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The Humble Dandelion Like the gospel itself, the humble dandelion was brought to the shores of America on the decks on ships ferrying pilgrims to the New World. A non-native species, they spread rapidly through New England, across the plains states, and now can be seen inhabiting nearly every suburban lawn and rural landscape. Originally, […]
In the previous post, I discussed how modern people tend to think of God as something like the “first gear” in the cosmic series of gears. This gestures toward a truth, but one has more closely approximated the classical vision of God when we see that God is that in virtue of which there is […]
John C. (Jack) Miller may be the most important Reformed evangelical that you haven’t heard of, and that’s a shame. On the cover of Cheer Up! The Life and Ministry of Jack Miller, you will find a quote by Tim Keller: “Jack Miller…taught me how to preach grace.” In this short work, you will learn […]
Recently I read Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations for the first time—a bracing read in a weighty and contentious season. Likely written around the 170s, the material later published as Meditations probably wasn’t meant for public consumption. Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor from 161–180 A.D.) kept the journal, a collection of short mental exercises, while leading his armies […]
Nonconformity is all the rage. Our culture applauds rebellion against social norms and encourage boldly standing apart. Sometimes this nonconformity is minor. It looks like fuchsia hair, living in a tiny house, eating only fruit and veggies. Other times nonconformity is something more extreme. The most immediate example is gender nonconformity. Biologically sexed males and […]
For a long time, it was assumed that Reformed churches would hold a service both on Sunday morning and Sunday evening. Although still practiced in many congregations, this pattern is no longer necessarily the expectation or assumption concerning how the Lord’s Day will be observed. If we believe in Reformed principles, however, we must consider […]
In March 2020 BCE (Before COVID Era), sports fans were gearing up for another college basketball binge, with conference championships underway and the fabled NCAA tournament ready for roll-out. Excitement was building for a new round of heroes and villains, upsets and blowouts, Cinderella stories and human-interest pieces, all carefully curated into an ever-expanding multimedia […]
“Describing God in bodily pictures is the most fitting way of doing it.” Thomas Aquinas, I Sent d 34 q 3 a 1 resp There is an opportunity which is incipient to the current surge of classical theism; it is one to be seized and to be hopeful about. However, I am acutely concerned at […]
There has been no shortage of ink spilled on the relation of Reformed thought—particularly in its discussions of the divine decrees and predestination—and determinism. So, in that respect, the contemporary rendition of the dispute being carried out by Paul Helm, Richard Muller, Antoine Vos, et. al., is not new. And yet, it is recomposed, we […]
Franciscus Junius (1545–1602), a notable Reformed theologian in the tradition of Geneva, Heidelberg, and Leiden, is well known for his contributions to Reformed dogmatics. His employment of the terms “archetype” and “ectype” was so effective in discussing prolegomenal issues that even twentieth century Reformed theologians, such as Herman Bavinck and Louis Berkhof, reaffirmed the distinction’s […]
Early last year, just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down cities and countries across the globe, I read Joseph Bottum’s book The Decline of the Novel, which contrasts the “chanson fiction” of the medieval Catholic imagination—which stressed the integrity of social roles, the accomplishment of duties, and the performance of civic scripts—with the “roman fiction” […]
A few days after George Floyd’s tragic death in Minneapolis, I gathered with some of my soldiers for our weekly Chappy Hour discussion at a nearby pub. It turned out that I was the only white person there. Naturally, we decided to discuss race. Some of what these friends told me surprised me—both their experiences […]
