Category: History/Church History
The Church Has Always Known Theological Controversy
“Not again.” That was my first thought when Eugene Peterson’s comments on gay marriage came out. Regardless of the retraction, I knew the next few days would be ugly online. Various think-pieces (good and bad) would come, as would the...
Martin Bucer’s Strenuous Life
Reading Sen. Ben Sasse’s recent book The Vanishing American Adult reminded me of a chapter I read about the home life of Martin Bucer, a 16th century pastor and leader in the Protestant Reformation. Though his lifestyle was not that aberrant amongst the...
The Religious Right Is Not a Subsidiary of the Alt-Right
In a recent essay for The New Republic, religion reporter Sarah Posner contends that the Religious Right has “effectively become a subsidiary of the alt-right, yoked to Trump’s white nationalist agenda.” By effectively wedding themselves to Trump’s narrative about ‘American...
Reviewing Radicalism: When Reform Becomes Revolution
In 2017, many Protestants will observe the 500th anniversary of their revolution—or at least of its most celebrated image: the promulgation of Luther’s Ninety-five Theses. Though inevitably drowned out by triumphalism, some such observances will be understandably ambivalent about the...
Reviewing “The End of Protestantism” by Peter Leithart
I am pleased to publish this guest review from Dr. Coyle Neal of Southwest Baptist University. Has the modern church reached the point in history where it is time to set aside the albatross of denominations and embrace a “Reformational...
Francis Schaeffer and the Arts: A Retrospective
I am delighted to be able to publish this guest feature from Dr. William Edgar of Westminster Theological Seminary. Dr. Edgar is the author of Francis Schaeffer on the Christian Life: Countercultural Spirituality published by Crossway.
He’s No Saint: It’s Time to Talk About the Real Nicholas of Myra
Note: We are issuing this statement anonymously because in the current political climate it is important to protect the safety of dissenters and those whose views may be challenging to the powerful Santa Claus Lobby. Earlier this week we celebrated the...
Categorizing the Benedict Options: A Reformation Day Reflection
Today marks the 499th anniversary of the day that would come to be seen as the spark that ignited a movement that purified the church in northern and western Europe and gave new energy to an already strong movement to...
Francis Schaeffer and Christian Intellectualism
In his recent essay on Christian intellectualism, Alan Jacobs dates the high point of the public Christian intellectual in America as being in the late 1940s. Citing the influence of thinkers like CS Lewis, WH Auden, and Reinhold Niebuhr, Jacobs...
Hope, History, and the American Church After Obergefell
It’s a truth universally recognized by anyone who has ever talked about the BenOp that a person who expresses concern about the church’s future is in want of a person to quote Tertullian at them. Sorry, is that cheeky? Here’s...