As recounted in the recent film, the author of “Amazing Grace,” John Newton, not only knew about grace, but every line of the famous hymn was part of his experience. Born in 1725 to a Protestant mother and a mariner father who had been educated by Spanish Jesuits, John Newton was taught by his mother […]
Let us love and sing and wonder,Let us praise the Saviour's name!He has hushed the law's loud thunder,He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame. He has washed us with His blood,He has brought us nigh to God. Let us love the Lord who bought us,Pitied us when enemies,Called us by His grace and taught us,Gave us […]
"The Beatles are more popular than Jesus." Such was John Lennon's evaluation of the phenomenon of Beatlemania in the mid-1960s. What is even more interesting than Lennon's observation, however, is the response that Americans gave to such a bold claim: We rose up, and with our righteous indignation reaching peak levels, we piled our Beatles' […]
When thinking of salvation you draw on the old Smith Barney commercial (i.e., "We get to heaven the old fashioned way…. We earn it!") You think "Amazing Grace" refers to someone's girlfriend. You think the whole fuss about original sin is just sinfully wrong-headed. Simply hearing the name Augustine makes you break out in a […]
Frank was pathetic, with all the uncomfortable connotations of that overused word. He was twice our age, with ten times our worldly experience, legally blind, formerly a member of an L.A. street gang, without any formal education, and crying as if no one else was in the room. The teacher had just explained how to […]
It's hard to imagine anyone complaining about grace. We like grace: it's a wonderful thing to be saved by grace, and we can't get enough of it-at least in our songs. I wonder, however, just how many of our parishioners appreciate the language of John Newton's hymn, "Amazing Grace." Do we really have pews full […]
In the earliest editions of his Loci Communes Theologici ("Common Topics of Theology"), Luther's friend and colleague Philip Melanchthon did not address in great detail the doctrine of predestination. In the Loci of 1521, for instance, he discussed it only briefly in the section dealing with the freedom of the human will. Following the teaching […]
Since the seventeenth century, Calvinism has been identified with its five-point reply to the Arminian party at the Synod of Dort. Calvinists often complain that this summary of their theology, though accurate in expressing the Calvinists' disagreement with their Arminian opponents, presents a truncated view of what Calvinism really is. Where in the five points […]
In February 2007, editor-in-chief Michael Horton interviewed Roger Olson, a professor at Truett Seminary at Baylor University (Waco, Texas) and author of several books, including The Mosaic of Christian Beliefs: Twenty Centuries of Unity and Diversity (InterVarsity Press, 2002) and The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform (InterVarsity, 1999). His most […]
Each issue we'll look at a book published during Modern Reformation's 15-year history, with a look to why this book was and is still is significant. -EDS. Marva Dawn's Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down is just as valuable now as it was when published in 1995. Her book encourages church leaders and members to think […]
Odd things happen when you mix religion and politics. Just think of Constantine and the authority that the emperor had in calling synods and councils of the church, not to mention persecuting heretics with the threat of the sword. Or consider the oddity of a bishop of the church (in this case, the one in […]
It's a rare thing to find a theologian altogether thorough, brief, and satisfying. Irish author, theologian, and former atheist Alister McGrath offers a manageable first-read on addressing a new believer's doubts. Parents of teens and ministry workers who forage for short, relevant material may find a good starting point with this book, like kindling that […]
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, is one of several recent books that attack religion in general and Christianity in particular. It has been on the New York Times best-seller list longer than other books and may be the most important one for a Christian to read because it considers the intellectual foundation of religion […]
There is no sweeter word among Christians than "grace." It is the foundation of our relationship to God; it is the source of our life in God; it is the basis of our hope for life to come with God. As all of those prepositions demonstrate, without grace there would be no such thing as […]
Now that the Harry Potter series has finally been completed, we can look back on the whole Potter legendarium and draw some conclusions. Despite the hysterical rants of some Christians, the books are not occultic. None of J. K. Rowling’s magicians, not even the dark ones, has an attendant spirit or anything like that. Their […]
