The bottom line is this: Our personal commitment to Jesus is a poor substitute for His personal commitment to us. The gospel is not an exhortation to take Jesus as our personal savior. It is the stunning proclamation that in the gospel events, He has taken us as His personal sinners. It is that proclamation…

Here’s a pretty snide article on Jim Wallis from the Weekly Standard (well, what did you expect?). One interesting thing that comes through is that Wallis seems to have become less radical over the years. I mean, if you go from being an outspoken pacifist writing for a journal called the Post-American (the predecessor to…

Here’s a fine piece of criticism by Marc Cooper taking on the theories of Berkeley linguist George Lakoff, who has become something of post-election guru for dispirited Democrats. Lakoff argues that the Dems simply need to “re-frame” the terms of the debate so that their policies will be more appealing (e.g. Republicans say “tax relief,”…

Not, of course, that future popes (including the next one) may not be Europeans, but that the concerns of the papacy will tend to shift away from Europe, the USA, and our “culture wars” and toward issues of pressing concern in the “2/3rds world,” where global Christianity’s center of gravity is shifting to. That, at…

Inevitably, folks want to claim as renowned a personage as John Paul II as one of their own – as favoring their own particular political program. With that caveat in mind, here are a couple of interesting pieces on John Paul and his relation to American politics: Justin Raimondo, “In Defense of John Paul II,…

A great man and an inspiration to Christians of all denominations. He will be missed. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die,…

Whenever one discusses the soul and life after death, sooner or later someone will point out that “Christians don’t believe in the immortality of the soul, they believe in the resurrection of the body.” I think any objective observer would concede that biblical studies and theology are no more immune to fads and trends than…

That would be my less than charitable description of this journal – The New Libertarian (first issue is available to non subscribers – password is ‘tnlv1i1’). Their preferred locution is “pragmatic on domestic policy, hawkish on foreign policy.” It features the work of Max Borders, whose repellent Hobbesean libertarianism I critiqued here.

Eastern Orthodox theologian David B. Hart (Writing in the Wall Street Journal! Are we seeing the emergence here of a new “public theologian”? Look out Stanley Hauerwas!) reflects on the metaphysics of soul and body in light of the Terri Schiavo controversy (via Pontifications): Terri Schiavo has now died, but of course the controversy surrounding…

Rep. Tom DeLay and others have suggested, in the wake of the Terri Schiavo ordeal, that Congress ought to rein in the “tyrannical” judiciary. Now, I share the concerns of conservatives that the judiciary has expanded its power at the expense of democracy. However, might I also suggest that Congress could restore some balance to…