree of hostility from within theologically conservative and Reformed circles in Britain. I don't believe Gribben sufficiently explored this and yet I think the episode to be rather instructive.

The UCC Backlash: Conservative remnants within old Congregationalist, Hungarian, and German Reformed Congregations

https://www.ironsharpensironradio.com/podcast/june-15-2023-show-with-ed-boyle-micah-clouse-on-is-there-hope-for-the-united-church-of-christ/

A recent episode of Iron Sharpens Iron caught my eye as it called attention to some of the conservative remnants and their resistance to theological liberalism within the United Church of Christ (UCC).

The Frankfurt Declaration: Its Disordered Assumptions, Deceit, and Dangers (II)

Providence lobbed the American Church a softball when it came to Covid. Did it rise to the occasion? No, the episode exposed a metastatic spiritual cancer, a real ugliness, and it revealed a reigning ethical system antithetical to the New Testament. The rotten harvest of a generation of Right-wing Dominionism came to bear in the selfishness and avarice we witnessed. The survival of the fittest ethic of capitalism and the sociopathic mercenary ethics of Libertarianism contributed to the deaths of over 1 million people – just in the US. These false social systems and ideologies have been deeply established in the minds and hearts of American Evangelicals due to an aggressive programme of false teaching that has been in place now for more than a generation. Covid exposed the rotten heart of the larger Evangelical movement – of American Christianity in all its mammon-loving repugnant splendour. Many Church leaders (including the supposed and farcical tyranny-resisters of The Frankfurt Declaration) have blood on their hands.

The Frankfurt Declaration: Its Disordered Assumptions, Deceit, and Dangers (I)

https://frankfurtdeclaration.com

This last summer a new doctrinal declaration appeared that for all its bluster has received surprisingly little attention.  From what I can tell the forces behind it represent an informal effort or loose alliance that would include the likes of John MacArthur, and people associated with James White and G3 ministries.

The False Dilemma of the 2022 Election

Albert Mohler and other Evangelicals are right, we as Christians cannot vote for Democrats. Amen. And they go further and suggest those that do so fall under condemnation. Amen to that as well.

Trueman: A Little Late to the Antithesis Game

https://wng.org/opinions/welcome-to-pride-month-christian-1654083759

Trueman is right to lament Pride Month and the latest shift in our culture that will (without a doubt) lead to the marginalisation of Christians. It's inescapable, and like Lot in Sodom – any Christian is bound to be vexed by the world and the conduct that surrounds us.

Dominionism and the Tucker Carlson School of Homiletics

Visiting another church this Sunday once more proved to be a serious disappointment. The congregation was something of a hybrid between Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism and yet Sacralist thinking dominated. The pastor continually confused the identity of the Church and the nation and begged the question regarding the Christian call to engage and dominate culture.

The Last of the Theonomic Three: Scary Gary North (1942-2022)

https://www.garynorth.com/public/23334.cfm

He was 'Scary Gary' to many – a reference to his cantankerous style. An original member of the Theonomic Three and its last survivor, he married RJ Rushdoony's daughter – a connection I know many did not make.

I encountered him early on in my Christian life. I remember receiving materials in the mail from Still Waters Revival Books. They tirelessly promoted the Theonomic line and in my files I still have many of their pamphlets headed by Bahnsen, Rushdoony, and Gary North.

Contemporary Iconoclasm: Cancel Culture and Statue Removal

When the Magisterial Reformation appeared on the scene in the Sixteenth Century it was followed by many episodes of iconoclasm. Protestant mobs would rush into Catholic buildings and tear out and smash art, statues, relics, and architectural elements that they found objectionable.

Helm on Vocation

https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2021/the-christian-mans-calling/

Helm begins by arguing that Evangelicals have adopted an essentially gnostic view of Creation and Redemption and a non-Christian anthropology. These claims are regularly made by Dominionist-minded thinkers and yet I have yet to find anyone who actually holds to these views. For nigh on forty years the Christian Right has laboured to eradicate them – largely straw men to begin with – and they have been successful. The attack is against new straw men they have substituted for the real problems they face.

The Christian Response to Cancel Culture

Evangelicals are outraged at the prospect of being kicked of Twitter, Facebook, or some other form of social media.

Providence, Power and Second-Class Citizenship

Why The Church Must Reject Politics (Part I)

These are questions that I have addressed many times but I'll address some specific points that have been raised and are worthy of consideration given the present moment.

Romans 13 makes it abundantly clear that the powers that be are ordained by God and to resist the power is to invite judgment and condemnation.

The Context of MacArthur's Flawed Stand Regarding the Church, State and Covid-19

With regard to state mandates directed at churches, I completely support the rejection of state authority. The state has no business in the affairs of the Church but unfortunately the Church (generally speaking) has confused the issue on at least two fronts.

The Dynamics and Ethics of Lawbreaking (Part 2)

Someday, will I operate my business 'under the table' because the laws have become impossible to comply with? I hope not but if it comes down to eating, then I might. If it's a matter of having enough money for my $100,000 house, my retirement account, or the ability to drive my SUV, then I won't. And no fear, since I don't have any of these things, such questions are moot and there's no temptation either.