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Evangelical

Interpreting the Bible

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Select a Month February 2019 November 2018 October 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

February 2019

February 12, 2019

Gutting Creation of Meaning Guts Scripture

Well, I'm back. Sorry for the long absence. I was pretty busy, first preparing to...

June 2018

June 13, 2018

Is This Evangelicalism’s Red-Pill Moment?

Generally speaking, evangelicals believe you can separate form from content. You can take meaning—what I...

October 2017

October 23, 2017

Christianity is a Record-Keeping Religion

Naturally we'd all like to forget some things: our failures, our sins, our stupid remarks....

July 2017

July 05, 2017

Marriage Is the End of the World

There is a deep and unalterable connection between this world and the next. And that...

June 2017

June 26, 2017

We are not social atoms. Churches must stop pretending we are.

You could say that the modern world reduced things to atoms, and when it came...

June 23, 2017

How do you “make a culture”?

A few years back there was a flash of enthusiasm among people who read books...

June 06, 2017

Flannery O’Connor and the Meaning of the World

I've been reading essays from Flannery O'Connor's occasional prose. Since I write fiction, I'm interested...

April 2017

April 06, 2017

Theological Foundations of the Family: Infant Baptism

Largely it is axiomatic among libertarians that human institutions are fictions and only individuals are...

March 2017

March 24, 2017

Return to Fruitfulness, that’s an Order

By their fruits you shall know them. Matthew 7:16 The hermeneutics of suspicion have made...

March 17, 2017

Why the cultural mandate comes first

Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV) 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have...

March 15, 2017

Theological Foundations of the Family: Father Abraham

The spirit of Marcion is with us to the present day. Marcion you may recall...

February 2017

February 25, 2017

Theological Foundations of the Family: Priestly Fatherhood

Christian family-based religious life is so dissimilar to the practices of biblical patriarchs there are...

February 16, 2017

Theological Foundations of the Family: Corporate Personality

I have long suspected that the real reason American evangelicals are so ignorant about the...

January 2017

January 24, 2017

I Am Weary of the World-Weariness of the Unaccomplished

The best way to avoid disappointment is to not even try. Life is struggle. Jacob...

December 2016

December 07, 2016

Families: No Room in the Church-Inn

I just finished reading a book that I've been commissioned to review for Touchstone Magazine....

November 2016

November 03, 2016

Children and Household Religion

Years ago a Haitian pastor asked me, "Why do white people hate children?" When I...

November 01, 2016

Tolkien’s Leaf by Niggle: What Will Become of Our Work?

Leaf by Niggle is a personal favorite. It's right up there with Smith of Wootton...

October 2016

October 27, 2016

Put Your Kids to Work, Go Ahead, They’ll Thank You for It

Some people apparently believe that children are better off when they're useless. I got a...

October 18, 2016

Story-telling and Sovereignty

When my daughter was a little girl she didn't like stories with bad-guys in them....

October 14, 2016

Slavery and You: Why You’re Not as Free as You Think

Laws often trail practices, not the other way around. In most slave-keeping societies the law...

September 2016

September 29, 2016

New Testament Household Codes: Embarrassing or Enlightening?

In my old church we never read the household codes. (The church I'm referring to...

September 02, 2016

Tales of the Sublime: They aren’t Safe, but They Can be Good

G. K. Chesterton once spoke of nature as our "little sister" and C. S. Lewis...

August 2016

August 31, 2016

How to Tell a Meaningful Story without Preaching It

The movie mogul Sam Goldwyn once said, "If you want to send a message, use...

May 2016

May 20, 2016

The Narrative Thread I Followed in Mark 11:1-12:17

Last time I mentioned a "small signal" from Luke 11:11, "...it was already late." I...

May 18, 2016

More Thoughts on the Art of Preaching: Following Narrative Threads

I picked up, The Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter after I finished my...