Richard Mouw. When the Kings Come Marching In: Isaiah and the New Jerusalem. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002. 131 pp. Over 60 years ago, H. Richard Niebuhr published his seminal work Christ & Culture, which has influenced discussions of the church’s relationship to society ever since. Numerous complaints have been lodged against his […]
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Review: How (Not) to Be Secular by James K.A. Smith
January 28, 2015 
2 Comments
This weekend I had the privilege of delivering a series of talks at a men’s retreat for my church. The theme of my talks was “Christian Calling in a Secular Culture.” My primary text was the Book of Ecclesiastes, which expresses better than any other book I know what it feels like to live in […]
Continue reading Calvinists and Lutherans on Law and Gospel (Part 2)
November 7, 2014 3 Comments
This is the second post in my two-part response to Lutheran minister Jordan Cooper’s critique of John Frame, Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando (Rev. Cooper’s critique can be found here, here, and here; part 1 of my response can be found here). Dr. Frame has called into question the traditional […]
Continue reading Calvinists and Lutherans on Law and Gospel (Part 1)
November 6, 2014 5 Comments
One of the ongoing debates within the Reformed world centers on the purported distinction between law and gospel. There are some who insist that such a distinction is an indispensable pillar the Protestant Reformation. But others see the distinction as a uniquely Lutheran doctrine that tends to eclipse the historic Reformed emphasis on the so-called […]
Continue reading C.S. Lewis Anticipated Thomas Nagel
October 22, 2014 3 Comments
I am currently walking my 9th grade theology class through C.S. Lewis’s classic Mere Christianity. We are on chapter 4, the final note of which called to mind the thesis of the recent book Mind and Cosmos by philosopher Thomas Nagel (Oxford University Press, 2012), which I reviewed last year. Nagel takes a rather unique position; although he […]
Continue reading Berkouwer on the Covenant of Works
October 21, 2014 1 Comment
G.C. Berkouwer (1903-1996) was a leading 20th-century Dutch theologian in the neo-Calvinist tradition of Abraham Kuyper and S.G. De Graaf. His major work was his 14-volume Studies in Dogmatics, from which the following quote is taken. Here he critiques the language (though not the substance) of the Westminster Confession’s “Covenant of Works.” In many respects, his […]
Continue reading What Does Republication Have to Do with Christotelic Hermeneutics? Quite a Lot, Actually
September 23, 2014 5 Comments
Those who have followed the Reformed blogosphere lately will likely have heard a lot of talk about two intramural controversies over Old Testament interpretation. What they may not realize, however, is just how much these two controversies actually have in common. The first controversy has been around for quite a while, although it has attracted […]
Continue reading Lord over Every Square Inch of CSU
September 14, 2014 0 Comments
Things took a turn for the worse for evangelical campus ministries nationwide last week. America’s largest university system, California State University, has officially “derecognized” InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on all of its 23 campuses. This was in response to IVCF’s refusal to comply with CSU’s new “all-comers” policy requiring all campus organizations to open up leadership roles […]
Continue reading Lecrae on America and Immigration
September 10, 2014 1 Comment
I’ve never really followed Lecrae before, but I heard about the release of his new album Anomaly (Reach Records, 2014), and figured I would give it a listen. I have to admit, I’m quite impressed with what I’ve heard so far. He combines quality music and rhythms with thoughtful lyrics, which is rare these days. He even wades into […]
Continue reading Two Kingdoms vs. Two Cities: What’s the Difference?
September 6, 2014 2 Comments
As Christians, we are called to be “in” the world but not “of” the world. Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount that our mission is to be salt and light (Matt. 5:13-16). But exactly how are we supposed to do this in the midst of a secular culture? What does it look like concretely? […]
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