The Patriarchal narratives of Genesis have much to teach modern Americans about the relationship between their earthly pilgrimages and the surrounding culture. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob existed in a decidedly "non-Christian" society (pardon the anachronism). And yet, every step of their pilgrimage was a witness to the God who had covenanted with them to bless […]
1. Education: The Academy Calvin broke with medieval pedagogy that limited education primarily to an aristocratic elite. His Academy, founded in 1559, was a pilot in broad-based education for Geneva. Although Genevans had sought for two centuries to establish a university, only after Calvin's settlement did a college finally succeed. (1) By the time of […]
Contextualization is hot. Basically, it is the attempt to situate particular beliefs and practices in their concrete situation. Migrating from the rarified confines of secular sociology (especially socio-linguistics), hermeneutics, and missiological theory to practical theology departments and ministry, the imperative to contextualize the gospel has become something of a mantra among pastors, youth ministers, and […]
In 1996, Samuel Huntington's highly influential book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order appeared. The old lines of conflict between Marxist ideology and Western, democratic capitalism, he argued, were receding. They were being replaced by a new and different set of tension points. These would not be ideological any longer […]
Culture is one of those pesky, paradoxical concepts that everyone knows what it means as long as they don't have to define it. Once the task commences, what appeared apparent suddenly becomes elusive. Culture is a difficult word to define because it is multi-vocal. It labels many divergent phenomena and suggests relationships among seemingly unrelated […]
All over the world, every Sunday, countless sermons are delivered. What is happening-or should be happening-when a human preacher stands to proclaim God’s Word? There are many forms of pulpit address that might go under the name of preaching. In the best of them, the Bible is always present in some defining way; but a […]
In February 2004, American Airlines pilot Captain Roger Findiesen asked Christian passengers on his Los Angeles to New York flight to identify themselves to the non-Christian passengers so that everyone could use the time on the flight to discuss religion. He had just returned from a mission trip to Costa Rica and felt that the […]
On October 8, 2008, the Literary & Historical Society of University College Dublin sponsored a debate on the motion that "this house finds it irrational to believe in God." In the nineteenth century, philosopher and lay theologian Søren Kierkegaard warned against such occasions; in his Concluding Scientific Postscript, he asked whether raising such a question […]
While American evangelical leaders pay attention to sociological data, they more typically read George Barna or Thom Rainer, church growth experts who utilize social trends to chart the way forward for churches. But the person to whom these leaders should pay attention is Robert Wuthnow. Wuthnow, who holds a chair in sociology and is director […]
Alan Jacobs lifts the title of his book from Hamlet, but it could just as easily be a description of the Roman god Janus, whom Ovid invokes in his poem "Fasti": "Two-formed Janus what god shall I say you are,/ Since Greece has no divinity to compare with you?/ Tell me the reason, too, why […]
This book was originally written during the late 1980s when the "Lordship Salvation" controversy was brewing. The controversy was no mere kerfuffle, but centered upon the question of whether a professing Christian could live in sinful conduct unabated. Prominent dispensational leaders such as Zane Hodges and Charles Ryrie claimed that a person could be a […]
If the following scene never happened in any low-budget 1950s science fiction movie, it should have. A flying saucer lands on the White House lawn. All the leaders and media of the world quickly assemble for earth's first close encounter with advanced extraterrestrial intelligence. Cameras are aimed and microphones extended, ready to capture what wisdom […]
No stranger to Modern Reformation readers, Dr. Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, is a well-known conference circuit speaker, frequent guest on the Larry King show, and one of the few bloggers worth reading. He is also a key leader of conservative evangelicalism in America and an articulate spokesman for the cause. Thus, […]
Before dying of pancreatic cancer in July 2008, Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch lit the world on fire by talking about death. During his "Last Lecture" on campus, he implored friends and colleagues to follow their childhood dreams as he intimately shared his life, which had but a few months remaining. Through the best-selling book […]
