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…

Does Paul teach that homosexual intercourse is always sinful? For the reasons I have been indicating, I think that’s a question on which honest Christians can disagree. Is homosexuality one of the sins Christians should worry most about? That’s by contrast an easy question, and the answer is “no.” Scripture discusses same-sex intercourse only briefly,…

Martin Luther was born in 1483 in Eisleben in what is now eastern Germany under the reign of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor.Coincidentally (or not??) your humble scribe was born on the same day in 1974 in a small post-industrial town in western Pennsylvania under the reign of Gerald Ford.

This article from The American Spectator argues that, in contrast to Justice Scalia with whom he’s frequently compared, Judge Alito has a libertarian streak which could lead him to rule in ways that libertarians, and to a lesser degree liberals, would find congenial, especially on issues like minority religious rights, federalism, free speech, and immigration.…