British theologian John Webster has noted, "To confess is not to reflect, even to reflect theologically; it is to herald the gospel…. To confess is to testify-and to testify with a bit of noise." It would be surprising if such noisy testifying did not at times lead to unrest and even division within the churches […]
When you are surrounded by people speaking another language, it can be a bit intimidating. The foreign language may ring beautiful like an Italian opera or scratch like fingers on a chalkboard. But if you do not understand the language, it all sounds muddled, like Charlie Brown's teacher. Languages are the walls that outline the […]
Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them. Jordan Peterson The unjust stumble over you and are justly chastised. Augustine All I wanted to do was buy my sister the cereal she wanted. My desire was to give her what she desired. So I let her pick out the cereal, and […]
Despite the existence in print of odd genres like Young Adult Fiction, Manga, or Online Harry Potter Fan Fiction, I suggest that perhaps the strangest literary genre today is something I call "Dramatic Clergy Fiction." Impossible, you say, that such literature could yield a profit in today's economy. Yet recent novels set in pastoral-sounding towns […]
When an alien spaceship destroyed the White House in the 1993 science fiction film Independence Day, I’m told that pre-9/11 moviegoers were not horrified at the possibility and that some even cheered (perhaps because they were a bit cynical about the current occupant of the Oval Office). As the world’s lone superpower, we believe there […]
What’s a pilgrim to do? The narrow way that leads to life has gotten a bit crowded recently. Merchants have set up shop selling guidebooks that promise the newest (and best) option for reaching the Celestial City. Hearing the sales pitch, one would be forgiven for thinking that “our” stage of the pilgrimage is more […]
When trying to understand something, knowing its context is critical. This is true of the Bible. It is also true for leaders. Thus, as a person connected to the phenomenon of the emerging church, I would like to tell a little bit of my story and make some observations from it as a way of […]
Dr. Phillip Cary is professor of philosophy and chair of his department at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. He’s the author of Good News for Anxious Christians (Brazos, 2022) and The Nicene Creed (Lexham, 2023). This interview has been edited for length and flow. Listen to an extended version online at modernreformation.org/already. Phil, this issue of […]
Not long ago, I taught an online apologetics course for a Christian college where class was held in a chat room. The students were required to attend for a specified period of time and then were free to leave, though they were also free to stay around if they wished. Often, two or three would […]
Having written about the Reformed orthodox endorsement of metaphysics (though not a simply agreed upon endorsement, it must be said; there was debate about the role and limits of philosophy in theology among the Reformed), it is also important, in order to fill out the historical picture a bit further, to note a common line […]
Grief requires process time. Immersed in your favorite book with your favorite music playing in the background, you sense a tiny bit of stability amid the vortex of pain. An insistent rapping startles and then draws you to your front door. It is a well-intentioned visitor stopping by to drop off a book he would […]
Reading Brian McLaren makes me feel a little like Hilary Clinton listening to President Bush’s State of the Union speech in 2001: thrilled that the administration is advocating a prescription drug program for seniors, but wondering-as the bandwagon rolls by-“Hey, wasn’t that my issue!” Like Clinton must have felt, I am grateful that McLaren is […]