The topic of Scripture and its authority is a familiar one to readers of Modern Reformation, and we return to it again in part because important topics bear repeating. But it is also a timely topic. Over the first half of 2020, we covered issues related to our secular culture. It is now fitting to […]
(PART FOUR OF A FOUR-PART SERIES) You have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (1 John 2:20–21) The apostle John’s declaration here, which he […]
Though the battle for “the truth” has raged throughout history, today that battle has shifted significantly, though subtly. The battle is no longer about the truth but about whether there is truth at all. Our times continue to deconstruct how we think we arrive at truth and what we ought to do with truth. The […]
Forgive the pretentious title. It encapsulates thoughts that are broad, but they may or may not be deep. You decide. Perhaps I am scattered, but I hope to share a wide range of thoughts I think must go together. I am a missionary, but there are men and women who have been missionaries longer. Twenty-something […]
Just the other day I was asked why I thought the Bible—specifically, the New Testament as we have it today—is too small. “Too small?” I asked. “What do you mean?” My acquaintance had some vague recollection of watching a History Channel documentary that apparently showed that the mighty church (male dominated, of course) sought to […]
After declaring some hard teachings about God’s sovereignty in salvation, which provoked many of his followers to abandon him, Jesus in John 6 asked his closest disciples if they would also leave. Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you […]
The executive editor of Modern Reformation, Joshua Schendel, recently talked with Dr. Michael Allen, who is the John Dyer Trimble Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Allen is the author of many articles and books, including Reformed Theology (T & T Clark, 2010) and, with his colleague Scott Swain, Reformed Catholicity: The […]
Hope for Democracy: How Citizens Can Bring Reason Back into Politics by John Gastil and Katherine R. Knobloch Oxford University Press, 2020 240 pages (paperback), $28.00 For several years now, a steady stream of books has raised grave concerns about the state of American democracy, the deterioration of public discourse, the role of the media, […]
Christobiography: Memory, History, and the Reliability of the Gospels by Craig S. Keener Eerdmans, 2019 743 pages (hardcover), $37.99 The question of the reliability of the canonical Gospels has been a central debate in New Testament studies since the advent of the German higher critical movement. Every twenty years or so, the debate resurfaces with […]
Against the Darkness: The Doctrine of Angels, Satan, and Demons by Graham A. Cole Crossway, 2019 272 pages (hardcover), $40.00 Growing up in Seattle, I often interacted with those who have divergent views regarding angels, demons, and Satan. Typically, the average conversation would run counter to what we as Christians believe about these topics, which […]
I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother,” David remarks in that little and profoundly deep Psalm 131. Quietude, calm, collected, consistent—these are not buzzwords in our culture. And over the past couple of months they have faded from our language almost entirely. It is interesting that in Psalm 131 […]
