Category: Theology and Practice
Sin for Its Own Sake? The Theft of the Pears and the Divine Image in Augustine’s Confessions
The complex recounting of the “theft of the pears” in Book 2 of his Confessions is often distilled into Augustine’s famous evaluation of the act: “I simply wanted to enjoy the theft for its own sake, and the sin” (nec...
Covid-19, One Year On, Pt II: The Limits of Politics
One year ago today, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US passed 85,000, surpassing China where the virus had begun, and giving us the unenviable distinction of being #1 in the world. Today, America still holds that...
Becoming a Perennial: A Conversation with Grace Olmstead
In Uprooted: Recovering the Legacy of the Places We’ve Left Behind (March 2021) Grace tells the story of her hometown of Emmett, Idaho, where her great-grandfather and great-grandmother lived and farmed, and where her grandparents and parents still live. Through...
Marcion’s “Gift”
The church’s participation in various historical injustices is a familiar theme, one rehearsed in some instances to discredit her, but in others to prompt her to needful repentance. But the primordial sin of the church which makes other, more tangible...
Lessons from the Downfall of Ravi Zacharias
I interviewed Ravi Zacharias on radio in October of 1997. He could not have been more gracious. My show ran from 5-6 pm on Saturdays. I always called my guests a few hours before to make sure they were ready...
Preaching as Confession
‘Three Vicars Talking’ is not what one expects to hear on BBC radio. The Reverends Richard Coles, Kate Bottley, and Giles Fraser pull back the curtain on the strange world of Anglican ministry, offering their audience a raw, unfiltered look...
COVID-19, One Year On, Pt. I: Threnody for a Buried Nation
One year ago tonight, I sat in the bar of the Hotel George in downtown Washington, DC, waiting for my friend to arrive. The TV in the corner was tuned to ESPN, but for once there was no game on....
Announcing “Passages”: A New Podcast from Mere Orthodoxy
(originally published on the Passages podcast home page) “O gladsome light, pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven, O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed! Now as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the...
Surprised by Suffering: God’s Megaphone to Technocratic Man
A year into this pandemic, I think back to my earliest reflections on what God might be doing through it. These were largely sidelined as a result of the aftermath of the death of George Floyd and the chaos surrounding...
Missiology After Liberalism
Christians concerned with contextualizing the gospel (i.e. thinking and living missionally) should consider the liabilities of the culture and society they inhabit. The excesses and vulnerabilities of various cultures are places where the gospel should come to bear. In western...