Mary de Rachewiltz, Ezra Pound, and the Battle for Western Civilization

Mary de Rachewiltz (1925-2026) has died at the age of 101. She wasn't exactly a household name but as the daughter of Ezra Pound and Olga Rudge, she was somewhat famous in European and American artistic circles. But her reputation was tarnished at least in part by her father Ezra and his associations with Fascism and Mussolini and the fact that she devoted most of her adult life to curating his work and memory.

Sola Scriptura and The Spectrum of Scriptural Authority (IV): Hyper-Literalism, Rationalism, and Prima Scriptura

To some extent the rise of Dispensationalism in the early 20th century can be understood as an expression of this same reaction-to-liberalism dynamic, even though the theological system it spawned (despite its claims) was actually proven to be an inaccurate and unfaithful interpretation of the Scripture itself. It's hyper-literalism proved to be selective and driven by certain commitments. Once these were undermined by more solid exegesis, the entire system collapsed like a great house of cards.

Twisting the Scriptures, Undermining Biblical Principles, and the Supposed Stewardship of Voting (I)

https://www.vcy.org/crosstalk/2026/02/24/the-bible-and-your-vote/

If you can stomach it, listen to this episode of CrossTalk - or more properly John Birch Society Radio. The show frequently hosts the society's leaders and thinkers and functions as a platform for its brand of Right-wing politics. It's almost a comprehensive study in all that is wrong with the Christian Right and today's Evangelical movement. Woods (the guest) is a bit simplistic to be sure, but he's consistent in his representation of their platform. With the Bible in hand, he launches an assault on New Testament Christianity every bit as subversive as that of James Talarico. The latter won't actually fool anyone grounded in Scripture but Woods and his ilk are persuasive to many and continue to do great harm.

A Misrepresentation of Western Art

https://cne.news/article/4938-how-arts-draw-europe-back-to-paganism

This article struck me as rather strange. In many respects I can resonate with Placentino's concerns about pagan revival in connection with 18th and 19th century Romanticism, but at the same time I found his arguments wanting and often guilty of begging the question.

A Confessional Presbyterian Revels in Idolatry, Nationalism, Apostasy, and Trump

https://reformedpolitics.substack.com/p/religious-gains-2025

Hall's work has been repeatedly promoted on websites like The Aquila Report and I've also encountered him in the podcast world. Hall thinks 'gains' are being made with the Trump presidency. Needless to say there are a lot of assumptions being made as well as the typical pronoun confusion (and the thought that undergirds it) that we've come to expect.

Ghosts of Weimar: A Lament for Lutherans Struck Blind

I found myself frustrated listening to a couple of Missouri-Synod pastors discussing what they called The American Interim - an attempt to draw a parallel with the Augsburg and Leipzig Interims (1548-1555). German Lutherans were forced to make concessions in the wake of their 1547 defeat in the First Schmalkaldic War. Eventually the Protestant princes rose and in the Second war of that name they achieved victory marked by the 1555 Peace of Augsburg.

Reflecting on John MacArthur's Legacy

John MacArthur died three months ago (July 2025) and the buzz concerning him and his ministry have waned. This is especially true in light of subsequent events such as the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

There were some voices of concern and criticism lodged regarding MacArthur, his ministry, and testimony, but overwhelmingly the assessments have been positive.

Charlie Kirk is not a Christian Martyr

It's hardly surprising to watch the Right turn Kirk into a martyr. It's also obvious the White House is hoping to gain traction from this death. It's turning the conversation away from the Epstein scandal and Trump's sordid connections to that evil. Hegseth is using Kirk's death to clamp down on dissent in the military. Federal workers that have been justifiably outraged over Trump's order to lower flags and said so in social media posts have led to their firings. The Right-wing media machine is in full swing - the legend is already being created and history is being re-written. The already violent political campaign and ongoing cultural purge is set to increase. A weaponized justice system is ready. In good Orwellian fashion, the destruction of Cancel Culture will be pursued by its own Right-wing version of the same.

