Category: Earthen Vessels
The Torching of Earthen Vessels: A Reply to Frank Turk
It’s oddly fitting that while we were examining whether and how patriotism is compatible with Christianity on the Fourth of July, Frank Turk of the Pyromaniacs was torching my book. “Torching,” for those who are keeping score at home, is a figure...
The Price of Earthen Vessels ($3.49) and the Value of Writing
The quickly lowering price of Earthen Vessels for the Kindle (now $3.49, for a limited time) prompted this question from a friend: At what point is that kind of painful? It’s such a great book; you slaved over it for...
Instruments for Righteousness: The Earthen Vessels Symposium (Ch. 10)
I have been rather reluctant to write anything in response to Fred Sanders’ post about Earthen Vessels, if only because I’m convinced it’s better than the book itself. Fred has a way with things, and it’s fully on display here....
The Body’s Narrative
When I sat down to write Earthen Vessels, one of my hopes was to explore the body in its relationship to time and our own personal narratives. That, like many of my hopes, was dashed upon the rocks as I...
An Interview of Massive Proportions: Grounded with Ryan Dobson
Well, here’s something. Ryan Dobson has all the radio instincts of his mildly famous father, and his co-host Toben is a crack up. The combination made for a lively, rollicking conversation that opened with me reducing Montana to F-150...
Death’s Double Aspect: The Earthen Vessels Symposium (Ch. 9)
There’s no time for niceties here: Ben Simpson has a critique to offer, and it’s a solid one: Is death an enemy, an evidence of a horrendous evil still operative in our world? Has death been defeated, or does it...
Christian Ethics and Gay Desires: The Earthen Vessels Symposium (Ch. 8)
On page 28 of Earthen Vessels I quoted Oliver O’Donovan’s standard for theological ethics: “The Church can be committed to ethics without moderating the tone of its voice as the bearer of glad tidings.” On the question of homosexuality, I...
Worship and the Missional Movement: Zac Hicks on Earthen Vessels
Life circumstances have put me behind on responding, but haven’t kept Zac Hicks from interacting with my final chapter (life circumstances have also precluded the person who volunteered for chapter 10 from responding to it, so there you have it)....
On Sexual Apologetics: The Earthen Vessels Symposium (Ch. 7)
Jake Meador, writing about my take on sexuality, wants me to expand my thoughts on the “apologetic undercurrent” of evangelical teachings about sexuality: Sadly, evangelicals are often unwilling or unprepared to identify what’s sand and what’s solid ground. So on...
The Tattoo and the Text: The Earthen Vessels Symposium (Ch. 6)
Timothy Dalrymple added some insights into the reasons beneath various types of tattoos. I have to underscore that the whole list is worth reading, but the last one is especially interesting: 4. The Flesh Made Word. More common in general is...