Sola Scriptura and The Spectrum of Scriptural Authority (II): Lutheran Apocrypha, Fundamentalist Epistemology, and Evangelical Compromise

We must also mention the somewhat unusual structuring of Lutheran conceptions of Sola Scriptura - something a lot of people are unaware of. As already mentioned, it's largely confined to gospel-related questions - an issue itself not always easy to categorize. But in addition, the Lutherans have (historically) a two-tiered concept of Scripture. Following Eusebius, there are the New Testament Homologoumena - the undisputed books, and the Antilegomena which were disputed in some quarters for a time - a list that would include the Epistle of James along with Hebrews, 2 Peter, and Revelation.

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.

Psychology, the Re-framing of Evangelical Parenting, and Roads to Apostasy

https://religionnews.com/2025/10/09/new-book-debunks-spanking-and-the-myths-of-christian-parenting/

https://religionnews.com/2024/05/30/adults-raised-in-the-christian-parenting-empire-of-the-70s-90s-push-back/

Evangelicalism has an established track record of compromise and worldly thinking. From its inception in the post-war context, this movement has left the doors wide open to worldly influence.

Therefore it's no surprise to read of these assaults on Biblical parenting being offered by women - women who are effectively teaching doctrine and ethics. Their disobedience to the Scriptures and the fact that they are given standing and an audience within the Evangelical sphere only further emphasizes this point.

Market Machinations, Wall Street, and the Ethics of Profit

The BBC recently interviewed a farmer in the American Midwest. He was upset over rising fertilizer prices connected to the Iran War. The markets have spiked due to petroleum and natural gas interruptions and 'supply chain' problems associated with the conflict.

The farmer contended that the US is energy independent. After all this is a point the Right has championed for a number of years - a point even associated with Trumpism. If the US becomes energy independent, it will be able to divorce itself from Middle Eastern instability and entanglements - or so it was argued. Not everyone agreed.

The Deceitfulness of Riches

https://petehurst.com/prosperity-the-big-lie-and-the-big-truth/

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-sweet-taste-of-vomit.html

I commented on Hurst back in December of 2025 but this article crossed my path and left me more astonished than usual. Does anyone actually read the Scriptures?

The Sufficiency of Scripture, the Christian Life, and the Rejection of Psychology

https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/6952196ce386b6135c21f915

As regular readers of my websites will know, I am not a fan of Scott Brown and his Theonomic movement within Reformed Baptist circles.

I first encountered him around twenty years ago (or more) in connection with the question of family-integrated worship. I had already more or less developed convictions with regard to worship, and as a paedobaptist, I had wrestled with how to view Christian children. And so on that point, I actually go a good deal further than Brown and this also shaped my thinking in terms of worship. Sunday School for me had come up in the 1990's as I wrestled with ecclesiology and the regulative principle.

The Bogus Case for Cathedrals

https://thefederalist.com/2025/11/18/why-christians-should-build-cathedrals/

Nathanael Blake, the author of this piece was recently on LPR's Issues Etc., in order to promote this article and its ideology. I was disappointed with Todd Wilken that he was willing to give voice to this, but given some of the other voices and ideas he promotes, I guess I'm not too surprised.

The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) is clearly fighting its own internal battles. They're struggling with Far Right and Nazi-esque revisionists on the one hand and a still vibrant Evangelical-style movement that wants to take them into a low-church direction. Having examined and even visited some of the LCMS congregations in my area, the battle lines are clear. We have everything from High Church practice with statues of Jesus, the sign of the cross, and chanting to (at the opposite end of the spectrum), low-church Evangelical-style worship with pop music, screens, and the rest.

The Church in Dark Ages - A Call to Dissent and Nonconformity (II)

Medieval Romanism formulated its notions of law and justice in terms of a fusion between old Roman jurisprudence and the tribal codes and customs coming out of the Germanic world. Over time this would be re-tooled by other influences. The point being - Scripture had little to do with it.

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.

Evangelical Materialism and the Functional Denial of Scriptural Authority

I have often talked about the Materialist assumption at work in our culture. It is just assumed that everything that exists has some kind of scientific or physiological explanation. I heard a BBC reporter talking about the Scopes Trial and the 'teaching' of evolution. He corrected himself with the 'science of evolution' - implying that science is factual and based on actual things that can be verified while teaching is just theoretical or philosophical and thus subjective in a way 'science' is not. The poor lost man doesn't understand that science - especially as it's being understood in a Materialist framework is just as philosophically rooted and dependent as any other religious system.

