Kuyper and Schilder on Eschatology and Culture

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/beginning-at-the-end-of-all-things/

The theology and thought of Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) is riddled with contradictions. On the one hand contemporary Dominionists wishing to posit a monistic view of society will quote Kuyper's famous dictum : 'There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!'

It's a pretty bold statement suggesting the boundaries of the Kingdom are all encompassing and there can be no room for dissent.

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.

What is Good Art? Dominionist Aesthetics versus the Detachment-Discernment Ethos of New Testament Pilgrim Christianity (II)

Rather than reduce art to the Hellenistic categories of the good, true, and beautiful our understanding needs to be both wide and nuanced.

What is Good Art? Dominionist Aesthetics versus the Detachment-Discernment Ethos of New Testament Pilgrim Christianity (I)

https://g3min.org/art-that-accords-with-sound-doctrine/

This G3 article represents yet another attempt to formulate a Christian theology of art. It's clear enough that since the Scriptures don't speak to this - and verses have to be grasped at, the exercise is not one of doctrinal elaboration but philosophy cast in theological terms.

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.

Antithesis and Small Town Church Dynamics

I live in a very rural area and while some small-town churches can be warm and friendly others can seem cold and unreceptive.

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?

Kids Leaving Home and Middle Class Assumptions (III)

In light of these struggles and the fact that money is not the goal – but to honour God and hopefully (if possible) find something you enjoy doing, we have wrestled with whether to encourage our children in terms of college and career, or simply to wait and let them live awhile, gain life experience, save some money, and so forth. For the most part I think we've opted for the latter.

Public School is Not an Option for Christians (I)

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/12/1121999705/sex-education-school-kindergarten

Parents need to understand the sodomite-feminist ethos is omnipresent in the culture and in the public school. It's something much bigger than the agenda of specific sex-ed classes. Pulling your children from these sessions is not enough. Christian parents must get their children out of public school. This is not negotiable. If it was at one time, that day is now long past.

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.

A Fundamentalist Elegy

As we're in the process of revisiting area churches, I had occasion to attend a rural Fundamentalist congregation about forty-five minutes from where I live. I had last visited there 3-4 years ago and the level of decline just in that relatively brief period of time was remarkable.

The Moral Law: Ezekiel 20, the Sabbath, and the Decalogue

Moreover I also gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.(Ezekiel 20.12)

The Sabbath was a covenantal sign that was to 'mark out' the people of God as distinct from the Gentile nations. The Sabbath therefore was not universal, it was not a law that was to be applied in all places and at all times. This is actually fairly clear when one reads the Old Testament and it is even explicit in places like Ezekiel 20.12. It was a covenantal sign and as such was only binding upon those in union with Jehovah.

But this presents a real dilemma for some Christian groups today.

Anabaptist Storm Clouds on the Horizon (Part 3)

Some factions such as those associated with the founding of Sattler College have openly embraced mainstream life with its technology and economic order. Though still reckoned among the conservative Anabaptist spectrum, this shift in attitude represents an embrace of a nascent Dominionism. This inclusion of its conception of vocation in which one's daily occupation is a holy Kingdom-oriented task has landed them in a place not too distant from the world-compromised and affected liberals who in the post-war era sought an activist role within society.

Stonestreet's Anti-Feminism: An Endorsement of Feminism (Part 2)

The truth is there has been a profound shift within Evangelical culture. In the 1970's there was still enough of the old Fundamentalism at work in how people viewed the family so that those who broke with the old order did so not so much out of ideological commitment but due to pragmatics and questions of financial stress. They weren't fans of Stanton, Anthony or Steinem but were people (in many cases) trying to hold on to the Middle Class lifestyle. This continued into the 1980's but more embraced the new model because lifestyles were changing and in many parts of the country housing prices were making it very difficult to live on one income.

Then the 1990's happened – the decade of decadence and debt. A new over-the-top lifestyle emerged and with it came a new theology – a theology of empowerment and prosperity. It affected all Evangelical circles, not just the sphere of tacky Charismatic televangelists. Christian career women started to become the norm but there were still tensions. The Culture War of the period drove many to reconsider what had been happening and there were certainly groups reacting to it – but for many a new theology was emerging that not only sanctioned the new feminism, it theologised it and embraced it.

Stonestreet's Anti-Feminism: An Endorsement of Feminism (Part 1)

https://www.breakpoint.org/women-at-work/

It's no wonder people are confused. What we have here is a feminist argument to counter more extreme forms of feminism. Evangelicals have in recent years largely embraced the early stages of feminism, even lionising the likes of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony – once largely reviled figures in the Evangelical world. And they have in other instances rejected as 'sexism' the Bible's ordering of the family and marriage.

Coronavirus: Ecclesiastical Developments

I can say without qualification that I have been grieved by the mainstream Church's response to this outbreak. As I've talked about in other pieces, I believe the Church (broadly speaking) has been too quick to bow to the state and its dictates, its declaration that the assembly of the Church is something less than an 'essential service'.

I am grieved because Church leaders have handed over the authority of definition to the state but again this in some respects isn't all that surprising. It's the culmination of a long trajectory of compromise and capitulation.

Evangelicals and Their Children: The Crisis of Kids at Home

I have heard through family and friends that many are lamenting the fact that their kids are now at home due to school closures. There is apparently some stress or crisis resulting from the family being brought together and forced to spend long hours in each other's company. It's a sad commentary on the degenerate state of the family in this society and apparently within the Church that echoes it.

Cultural Christianity or Antithesis: The Means of Sanctification and the Tools of Kingdom Growth (Part 2)

The Sermon on the Mount is a profound section of Scripture and yet it is one that sacralists actually take great exception to. Not openly of course but it is striking that it is the very words of Christ that they really struggle with the most.