Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
One striking aspect of the recent “Federal Vision” conflict in the various conservative micro-Reformed groups is a debate over what older theologians really meant and said. Examining the credentials of various people who speak with great assurance on these matters one sees repeatedly degrees in church/theology history studies. In fact,…
The Worship of the English Puritans by Horton Davies really valuable book for gaining historical perspective on the American Presbyterian scene. (I will note for the record that I don’t believe there is an objective definition for “puritan” and I wish historians would stop using it and instead speak of…
This is the conclusion to Frame’s discussion about historical/covenantal election in his The Doctrine of God (pp. 329-30): Historical election and eternal election are distinct, but they cannot be entirely separated. Note the following: 1. Both historical and eternal election are aspects of God’s saving purpose. The election of Israel…
From John Frame’s The Doctrine of God : So although the election of Israel is by grace, there is an important place for continued faithfulness. Individuals can belong to the chosen people, yet lose their elect status by faithlessness and disobedience. Branches can be broken off “because of unbelief” (Rom.…
I’ve recently re-discovered an awesome theological resource, The Westminster Shorter Catechism Project . It is excellent, not least because it demonstrates the healthy diversity that has always been allowable in the Reformed Tradition until recently. For example, consider the sources attached to Question and Answer #94: Q: What is baptism?…
A friend recently asked if the frequent saying of the Pledge of Allegiance was a sign of American jingoism, or an attempt to inculcate “nationalism” of a bad sort. It seemed to him as a Canadian that that might be the case. That seemed to me to be probably backwards,…
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John Cuddihy ( No Offense , 31-43) gives an illuminating and damning analysis of Reinhold Niebuhr's transformation from the son of a Missouri Lutheran pastor to the famous urbane public theologian. For Cuddihy, the interest of the account is not merely in Niebuhr's own transformation but in the way his…
Stephen Warner argues that in analyzing American religion and culture, we need to go beyond the contrast of assimilation v. multiculturalism, and beyond the simple opposition of the “culture war.” He suggests that the category of mestizaje , mixing, is more fruitful. In particular, he briefly explores the historical reasons…
The first gift promised to faithful members of the seven Asian churches is access to the tree of life in Paradise (Revelation 2:7). that is one of the last things mentioned in John's vision of new Jerusalem (22:1-2, 14). The first thing promised is the last delivered. That inversion continues…
Robert Wuthnow ( Rough Country ) observes that “symbolic boundaries having to do with religion do in fact include differences in patterns of social relationships. Homophily appears in social networks to some extend such that Catholics are more likely to include fellow Catholics among their networks of close friends than…
In his classic 1978 study of civil religion, No Offense , the late John Cuddihy affirms Talcott Parsons's view that civil society or civic culture isn't post-Christian but intensely Christianized. It is “a genuine, progressive stage in the further institutionalization of Christian values into the social structures and institutions (political,…
Ross Douthat comments on why so many of his fellow journalists are turning away from the outrageous organ trade of Planned Parenthood: “it’s precisely a fetus’s humanity that makes its organs valuable, and the experience of recognizing one’s own children, on the ultrasound monitor and after, as something more than…
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