Do dead people praise God? The Psalmist says that they don’t. Read for yourself the last two verses from Psalm 115: The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence; But as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and forever. Praise the LORD! For those of us grew up in evangelical churches that teach about saints praising God in the afterlife, this text can come across as quite a jolt. Can it really be true that departed saints no longer praise God?
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Douthat Takes Lizza to the Woodshed
Ryan Lizza’s piece from The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago gets another critique—this time from Ross Douthat. In a follow-up piece to Douthat’s article in today’s New York Times, Douthat goes to his blog to challenge Ryan Lizza’s misrepresentation of Francis Schaeffer. Douthat is charitable, but tough. Here’s the conclusion:
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Should Wives Submit to Their Husbands?
The front page of The Nashville Tennessean has an article by Bob Smietana titled “Should wives submit? Debate resurges.” Though Michele Bachmann’s candidacy for president is the catalyst for this piece, the article is not really about her. It’s about how American Evangelicals approach the question of gender roles in the home, in the church, and in society at large. Smietana interviews folks on both sides of this question and even deals briefly with the various interpretations of Ephesians 5 and how those readings play out in the lives of real families. Smietana even uses the proper theological designations for each view, complementarianism and egalitarianism. This is an unusual article,…
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American Theocracy Revisited: Douthat Tweaks Press Coverage of Religion in GOP Primary
Ross Douthat doesn’t have the religion beat, but he writes with more insight than many reporters who do. He rightly argues that the press has every right to ask how a political candidate’s faith relates to his political agenda. But in doing so, Douthat offers “four points that journalists should always keep in mind when they ask and then write about religious beliefs that they themselves don’t share.” Here they are:
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The Story of Indelible Grace Music and the RUF Hymns
If you enjoy singing the hymns of Indelible Grace, you might be interested to know that there is a documentary chronicling the history of Indelible Grace music and the RUF hymns. The trailer is above, and you can order the full documentary here.
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First Ever Biography of Leonard Ravenhill
Ravi Zacharias has said this about Leonard Ravenhill: The truth is, even though I am known now as an apologist for the Christian faith, dealing with the intellectual issues of Christianity, I really owe an passion for God, for prayer and for true revival that initially began in me, to Leonard Ravenhill. He, by God’s grace, was the catalyst that has caused the passion to know God to continue to this day.
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Lloyd-Jones on Confronting Error
“We have somehow got hold of the idea that error is only that which is outrageously wrong; and we do not seem to understand that the most dangerous person of all is the one who does not emphasize the right things.” -Martin Lloyd-Jones, The Sermon on the Mount, 2:244
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Groothuis Blows-up the “Dominionism” Bogey Man
Douglas Groothuis puts the nail in the coffin of the “dominionism” meme. The New Yorker really should consider publishing Groothuis’ response to Ryan Lizza’s tendentious reporting. Here’s a snippet:
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Ding, Dong, Postmodernism Is Dead
I remember reading Stanley Grenz’s Primer on Postmodernism in seminary and being impressed with his clear exposition of the postmodern spirit of the age. I knew that the atmosphere was polluted, and I wanted to know exactly what it was I had been inhaling. Grenz explained—better than anyone I had ever read—the air that I had been choking on.
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Closed Communion as Mere Christianity
Russell Moore does a great job defending closed communion as a valid expression of “mere Christianity.” Here’s a little bit of it: It seems sectarian to say one can’t come to the table unless one has been baptized by immersion as a believer, unless one realizes that, for Baptist Christians, this is what baptism is. Along with Eastern Orthodox Christians, Baptists affirm that Jesus meant “to immerse” when he commanded us to baptize. Unlike the Orthodox, Catholics, and the magisterial Reformers, Baptists believe a baptism is only valid when conferred on one who is in Christ, and who professes him as Lord. Ironically, it is here, where Baptists stand the…