Cicero observed of his own civilization that people thank the gods for their material prosperity, but never for their virtue, for this is their own doing. Princeton theologian B. B. Warfield considered Pelagianism "the rehabilitation of that heathen view of the world," and concluded with characteristic clarity, "There are fundamentally only two doctrines of salvation: […]
Witch trials in Salem. The Council of Toulouse in the 13th century, employing men whose sole purpose was to hunt out human kindling for the flames of the Inquisition. These are images evoked by that word, "heresy." A nasty word, it suggests more about the accuser, who is considered intolerant, bigoted, and ignorant, than about […]
Like the ancient Gnostics faced by the early church, society today has adopted an escapist, anti-materialistic, anti-intellectual, anti-institutional, anti-sacramental spirituality. This is as true for non-Christians, with New York business executives attending New Age seminars taught by Stanford instructors. Both the past and the future are perceived as irrelevant intrusions into the present moment of […]
Who do pastors and Christian writers say that Jesus is? Some say a new Abraham, others a new Samson, and still others a new Moses or one of the prosecutors. When Jesus asked the question of his disciples, only Peter answered correctly. Jesus told him that his answer had been revealed to him from heaven. […]
Perhaps one of the greatest sermons on the centrality of God's Word occurs in what is also one of greatest pieces of music from the nineteenth century: Brahms' A German Requiem. From a musical standpoint, no other piece matches the ethereal contrast of the heavy, somber instrumentation with the yearning, hopeful vocal lines. Unlike other […]
