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.

Inbox: Christian Kids in State Colleges (II)

For as 'woke' as the environment supposedly is – he's been appalled at the Establishment-friendly narratives (that while sometimes critical of the United States) in the end defend it and justify American policy and conduct in such contexts as Vietnam and its other more recent wars. And so while a Right-wing adherent would be critical of what's being said, a New Testament Christian is left offended by what is in the end a defense of the Establishment regime and its countless episodes of imperialist theft and murder. And it would only be worse in the context of a Christian college.

Inbox: Christian Kids in State Colleges (I)

After having stated on repeated occasions that I don't believe Christians should send their children to public school, how can I justify sending my son to a state or public college? Isn't this the same thing?

Myths Concerning Second Temple Judaism

Having recently finished Gerard Russell's Heirs of Forgotten Kingdoms (Basic Books, 2014) I found myself once again irritated and put off by popular but erroneous narratives concerning Second Temple Judaism.

Chiliasm, Totalitarian Cults, and The Pursuit of the Millennium

After many years I finally found the time to read Norman Cohn's The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages first published in 1957. For all the attention this book has received I was quite disappointed.

Cohn's thesis rests on a cobbled together narrative that confuses popular impulse and superstition with religious conviction. He tries to argue that various utopian and chiliastic movements of the medieval period were the cultural and ideological precursors of twentieth century Nazism and Communism.

Flags in the Church

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/11/the-history-of-national-flags-in-churches

The debate over flags in the Church is riddled with problems and clouded by false assumptions. There is a problem with the sanctuary model to begin with, the idea that a building is somehow a 'holy' place, a 'sanctuary' or that the front of the structure is some kind of focal point – a leftover of the unbiblical altar-theology of Romanism.

Nevin's Early Christianity

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (I)

The study of Church History is one dominated by narratives. For some it's a question of progress, a narrative of the application of principles, the expansion of the Kingdom in the form of Christendom and for others it's a story of remnant groups persevering in the face of apostasy and relentless persecution. Needless to say variations of the former model have proven to be far more popular and marketable.

The Hospitality Argument Regarding the Angels and Sodom

The ancient Greek myth regarding Philemon and Baucis tells the story of an impoverished couple visited by Zeus and Hermes in the guise of men. The gods had already traveled through the area and had received no hospitality. The poorest and most destitute household, that of Philemon and Baucis welcomed the gods and were even willing to slaughter their precious goose in order to put on a proper spread.

Heiser's Unseen Realm and the Divine Council (Part 3)

While I would love to recommend Heiser's works to family and friends, I cannot do so in good conscience. I know some would benefit from the conversation and an encounter with the topics he brings up and the Scriptural data he very effectively utilises. But buried in, around and in-between the lines are assumptions that can only be described as theologically liberal.

Heiser's Unseen Realm and the Divine Council (Part 2)

For me the tragedy is that Protestant Scholasticism created a theological paradigm that had little room for spiritual duality and tension. Because of historical abuses, the twisted absolute dualism of the Gnostics, Cathars and others there's been a strong monistic push since the 17^th century to resolve all tensions under the umbrella of Divine Sovereignty. This is pushed to an extreme in the theology embraced by many if not most contemporary Calvinists.

Heiser's Unseen Realm and the Divine Council (Part 1)

I first started thinking about the Divine Council many years ago when reading the works of Meredith Kline. In particular his 2001 commentary on Zechariah's night visions proved a thrilling read and stirred me on several investigative fronts. To this day it remains a favourite and I frequently re-visit it. Not only did it feed my already growing interest in Redemptive-Historical hermeneutics, it started me down a path of investigating typology and symbols and subsequently I discovered there were vast untapped riches to be found in the Scriptures, a treasure trove of revelation concerning the celestial realms and the mechanisms by which God has ordered the universe.

Modern Evangelicalism and the Chicago Compromise

In the wake of RC Sproul's death there have been a host of tributes written on his behalf. Recently I encountered an article praising Sproul and his role in framing the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy which first appeared in 1978. This statement is met with almost universal praise from within Evangelical and Confessional circles and there is much to praise indeed. While the over two hundred signers were certainly upholding the Bible in an age of unbelief, few realise or understand that modern inerrancy represents a shift in thinking and indeed a break from older Protestant understandings of Scripture.

It is noteworthy and admirable to find men of Christian faith upholding the Word of God. This is especially true in an era of materialism and scientism. They are to be commended for this adherence to supernaturalism and the notion of Divine Inspiration.

Final Salvation and Today's Calvinism

The question of Final Salvation is further clouded by what could be described as Today's Calvinism and the metanarratives it has attached to Historical Theology. I'm not merely referring to the so-called New Calvinism or movements like Young, Restless and Reformed. 

By Today's Calvinism I'm speaking of Reformed Theology and Calvinism in general terms. Specifically I'm speaking of North American Calvinism in the wake of the 19^th century. While international Calvinism went into decline and largely succumbed to Liberalism, the remaining sectors of conservative Calvinism underwent changes.

Princeton Seminary: Twenty Years of Reflection

If you've never been to Princeton, New Jersey I highly recommend it. It's a fascinating place filled with history and character. There's much to see and yet the real thrill is to just walk around, enjoy the streets and wander the magnificent old buildings of one of the most renowned of the Ivy League schools.

Gnosticism through a Dominionist Lens Part 4

Elitist Knowledge

Riddles of Fundamentalism 5: Biblicism, Oracular Presence and Concluding Thoughts

Faced with the overwhelming and crushing burden of philosophical collapse and the onset of scepticism we are presented with another option. It comes in the form of a Person, a Way, a Door, a Prophet. We are called to listen to His Voice and trust in Him. As Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, the Word of God... Scripture comes into the picture. It contains the accounts of the good news, the doctrine, the paths of discipleship and it is, is centered on, and culminates with the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

A Generation Passes

Chick, Ruckman, LaHaye and Schlafly

So far this year has seen three significant figures pass from the Evangelical and Fundamentalist scene. The torch is being passed and at this point there are only a handful of leaders remaining from that older generation that rose to prominence in the 1970s with the creation of the Moral Majority. The remaining voices, men like James Dobson and Pat Robertson are now in their eighties.

The Cosmology of Tolkien

Updated March 2017

While perhaps a little off-topic for this website, I wanted to share a few thoughts regarding Part 1of this lecture on Tolkien's Silmarillion. The topic has long attracted me and in fact there are aspects of it that grow more interesting to me over time.

For many years I have been interested in both Tolkien and Lewis and in particular how their Cosmological understandings play out in their fantasy works. Their writings reflect the Middle Ages, the era both authors appreciated, but some time ago I realised this question was more complex than the intricacies of Medieval Scholastic Speculation. There are larger questions regarding Apocryphal literature. That's easy enough to dismiss but I continue to revisit the issue in light of the New Testament's interaction and utilisation of certain works.

Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy

There is an oft-repeated but utterly fallacious argument that Democracy and Capitalism go hand in hand. Capitalism is about 'voting' for what goods and services you want and is thus an extension of the democratic system.

The False Narratives of Meese, Scalia and Originalism

Recently former Attorney General Ed Meese was interviewed on LPR's Issues Etc. and asked to comment on the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the coming battle over a replacement for him.

Meese consistently expressed concern for the Constitution, praised Scalia for his stances, values and defense of the document. In addition Meese also identified himself as a devoted Lutheran.

The entire interview was a fraud.