Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
First John 5.16-17: If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life–to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for…
A few years back I read Lesslie Newbigin’s little book Truth and Authority in Modernity . 1 I was particularly impressed with his argument in chapter 2 “The Mediation of Divine Authority.” Now, maybe this is old hat to many of you, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it…
Baptism is not Christian circumcision. There’s a lot of loose talk to that effect in Presbyterian circles; but it’s not accurate. The old world rite of circumcision was fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Baptism unites us to Christ and therefore makes us participate in the circumcision of…
In recent years I’ve observed a number of Reformed-type churches trying to institute corporate handraising in certain sung parts of worship. This often does not seem to work very well. Some people don’t do it. Some do it half-way. Some do it with one hand. Some dramatically stretch to the…
Most modern scholars recognize that behind Arius’s campaign to differentiate Jesus from God was the Hellenistic theological conviction that the high God cannot suffer. Rowan Williams argues that Arius had the right idea about divine suffering, but the wrong idea of God, which “puts the unavoidable question of what the…
Charismatics have been much maligned for constantly “praising the Lord.” They would say if you hit your finger with a hammer, you should instantly say, “Thank you Jesus that You let me hit my finger…” This of course, as we all know, is stupid. There was once a lady who…
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In a TLS exchange with Timothy Williamson on the uses of philosophy, Roger Scruton argues that philosophy's task is to preserve humanity's humanity, the subjectivity that sets us apart from the rest of the world. Philosophy mans the boundaries between objective science and humanism, especially aesthetics. Scruton writes that the…
Rosenstock-Huessy begins his sociology with a lengthy discussion of the spaces of play. His premise is that "in play, it transpires that we anticipate the experiences of real life." A little girl marries her boy doll to her girl doll. A boy enacts a battle with his toy soldiers (47).…
Rosenstock-Huessy scoffs at the notion of presuppositionless sociology ( Sociology , vol. 1, 26). In a moving tribute to the life and work of Saint Simon, he argues that, on the contrary, "Everything known to sociology is known only because suffering is a fundamental fact. From the very first, her…
Anthony Lane doesn't much like George Clooney's 1950s black comedy, Suburbicon . One of the story-lines focuses on the Mayerses, a black family, who move into the Suborbicon neighborhood. All hell breaks loose: "The mailman is astounded. The street is appalled. The whole community is in an uproar, and, before…
In the early years of Joash, the house of David hangs by a thread (2 Chronicles 23). Its entire future rests in a baby, Joash son of Ahaziah, whom Jehoiada the priest rescues from Athaliah’s slaughter to be raised among the priests. By every empirical measure, the Davidic dynasty is…
Charlotte Methuen's TLS review essay of recent books on the Reformation is the best one-stop summary of recent scholarship I've seen during this season of Ref500 commemorations. In the recent biographies of Luther, you can find Luther the medieval mystic (Volker Leppin), Luther the angry, lonely rebel (Lyndal Roper), Luther…
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