Rod Dreher’s 2001 review of The Close is a must-read. He captures as well as anybody the deadness and irrelevancy of theological liberalism. The author of The Close is Chloe Breyer (daughter of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer), and in the book she chronicles her life as a liberal seminary student slouching towards parish ministry. Dreher’s critique is sharp and well-earned. Breyer seems genuinely unquestioning of her own assumptions about life and the things she believes (or disbelieves). In a telling moment in the book, Breyer is stunned that a group of prison inmates were not buying the Protestant liberalism she was selling. Dreher is particularly good here:
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Why Abortion Is the Sacrament of Feminism
Frederica Mathewes-Green explains why abortion remains the sacrament of feminism. The fact that she was once an ardent feminist herself makes her perspective quite compelling. She argues that feminists sought to be equal to men with respect to having a career and having a promiscuous sex-life. The main obstacle to those two goals was the possibility of a pregnancy. So abortion became the necessary condition for careerism and promiscuity. Women could not have complete sexual and professional freedom without unfettered access to abortion on demand. She writes:
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Meet Clint Pressley
SBC Today has an interview with one of bright lights among young SBC pastors—Clint Pressley. This piece focuses on denominational life within the SBC, and brother Clint certainly has a lot to contribute to this conversation. Clint is the senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC.
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Jill Phillips, “You Came Down”
I’ve really been enjoying Jill Phillips and Andy Gullahorn’s song “You Came Down” this Christmas season. I heard them perform it at the “Behold, the Lamb of God” concert here in Louisville a couple of weeks ago. After that, I bought it and have been listening to it ever since. It’s one that I think you will appreciate as well. It’s from their album “Christmas.” Push the play button below to preview the song, then go buy it. The single is $.99 and the album is only $8.99. Also, one other item is worth mentioning. Phillips and Gullahorn are husband and wife, and they covered “It’s Cold Outside” on this…
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Tebow after the Big Loss to the Patriots
How does Tim Tebow respond after a big loss on a big stage? Does hope spring temporary when the victories cease? No, it doesn’t. Immediately after leaving the locker room after the game, here is how Tebow’s conversation went with a reporter from NFL.com when all the cameras were off: “How is the strength of your faith impacted after a loss?” I started. “It puts things in perspective,” Tebow said. “God is still God. I still have a relationship with Christ, and a loss doesn’t change anything. Win or lose, everything is still the same. What matters is the girl I’m about to see, Kelly Faughnan. If I can inspire…
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A Word about Salacious Sermonizing
Carl Trueman has an interesting take on the current obsession that evangelical pastors seem to have with sermons on sex. They are becoming increasingly frequent and in some cases bawdy. Trueman writes: The current evangelical obsession with sex seems more like an intrusion of the culture than a priority of scripture… If, for the sake of argument, we were to allow that there might occasionally, just occasionally, be a vague and distant analogy between Hollywood and the church, I wonder if middle-aged pastors writing and speaking about sex is not becoming the evangelical equivalent of forty-something actresses doing nude scenes. Look: your career is in decline, the only cover shoot…
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Tebow Time Is Old School
Tim Tebow should have won the Heisman this year. He is the best college football player in the NFL, and I mean that as a compliment. He just plays old school smashmouth football. His passing stats don’t match that of the prototypical NFL quarterback, but somehow he puts drives together when it counts. It’s really quite inexplicable except that the guy has a voracious will to win that spreads to every player on his team.
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Doug Wilson Warns against Errors of Speculation about Christopher Hitchens
If you haven’t already read Doug Wilson’s affectionate tribute to Christopher Hitchens in Christianity Today, you should do so now. It is among the best you’ll find among the scores that have appeared today in major news outlets around the world.
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Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)
I was sad to hear about the passing of Christopher Hitchens last night. He was a unique public intellectual with a rapier wit and an even sharper pen. He seemed to be able to hold forth on almost any topic put before him, and he was as charismatic as they come. Hitchens always fascinated me not merely because of his intellect and prose, but also because of his independence. He was a liberal, but he didn’t always follow the liberal script. He was a darling of the left, yet he remained a firm supporter of the Iraq War. He was an avowed atheist, yet he insisted on the superior literary…
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A Social Network Christmas
I don’t know how the guys at Igniter Media did it, but somehow this video works.