During a time of intense controversy and division within Reformed ranks, the English Puritan Richard Sibbes said that "factions breed factions." We are called to the peace and purity of the church, but when is the concern for peace a crutch for compromise, and when does our appeal to the church's purity become a cloak […]
Like Moses (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18), Jesus taught that the whole law was summarized by the command to love God and neighbor (Matt. 22:37). He came not to abolish but to fulfill the law (Matt. 5:17’20). Nevertheless, Jesus was famously accused by the religious leaders as an "antinomian" for refusing to accord the same weight […]
It is taken for granted’in mainline circles, at least’that traditional belief in hell is a relic of the past. More liberal Lutheran and Reformed denominations imagine that the doctrine of God's everlasting punishment is not only unnecessary but actually contradicts a proper view of God and his gracious love as celebrated by their confessions. Since […]
Gene Edward Veith Jr., provost and professor of literature at Patrick Henry College, is the author of several noted books on Christianity and culture, including God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life. A lot of people are talking about the importance of a Christian vocation. Why is it always a relevant issue […]
The word calling, or in its Latinate form vocation, had long been used in reference to the sacred ministry and the religious orders. Martin Luther was the first to use vocation to refer also to secular offices and occupations. Today, the term has become commonplace, another synonym for a profession or job, as in vocational […]
When it comes to work, many Christians feel as though they have much in common with the mythological figure Sisyphus. Having angered the gods, he was condemned by them to the task of eternally pushing a boulder up a mountain. As soon as he reached the summit with his burden, the boulder rolled past him […]
The facts of experience support this conclusion….What now can reason propose that is right, when it is thus blind and ignorant? … or, rather, what can the will pursue, when reason can propose to it nothing but the darkness of its own blindness and ignorance? Where reason is in error and the will turned away, […]
We are so good at being legalists. One minute we’re the “older brother” in our Lord’s parable, resentful of the father’s lavish grace showered on the prodigal son; the next minute we cast ourselves as the younger brother’only, unlike him, lording the father’s indulgence over our brother’s head. To reverse the roles in another parable, […]
It's time for those of us who thought Twitter was a passing fad to admit we were mistaken. Indeed, the 140-character social media forum seems to be only picking up steam with each well-documented and commented-upon day. And while it remains as resistant as ever to rhetorical subtlety, the communicative juice it wrings from its […]
At the end of a recent Ultimate Fighter Championship match, the victor looked into the camera and said, while pointing to a very large tattoo of a cross on his arm, "I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me." I'm pretty sure St. Paul did not intend for these words written to […]
Tom Perrotta's novel is about the crisis that arises from a lack of faith or understanding. What happens if the "Rapture" occurs and there are actually some Christians left behind? What if, like last night's spaghetti dinner, you're a "leftover"? What if people are "taken" who weren't even officially believers in Jesus Christ? Hindus and […]
Vocations are grounded in creation itself and are symbolized in Scripture with commands to fill the earth and subdue it’that is, family and work (Gen. 1:28). These creational gifts from our benevolent Father remain in effect even after the Fall, though in that sinful moment they were distorted and transformed, or more appropriately “malformed,” by […]
