Church-related organizations like Lutheran World Relief have really jumped on the “fair trade coffee” bandwagon. I sometimes, but not always, buy fair trade coffee and have never been able to make up my mind whether it actually does any good. This article (via Byzantine Calvinist) argues that it doesn’t: In fact, in this type of…

It’s interesting that in some theological circles epistemology has become such a hot topic, especially considering I’ve always found epistemology to be one of the least exciting branches of philosophy. Much of the controversy seems to revolve around attacking or defending “foundationalism.” Foundationalism is the view, often associated with Descartes, that all our knowledge rests…

At Reason Nick Gillespie writes appreciatively of Rhode Island founder Roger Williams, and sees him as a model for religious liberty and secular government that is still applicable today. While it’s true that the baptist Williams believed that it was wrong – for impeccably theological reasons – for government to try to coerce belief, he…

In his book on Spiritual Theology, Diogenes Allen considers whehter spiritual disciplines aimed at growing in love of God and neighbor are a form of “works righteousness,” a concern that Protestants often have: Many Christians are uneasy with the idea that we are to make an effort to overcome our inadequacies because it sounds like…

A while back I was reading an article about the flat tax and all the benefits it could bring in terms of simplifying the tax code. But, as far as I could tell, you could get all the same simplicity benefits from a simplified graduated rate. My wife, who is smarter than me and has…

As a matter of general principle, I believe there can be no doubt that criticism in time of war is essential to the maintenance of any kind of democratic government … too many people desire to suppress criticism simply because they think that it will give some comfort to the enemy to know that there…

This article on self-styled “Christian Zionists” isn’t likely to tell you anything you don’t already know, but, as I’ve been working my way through Romans lately with the help of a couple of commentaries, this brought me up short: “Our Christian Zionism – and we readily endorse that term – grows out of God’s promise…

Apparently there’s a trend among yuppies and millionaire movie stars to dress their children in Che Guevera t-shirts: This week, Fairchild Publications is introducing a horrifying new magazine called Cookie—a sort of Lucky for the sandbox set, featuring $900 strollers and hair gel for 3-year-old boys (“have him rub no more than a quarter-size dollop”).…

The New Republic has a profile (free registration req’d) of Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis) that makes him look ever-more appealing (to me, anyway, though surely not to the editors of TNR). Not only did Feingold vote against the authorization of force for the Iraq war (question to the Dems who are now complaining that they…

Speaking of William Placher, in this article from 1992 he discusses how Christians should participate in public life, both in academia and politics. He points out that Christians are in an ambiguous position in American society – on the one hand most Americans would consider themselves at least nominally Christian, but on the other hand…