On Nonchalance and Unconditional Election
It should be clear that if a doctrine is a) biblical, b) directly related to salvation, c) a critical and distinctive part of the Reformed Protestant tradition, and d) pastorally helpful in providing comfort for sanctification, that rejecting it is…
On Afghanistan and American Disinterest
I’m trying to avoid politics on this site as much as possible, but I can’t not mention President Trump’s address last night. He announced a new strategy for the U.S.’s war in Afghanistan that includes sending an additional 4,000 troops to the country. We have been at war in Afghanistan for nearly 16 years, and it’s not clear what we’re doing there at this point. The politics of the issue aside, what is appalling about this state of perpetual war is that no one cares. Afghanistan never came up in any of the presidential debates in 2016, and pollsters didn’t even bother to include it on the list of issues Americans may care about. For years now I have heard people fearfully discuss the prospect of the U.S. going to war as if one was not already underway.
On Smartphones and Social Media
I’m a bit late to the game in commenting on this, but the recent piece on The Atlantic on the massively negative effects of smartphones is a must-read. An excerpt. The results could not be clearer: Teens who spend more…
On Presbyterians and Infant Dedication
David Roberston, a minister of the Free Church in Dundee, has been in the midst of a debate surrounding Presbyterians administering infant dedications. Paul Levy of East Ealing and Donald Macleod have been his most prominent interlocutors. A lot of clutter has confused the discussion, and I believe it could benefit from some clarity. I have a lot of respect for all of the men involved in the debate, and owe a great deal of debt to the Free Church, but I believe my distance geographically and historically from British evangelicalism can provide some needed perspective…
On Nicene Orthodoxy and Marriage
Last week James K.A. Smith kicked off a discussion on the use of the term ‘orthodox’ to describe the traditional Christian position on marriage and sexuality. Wesley Hill has a decent post rounding up the relevant articles in the ongoing…
