First Church Of Intersectionality
Intersectionality is a wholly academic invention; it stands in the vanguard of the progressive academy, allied with critical race studies, queer studies, women’s studies, and ethnic studies.
Intersectionality makes deterministic assumptions about human identity that run counter to almost all of Western philosophy—not to mention to the commonsense self-understanding most of us possess. Intersectional theorists begin their work on the basis of a debatable (though never debated) set of characteristics that supposedly constitute personal identity: race, gender, class, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and... Continue Reading
But Seriously Chris Tomlin, Good Hymns Don’t Need Your New Choruses
Repackaged hymns aren’t really hymns at all; they are contemporary songs with old words. The words are reworked, and the tunes intended for congregational singing, are made into commercially marketable products.
According to the CCLI database, “The Wonderful Cross” was written by Chris Tomlin, Isaac Watts, J.D. Walt, Jesse Reeves, and Lowell Mason. By doing so, Tomlin, Walt, and Reeves have hijacked Watts’ poetry (Mason composed the tune, HAMBURG), added a very minimal contribution of their own, copyrighted it, and have proceeded to financially benefit from... Continue Reading
How Evangelicals Invented Liberals’ Favorite Legal Doctrine
The Evangelical Origins of the Living Constitution' makes a persuasive historical case that nineteenth-century conservative Christians legislating morality created many of the problems associated with twenty-first-century liberals.
The Supreme Court’s response to New Deal legislation has often been credited (or blamed) for undermining economic due process in the service of a hugely popular administrative state, a shift that some have blamed on the idea of the “living Constitution.” Yet as Compton observes, nearly “every argument advanced during the New Deal period began... Continue Reading
“Submit to Your Husbands”: Women Told to Endure Domestic Violence in the Name of God
American research provides one important insight: men who attend church less often are most likely to abuse their wives.
In 2013, American pastor Steven J Cole concluded in a sermon that “a wife may need to submit to some abuse”. “The difficult question is,” he writes, “how much? My view is that a wife must submit to verbal and emotional abuse, but if the husband begins to harm her physically, she needs to call... Continue Reading
Some Quick Reminders of what TULIP is NOT
While they are indeed very important truths, they do not eclipse the total system of doctrine as received in the Reformed Confessions.
It must also be made clear, in light of some popular unbiblical covenant theologies, that Unconditional Election does not equate to, mean, nor imply unconditional New Covenant membership. Though it is only upon Christ’s merits that we stand in the New (or even Old) Covenant, the Covenant itself is by no means unconditional. One must... Continue Reading
Prima Facie Evidence Against Intinction
In the institution of the Supper, however, there is no dipping of bread.
We have no authority to dip the bread in the wine as part of the administration of the Supper. We have authority to take, bless, give, and drink. The departure, in some NAPARC congregations, from the pattern instituted by our Lord in the Supper is indicative of a broader departure from the rule of worship... Continue Reading
Classic Theism: Is God Simple or Complex?
Does simplicity make any difference at all? It does indeed, and here are a few implications of this doctrine.
Simplicity safeguards our understanding of God. The Trinity is not three Gods (tritheism). Neither is God comprised of 1/3 Father, 1/3 Son, and 1/3 Holy Spirit (partialism). We confess One God in Three Persons. Simplicity is also the foundation of God’s independence and immutability. Complex beings are dependent on their parts and their maker, but... Continue Reading
A Deist, a Christian, and an Atheist Go to the Moon
For Armstrong the world is the result of an impersonal source. For O’Hair it’s a cosmic accident. For Aldrin, “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
Aldrin’s view, which I obviously share, offers not only an explanation for the world we live in but for our place in it. When King David pondered creation in Psalm 8, called a “Star Gazer’s Psalm” as it only mentions night lights, he asked this pressing question, “When I look at your heavens, the work of... Continue Reading
Our Foundation of Grace (Owen)
The Christian’s foundation of forgiveness and acceptance with God is not by works, but by grace alone and found in Christ alone.
“The foundation is to be laid, as was said, in mere grace, mercy, and pardon in the blood of Christ. This the soul is to accept of and to rest in as mere grace, without the consideration of any thing in itself, but that it is sinful and obnoxious unto ruin. This it finds a difficulty in,... Continue Reading
Discerning Entertainment
Entertainment affects our minds, our homes, our culture, and our churches.
Through my experience in entertainment, God has heightened my sensitivity as I have attempted to lead my family in how we view and enjoy all types of entertainment: from TVshows to movies, from operas to music, from books to Broadway musicals, from bedtime stories to board games. My maternal grandfather, James Robson Featherstone (1915–1995), was born... Continue Reading