Molly Worthen writes in the New York Times about Mark Driscoll’s ministry and its place within the revival of Calvinism among evangelicals. I think Worthen does some good reporting here, though her assessment of Driscoll’s theology is pretty negative.
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Can’t Get Enough of Carl Trueman
I agree with Justin Taylor who feels a tad embarrassed that he posts everything Carl Trueman writes. Contrary to what you might think (given all the links I give to Dr. Trueman), I am not getting paid for this. I really do think Trueman’s stuff is just that good. His latest essay for Reformation21 is a must-read: “Why Are There Never Enough Parking Spaces at the Prostate Clinic?” It’s a wry look at evangelicals who are obsessed with cultural analysis and cultural relevance. His contention is that an obsession with culture can undermine a Christian commitment to universal truths. He writes:
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Carl Trueman on “The Case for Gay Marriage”
Carl Trueman has responded briefly to last week’s Newsweek cover story by Lisa Miller, “The Case for Gay Marriage.” Trueman makes an excellent point about Miller’s article that is worth more than a moment’s reflection: “Behold the future. The piece is prophetic because, in a week where a high-ranking member of the NAE had to resign because he was `shifting’ on gay unions, at a time when the full weight of the opinion forming social media is behind the normalisation of homosexuality as acceptable, challenges such as this are clearly going to be coming thick and fast.
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Mohler Discusses Gay ‘Marriage’ on NPR
Yesterday on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” Albert Mohler offered a counterpoint to Lisa Miller’s “Religious Case for Gay Marriage.” It was a fascinating conversation, and I thought Dr. Mohler made a compelling and winsome case. You can listen to the program at NPR’s website, or you can push the play button below. [audio:http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/5/98315676/npr_98315676.mp3] Lisa Miller’s argument falls apart when a caller confronts her about polygamy. The caller points out that it is totally inconsistent for Miller to support gay “marriage” while opposing polygamy. Lisa Miller’s appeal to women’s rights as a basis for excluding polygamy fell flat. Dr. Mohler agrees with the caller and argues that if marriage is…
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‘On Faith’ on Gay ‘Marriage’
The ‘On Faith’ blog (a joint venture of The Washington Post and Newsweek) is hosting a discussion about the religious case for gay “marriage.” The topic is inspired by last week’s Newsweek cover story by Lisa Miller (which I wrote about here). Panelists include those from the religious left and right. Albert Mohler, Leith Anderson, and Charles Colson are among those representing the biblical view. Colson has a good word about Miller’s call for ‘inclusiveness’: ‘Miller admits that the argument for a biblical support of gay marriage is usually not made from any particular passage but from, as scholar Walter Brueggemann puts it, “the general conviction that the Bible is…
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Newsweek Comes Out for Gay ‘Marriage’
I would be remiss not to comment on Lisa Miller’s cover story in this week’s Newsweek magazine, “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage.” The title of the article says everything that you need to know about this piece. In essence, Miller argues that a right understanding of the Christian tradition would actually favor gay “marriage” rather than oppose it. She appeals to the Bible and to history to make her point. This piece is disappointing on a number of levels, and the subsequent critiques have been sharp and justified (e.g., Albert Mohler, Christianity Today, Mollie Hemingway). For the most thorough response, see Robert Gagnon’s 23-page essay (HT: Justin Taylor). I…
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Carl Trueman on Growing Up (or not)
Carl Trueman is a great writer. His latest article at the Reformation 21 website is a must-read (HT: Justin Taylor). Here’s the conclusion: “You are, of course, what you worship, as Psalm 115 reminds us, and thus, as long as we idolize our children and the culture of youth, we can expect to – well, be just like them: pouting, irresponsible, hormonal, unpleasant and, frankly, as creepy as those sixteenth century portraits of little children with adult faces. Trapped in Neverland with no hope of escape.”
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James Kushiner on the Election of Barack Obama
There’s been a lot of discussion about the future of the pro-life cause in light of the election of Barack Obama. The most pointed remarks I’ve read come from Touchstone‘s James Kushiner: ‘The irony about the election of our first black president, an irony which I wish did not exist, is that while blacks have risen from the indignities and injustice of slavery in which their bodies were sold and consumed as property, and have endured segregation and second-class citizen status and racial discrimination, and have now one of their own elected to the highest office in the land, this very president-elect, Barack Obama, will increase the death toll among…
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Good News from Yesterday’s Election
The presidential election was over pretty early last night (compared to ’00 and ’04), but I stayed up until after 2am anyway to find out the results of Proposition 8 in California. When I finally went to bed, the vote count was too close to call, and it was still too close when I checked the news this morning. The Los Angeles Times and other news outlets are now reporting that Proposition 8 has passed. So the state constitution of California will now include the following sentence: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The amendment passed with a slim majority, but this…
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Abortion and Racism
From Anne Hendershott at the Witherspoon Institute: “It’s never been a more dangerous time to be a black baby. . . The figures are shocking: Nearly half of all African American pregnancies end in abortion. Since 1973, the number of abortions by African American women has totaled more than twelve million. In some localities, including Mississippi, Louisiana, Maryland, and Georgia, more than half of all abortions are performed on black women. Similar rates are found for black women in New York City. . . The black community has already been changed by abortion. At a time when 50 percent of their unborn children are aborted, many within the black community…