In a recent interview in Christianity Today, Charles Colson makes the claim that Pope Benedict affirms a biblical understanding of the doctrine of justification, pointing as evidence to a homily delivered by the Roman pontiff on November 19, 2008, in St. Peter’s Square. Toward the end of that homily, Pope Benedict says this: Luther’s [...]
Archive for January, 2009
22 Jan
“When” have we reached a culture?
If you follow the SCI-FI show LOST, the island philosopher/shaman John Locke asked a question in the season opening that was really interesting. After seemingly jumping time again he said, “when am I?” Not “where am I?” but “when.” So in the spirit of LOST I offer a question for your consideration. Since many believe [...]
21 Jan
The Bible doesn’t say “pray for the President”
So it’s the morning after. Like you I watched some of the Beatlemania Obama Inauguration yesterday. As one who is not wrapped around the axle of the current political system (which means I didn’t vote for him/him or him/her), the whole guffaw over the new President is a bit unsettling. I’m not a Presidential historian [...]
19 Jan
“The Shack”
Our “Contributor Emeritus” Jerry Wragg made the following observations that we wanted to share with our readers. In my relatively short 26 years of Christianity, I’ve marveled at the endless stream of bestselling fiction that induces the church to such strong “This-book-changed-my-life” sentiment. It happened in the 70’s with “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” – And again [...]
17 Jan
An Exhaustive List of What I Liked about the Book “The Shack”:
The chapters were short. The font was just the right size. The cat’s name was Judas.
16 Jan
Call it
Make your call: there are no ties and you can only pick one from each category. Feel free to explain yourself in the comments. Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh ? Philadelphia vs. Phoenix ? More continuity vs. more discontinuity ? Unaccompanied Psalms only vs. Sovereign Grace music ? Old perspective vs. New perspective ?
16 Jan
Nothing to see here, move along
I read an interview recently that the nice folks at Logos conducted with Hugh Ross. I’m confident that Ross is an intelligent man and a well-meaning scholar but his continued proposal of a “two-book” revelation (i.e., God speaks in Scripture and creation with the same force and effect) is misguided and should be seen for [...]
14 Jan
How young was Calvin’s music leader(s)?
In his extremely helpful book, The Writings of John Calvin, Wulfert de Greef makes a passing reference to the articles that John Calvin used for the regulation of worship after he became a minister in Geneva (January 16, 1537). This document was entitled the Articles concerning the Organization of the Church and of Worship in [...]
10 Jan
Mark Driscoll and the NY Times
One of the things i have learned about blogging is that some of the best Biblical posts often receive the smallest amount of press. Typically the most read posts are ones that “stir the pot”. In other words, just like in marketing “controversy sells!” The temptation for those of us who enjoy Christian blogging is obvious. One [...]
28 Jan
Jay Adams on the Use of Commentaries:
Posted by Matt Waymeyer in commentaries, Expository 101. 4 Comments
Speaking of exegesis, how do you do it? Do you cobble together bits and pieces from various commentaries into some explanation of the preaching portion? Or do you do the hard work of figuring out for yourself what the passage says, using various commentaries to help you? Between these two approaches to the text, there [...]
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