Calling for a Return to the Doctrinal Ideals and Kingdom Ethics of the First Reformation
https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/book-review/not-god-divine-simplicity-simple/
I appreciated this review of James Dolezal's 2017 work All That is In God: Evangelical Theology and the Challenge of Classical Christian Theism - a work that has generated controversy and led to the creation of new factions within Reformed circles. As the subject interests me, I find myself returning to it once again.
https://philosophical-theology.com/2025/10/17/abandoning-the-faith-in-college-really/
DiGiacomo finds parental discourse surrounding the issue of apostasy to be confused but we could say the same adjective describes his discourse as well. The bottom line is this - what does the New Testament say? And this is the rub, Calvinism all too often commits itself to rationalist systemic frameworks that logically prioritize certain truths and as a consequence, verses (even if there are literally dozens of them) that suggest something to the contrary must be explained away and/or subordinated.
https://religionnews.com/2025/10/09/new-book-debunks-spanking-and-the-myths-of-christian-parenting/
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.
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.
https://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1011-76012018000100013
I think I first encountered JAT Robinson (1919-1983) and discussions of his 1963 work 'Honest to God' in the writings of Francis Schaeffer and authors such as Iain Murray of the Banner of Truth. This would have been back in the mid-1990's.
For those unfamiliar with the discussion, Robinson was the Bishop of Woolwich and while in that office he published 'Honest to God' in which he revealed his doubts about conventional theism. It shocked the Christian world at the time (1963) - a bishop who was effectively (at least according to traditional definitions) an agnostic, if not an outright atheist.
Historians have long debated the relationship between the Cynics and early Christianity. There are some striking similarities to be found in the lives of the Cynics who emerged in the context of Classical Greece, a few hundred years before Christ - so much so, that some believe Christ may have been influenced by them.
The likeness is superficial. The Cynics rested their thought on a different epistemological basis and their ethics were also different - and yet similar enough at times to generate a lot of discussion. For those wishing to make direct comparisons or find some trace of lineage, it's a dead end. That said, the similarities can be striking and nevertheless generate some interesting reflection. The Cynics raise issues in terms of ethics and society that the Church can benefit from. And this is not something new or something that emerged in this era of comparative religious studies.
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?
https://reformedpolitics.substack.com/p/a-christian-case-for-borders
Apparently PCA pastor David Hall was so moved by Speaker Mike Johnson's apologia for border defense that he chose to re-post it on his website.
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.
The other day while driving I picked up an AM radio station out of Toronto and heard an interview with an expert on neurogenerosity - which apparently has been a subject of discussion for the better part of a decade. I wasn't sure at first whether to take it seriously.
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.
https://theopolisinstitute.com/leithart_post/epistemological-dualism/
Right from the onset I disagree with Meek's airtight definitions and the way she wishes to imply how such epistemological dualism operates. I further disagree with Leithart's insinuation that this leads to the elimination of knowledge. It's a slippery slope argument that is misleading at best.
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.
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-I-C-Herendeen/dp/B0FJZ4ZFY7
I am pleased to endorse this 2025 work authored by my son, Isaac. It would seem that our visits to Swengel, Millmont, and Lewisburg, Pennsylvania piqued his interest some years ago. I had visited those places in connection to Arthur Pink. I knew of Herendeen, but Isaac picked up his story and pursued his own course of research and I must admit I find Herendeen's life to be noteworthy.