On the Death of James Dobson (1936-2025)

A friend recently wrote to me asking if I had heard about the death of James Dobson. I told him I heard it break over the news while I was at work, and I trembled. I was reminded of the same thing happening to me back in 2007 when Jerry Falwell died. Once again, I thought of Matthew 7 and 2 Timothy 3 - and the theme of deceiving and being deceived.

Two Tales of Theological Confusion

There is a great deal of confusion out there. This hardly needs to be said but I was reminded again of it on a recent Sunday when talking to a very zealous and proud CREC member who launched into a criticism of Sacralism. He's really opposed to the idea of the Church being intertwined with the government.

Alberta's Chronicle of Evangelical Demise

I heard Tim Alberta interviewed on Fresh Air back in November of 2023. His interview grabbed my attention as I remain eager to hear Evangelical voices critical of what's been happening to the Church in the Trump era.

And so out of curiosity I picked up his book - The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in An Age of Extremism and was immediately 'pulled in' as they say. It was really a very interesting read and his compilation of reporting narratives and interviews was compelling. During the early stages of the book I became convinced that I would want everyone I knew to read it. But then at some point the book shifted and began to lose its way, leaving me with very mixed feelings.

Trumpism and the Infiltration of the Church

I'm hardly the first to muse on the irony of how the Right expressed constant concern over Obama and how the Left made him into a messianic figure. I took it as a fiery expression of zeal for someone that was not George Bush - people have already forgotten how much he was despised near the end of his term. Regardless, whatever happened with Obama surely pales in comparison to the way Trump is viewed by his most devoted followers. And devotion is the correct word as many have crossed the line and for them Trumpism is far more than a political platform or a style - it's a religion.

Discerning Trueman's Confusion

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2023/12/has-hitler-won-on-the-left

Carl Trueman of Grove City College laments the moral decline in society and the kind of confusion that would lead to people celebrating the 7 October Hamas attack on Southern Israel.

Evangelicalism's Outsourced Worldview

Some time ago I heard someone discussing the 'outsourcing' of a great deal of Evangelical thinking and it has stayed with me. It's another interesting way of framing what has happened.

The Persistent Myth Regarding Moscow and Covid

On numerous occasions in conversation and from the pulpit I have heard Christians appealing to the example of Doug Wilson and his followers in Moscow, Idaho. Inspired by their resistance to 'Covid Tyranny' in the fall of 2020, this group is being held up as an example of courage and Christian conduct.

Little do these Wilson fans realize, what they deem inspiration is in fact a source of shame, and rather than call attention to an example of heroism and Christian fortitude, they in fact trumpet their own lack of discernment.

A Pastoral Rebuke of a Different Kind

This was but another case of meeting Christian people at a church and getting one impression and then finding them on social media and discovering they are in fact something else. The Nazarene body in question is something completely unrelated to the fairly numerous Nazarene churches which are part of the Wesleyan tradition.

A Libertarian Perspective on Food Freedom (I)

https://www.ironsharpensironradio.com/podcast/august-25-2023-show-with-jim-mogel-on-food-freedom-agriculture-from-a-biblical-perspective/

This episode of Iron Sharpens Iron caught my eye as it touches on a larger topic of attitudes about food and what is 'natural' that have emerged in more extreme Right-wing Christian circles. I have notes and a partially completed piece on this topic that's been on the back-burner for a couple of years. God willing I'll get to it before the end of this year. It's important and discussions like this remind me of this fact and the need to counter these assumptions.

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).

John MacArthur Continues to Disappoint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-ofKxfYqGw

In recent weeks, as the media focused on the seventy-fifth anniversary of Israel's founding, I have been musing on Dispensationalism and its geopolitical influence. I happened to come across a video of John MacArthur appearing on the Ben Shapiro show back in 2018.

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.