The SBC Founders Find the Road to not just Loserdom but Functional Apostasy (II)

We are then subjected to ridiculous ad for 'Christian Coffee' whatever that is. To be frank, I'd rather give my money to Starbucks than false Christianity. Don't be fooled, despite their claims, these people have no problem giving their money to support evil. The list of examples is long and would fill an encyclopaedia. It was ridiculous to say the least. Later we are subjected to a sacrilegious soap commercial cast in Dominionist terms and a biography of John Knox is promoted - certainly a whitewash of his actual history and views.

The SBC Founders Find the Road to not just Loserdom but Functional Apostasy (I)

https://www.theblaze.com/abide/meek-not-weak-the-era-of-christian-loserdom-is-over

https://founders.org/podcasts/tstt-must-christians-lose-down-here/

The Founders here refers not to the American Founders but a movement within the Southern Baptist Convention to recover its Calvinist roots from the time of the antebellum split in American Christianity. I remember hearing about this movement back in the 1990's and it was spoken of with great approval and hope. Today, Tom Ascol is the leader of the Founders. I'm not entirely sure if he's cut from the same cloth as earlier men like Ernest Reisinger who got the movement going. There's no doubt that the Founders have played a significant role in the genesis of New Calvinism.

Evangelical Ecclesiology and the Question of Authority

https://religionnews.com/2025/03/04/why-are-southern-baptists-still-arguing-about-women-preachers-credentials-committee-newspring/

The reason the Southern Baptist Convention is still arguing about women preachers is because they won't address the fundamental issue. The vast majority of the conservatives have no problem with women teaching - which is to exercise authority. The arguments in the New Testament that forbid women office are tied to the question of authority and the role of women which is one of domesticity.

Blair, the Roman Beast, and The Mark (IV)

The visions in Daniel and repeated in Revelation seem to suggest the Roman Empire is the model for the Beast and indeed from the time of the New Testament to the present, the spectre of Rome haunts Christendom. From the Russian and British Empires, to the German, French, and American - all seek to emulate Rome. Whether Republican or Imperial Rome, the Western or Eastern iterations, all look to Rome as the paragon of government, the ideal they aspire to. All are inspired by its institutions and laws - and certainly its architecture. And all muse over its fall.

The Latest Episode of Media Malpractice and What it Reveals about American Society and the State of the Church

The news is focused on Christmas-related human-interest stories, shopping deals, travel woes, actresses who market their bodies and then complain when they aren't treated with due respect, and the latest absurdities flowing from Trump's reprobate mouth.

The Right is playing up the gruesome murder on a New York City subway - apparently it would have been less of an atrocity if the perpetrator had been a legal resident or citizen. There also remains a fixation on the case of the murdered United Healthcare CEO, even while there are many brutal murders that take place every day and yet don't receive much if any attention or media and law enforcement resources. In other words this murder matters because the victim is part of the same millionaire class the media represents and there is a fear that such vigilantism might spread. Certainly the public outcry of support for the shooter has generated alarm.

Herman Bavinck's Monism and Redefinition of the Kingdom (II)

One can only sit back in wonder when reading a statement like this:

It is on this basis that Bavinck can say: “There is thus a rich revelation of God even among the heathen—not only in nature but also in their heart and conscience, in their life and history, among their statesmen and artists, their philosophers and reformers.”

Herman Bavinck's Monism and Redefinition of the Kingdom (I)

https://www.wyattgraham.com/p/what-does-herman-bavinck-mean-by

Reading this article about Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), I found myself overwhelmed by a flood of thoughts. His influence is profound and growing and yet is this something to celebrate?

A British Evangelical's take on Faith, Work, and Culture War

https://evangelicalfocus.com/multimedia/video/24261/Dan_Strange:_Faith,_work_and_Culture_Wars

There's a lot packed into this 12-minute interview. If you have your eyes and ears open it's rather instructive. But first, consider the context.

Inbox: The Church as Institution vs. Sect (II)

The non-sacral sect model views culture as something that is at best inevitably corrupt (and thus to some degree a thing indifferent), and at worst a subversive danger to the Kingdom. This must be juxtaposed with the sacral-institutional model that views culture as something to be mastered, shaped, and controlled. When I say 'indifferent', this is not to suggest that it can be used expansively or with abandon. On the contrary our interactions with it must be marked by caution and even cynicism - and yet without fear. Such wisdom and occasionalism prove difficult and thus many have (in the spirit of the Pharisees) erected the Legalist Wall as a means of protection - a move that is ultimately corrosive in that in addition to being unbiblical it has the tendency to shut down the spiritual faculties of discernment instead relying on a kind of checklist spirituality wed to a (fundamentally flawed) cultural narrative.

A Recurring Exegetical Error Regarding Exercise

https://g3min.org/how-valuable-is-bodily-training/

In 1 Timothy 4, Paul speaks of bodily exercise. He says it profits little, or profits a little. Either way it is not of great or supreme profit.

But what is he talking about?