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The good news is that Jesus is one of the most popular figures of history. A few years ago, a polling company asked Americans of all faiths and no faith who they thought was the most popular historical figure. Jesus, alas, didn’t come in first. He was beaten by Abraham Lincoln. But a 90 percent […]
Church historians have documented 1517, the year Martin Luther published his ninety-five theses, as a starting point of the Reformation and chronicled in depth his public persona and private life. But in depicting Reformation-era personalities and politics, they seemed to have overlooked the important role played by the Cranach family. The earlier creation of the […]
When I walked into the art gallery, it was the painting that simultaneously took my breath away and brought me to tears. It was a lamb, but it was like no other lamb. A slim stream of blood was draining from the lamb’s neck, and the title beside the painting read, ‘Behold the Lamb of […]
In Christ two natures met to be thy cure.’ George Herbert’s elegant line captures two essential features of Christian teaching about Jesus Christ. The first feature concerns the consequence of the incarnation: ‘In Christ two natures met.’ At the Father’s sovereign behest, by the Spirit’s power, the Son of God became one of us, assuming […]
Given two thousand years of church history, and the large number of TV evangelists, spiritual gurus, and cult leaders running around’all of whom seem bent on conjuring up tailor-made Jesuses to suit their purposes’there are plenty of false Jesuses to for us to consider. We begin by noting that the nature of our Lord’s incarnation […]
Back in 2005, the satirical newspaper The Onion issued one of its better mock headlines, ‘Vatican Gives Popular Jesus Character a Whole New Look.’ According to their sources, ‘the shabby robe-and-sandals look is out, as Vatican makeover artists unveil a new, sleeker son of God featuring a white leather trench coat, short gelled hair, and […]
In his book After Heaven, Robert Wuthnow says the watchword of Americans today is spiritual. People say, ‘I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious. I am searching for spiritual reality, but I don’t expect to find it in religious institutions or sets of dogmas.’ What Wuthnow articulates so well here is Americans’ combined rejection of the […]
Jesus’ reign as ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’ (Rev. 19:16) is an essential aspect of the gospel we believe. He is the God who has come with might to reign for the Lord and satisfy the deepest needs and longings of his people (see Isa. 40:9’10). Throughout redemptive history, the Messiah was revealed […]
Seeing Beauty and Saying Beautifully by John Piper is the sixth book in a series titled The Swans Are Not Silent, taken from the words of Augustine’s successor Eraclius. Eraclius preached a sermon immediately after the mantle had been passed, and sensing his own inadequacy to fill Augustine’s shoes said, ‘The cricket chirps. The swan […]
Mark Noll, professor of history at theUniversity of Notre Dame and former long-time professor at Wheaton College, has written a compelling spiritual memoir. The book is a personal and professional journey into the author’s deepening appreciation of the gospel and how it is communicated worldwide. Along the way, we are introduced to the people, institutions, […]
New York Times columnist David Brooks is one of the most read, listened to, and discussed social commentators of our time. While often representing the ‘Right’ in such venues, Brooks is more commonly known for his moderate political views and personal temperament. Through his newspaper column, his weekly appearances on NPR and PBS, or in […]
Ever notice how the latest fad seems to have a shelf life of a year or two? It’s true even of our worship songs. The shocking novelty of introducing ‘I Wish We’d All Been Ready,’ or other choruses from the Jesus Movement, into a worship service has worn off and rock bands are now ‘traditional […]
