Calling for a Return to the Doctrinal Ideals and Kingdom Ethics of the First Reformation
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remember-to-remember-part-1/id1433823311?i=1000710247721
SermonAudio blocks anyone who is deemed 'woke' or who embraces too robust a view of works or sacraments. They are guardians of orthodoxy or so they deem - but then they allow this kind of heretical filth. Scudder's sermons receive no sanction or censorship.
With a tone of moral vindication, the BBC reported on the Starmer government's condemnation and sanction of Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both far-right cabinet members in the Netanyahu government. Connected to the Settler movement, they have been charged with inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and the abuse of human rights. Further they have openly advocated policies of ethnic cleansing, though the official statements dance around this a bit as there are legal implications once such 'red lines' are crossed.
https://americanreformer.org/2024/07/samuel-davies-colonial-presbyterian-patriot/
My eye was drawn to the locales mentioned in the opening paragraph. They are well known to me as my family has made a point of visiting these places for historical reference - and they're not too far away from where we live.
Samuel Davies (1723-1761) is also a name well known to me from my days spent in OP and PCA circles. He is a titan in American Presbyterianism but to be honest I hadn't give Samuel Davies a lot of thought in quite a few years. So by this point I was hooked and decided to read the article.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/reagan-evil-empire/
During the Cold War there were three years that stand out - periods in which tension was high and the world stood on the brink of nuclear conflagration. 1962 easily ranks first with the Cuban Missile Crisis. 1973 usually ranks second in connection to the Yom Kippur War and the US raising of the DefCon alert to an elevated '3' - signalling preparations for potential war. The DefCon was not raised by the Americans in 1983, but Moscow was on high alert and many consider it to be one of the most tense periods of the Cold War.
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.
https://americanreformer.org/2023/03/the-case-for-the-laws-first-table/
In this case the American Reformer's Timon Cline is appealing to the example and legacy of George Gillespie (1613-1648) who during the course of his short life and near its conclusion helped to draft the Westminster Confession of Faith - the standard upheld by historic Presbyterianism.
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.
The original nation under the Articles of Confederation wouldn't hold together and so for many the revolution was betrayed by the creation of the Constitution and federalism. Some are aware of this to be sure but the masses of flag wavers are not.
https://americanreformer.org/2023/10/providence-and-empire/
This unfortunate article was reposted at The Aquila Report and there seems to be more and more of this sort of thing as of late. The whole of theology (and even thought) is increasingly subordinated to the concerns and interests of Dominionist ideology and hence the growing concern with political and cultural thinking. Ironically, the more these 'civilisation' paths are pursued, the more readers are likely to turn to Rome as in many respects the narratives of the Magisterial Reformation and its legacy begin to collapse. And so in that regard one might say that such articles are doubly pernicious.
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.
I could write a full rebuttal of all the things I heard in
this episode of Iron Sharpens Iron, but what I found necessary was to (at the
very least) provide a real response to the hypothetical question asked by
Arnzen (the host) to Joe Boot at around the forty-one minute mark.
https://issuesetc.org/2022/07/29/2101-christian-crusaders-raymond-ibrahim-7-29-22/
This was but another ridiculous interview I found on Issues
Etc., yet another case at the attempted rehabilitation of The Crusades. Ibrahim
inadvertently all but confesses that his work is not just revisionism but
hagiography focusing on the 'heroes' of The Crusades.
This piece is in response to the 16 August 2022 piece entitled Secular Psychology and the Denial of Scriptural Authority found here:
https://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2022/08/secular-psychology-and-denial-of.html
I was asked to clarify and expand upon some of the ways
Evangelicalism has been compromised by modern psychology and feminism. These
questions could easily fill up a multi-volume series but I'll touch on just a
few points.
I feel something of a burden for the members of this group. They are to be commended, for on many points they put the larger Evangelical and Protestant world to shame. In terms of ethics and a sense of pilgrim identity, the Witnesses are in many ways much closer to the New Testament than those who consider them a cult.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/churches-address-mental-health-stigma-in-the-pews.html
In some respects it's surprising that this article is even
appearing at this point. This debate over whether or not Christians should
embrace psychology and its assumptions is effectively over. The ship has sailed
as they say. I remember the contentions over this point in the 1990's and by
the early 2000's it was clear there had been a fundamental shift. We moved from
hearing psychology condemned from the pulpit to pastors on Christian radio
telling the audience to leave their church if psychology is called into
question – because at that time there will still churches challenging this
paradigm.
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.
Many Evangelicals will undoubtedly celebrate the recent legislative moves in Texas and Florida and both governors (one Catholic and one Evangelical) are certainly viewed as allies or even champions in the Christian Right's culture wars.
https://www.garynorth.com/public/23334.cfm
He was 'Scary Gary' to many – a reference to his cantankerous
style. An original member of the Theonomic Three and its last survivor, he
married RJ Rushdoony's daughter – a connection I know many did not make.
I encountered him early on in my Christian life. I remember
receiving materials in the mail from Still Waters Revival Books. They
tirelessly promoted the Theonomic line and in my files I still have many of
their pamphlets headed by Bahnsen, Rushdoony, and Gary North.