“The only principle that makes sense is this: A candidate’s moral qualities are relevant only in how they relate to the achievement of a preponderance of good civil outcomes. Civil leaders, after all, are good civil leaders only to the extent that they produce good civil outcomes, so voting is for good civil outcomes. The... Continue Reading

With regard to the inevitability of implicit self-commendation in the public praise of God, we can blush a bit and say, with increasing sincerity as we walk with the Lord, that all praise properly belongs to him. What a wonder that he would use fallible, imperfect people such as we to accomplish his infallible, perfect... Continue Reading

“Christmas” is a compound word originating in the term “Christ’s Mass,” derived from the Middle English Cristemasse; “Nativity”, meaning “birth”, is from Latin nātīvitās; in Old English, Gēola (“Yule”) referred to the period corresponding to January and December, which was eventually equated with Christian Christmas; “Noel” (or “Nowell”) entered English in the late 14th century... Continue Reading

To say something was a “God thing” seems to draw lines of distinction between what God is and is not involved in that Scripture itself does not draw. I rarely hear anyone use this phrase when speaking of a particularly difficult or trying or devastating circumstance. We generally apply it only to the victories. The truth... Continue Reading

America is not the Kingdom of God. One of the reasons that self-identified evangelicals are so fevered about Trump (both pro and con) is that they do not seem to be able to distinguish between the United States as a civil entity and the Kingdom of God. The visible, institutional church is the embassy of... Continue Reading

As in 1914, so today: When the Christmas truce is over the world will go back to war. But the memory of that truce, and of the invitation to consider the baby of Bethlehem, will linger throughout the year. And in my experience, those who take time to accept the invitation will often find, to... Continue Reading

Not to sound Marxist or anything, but I’m prepared to argue, using Peter Berger’s new-class thesis, that this is really about class warfare and that Trump came along at precisely the time when the class tensions between the information-economy-manipulators-of-symbolic-knowledge new class on the one hand and the entrepreneurial-class/working-class elements within evangelicalism were becoming acute.  ... Continue Reading

By injecting Christianity into that debate, Galli inevitably suggests (especially to the left, for whom it is convenient) that people of the Christian faith are, in fact, obliged to condemn Trump and support his impeachment. This is risible. It is irresponsible. It also proved irresistible.   After more than a quarter-century of occasionally attempting to... Continue Reading

A table is a place of welcome, a place where bread is broken and friendships are forged. In a political landscape dominated by polarization, hostility, and misunderstanding, we believe it’s critical for Christians to model how to have a firm opinion and host free discussion at the same time. Evangelicals of different stripes cannot continue... Continue Reading

Why are there so many in pastoral ministry who don’t seem to have much time for people? I’m not talking about introverts who would rather be on their own with a book here – not least because many of those guys are excellent with people and love them properly but find the energy they expend... Continue Reading