Russell Moore recently said that Fred Sanders is a gift to the church. I couldn’t agree more. Sanders wrote a review last year of a collection of essays on the Trinity edited by Bruce Ware and John Starke. He closes his review with a brilliant summary of the obedience of the eternal Son. He writes: What’s eternal, and essential to the divine being, is Sonship, which means eternal generation and the filial generatedness that it entails. Is the obedience of the Son’s will to the Father’s commanding authority also eternal? That seems to me to be a fairly small question, and also one that needs an answer so nuanced it’s…
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The Obedience of the Eternal Son
Over the weekend, a friend sent me a copy of the 2013 article “The Obedience of the Eternal Son” by Scott Swain and Michael Allen. I want to commend this essay to anyone who has been following the recent debate about intratrinitarian relations. I also want to warn you that this is not light reading, and I may lose all but the specialists in what follows. Having said that, this article is worth your time to ponder and understand for the current discussion. I’m not going to summarize the whole article, but I will give you its thesis and highlight a handful of other passages. Here’s the thesis:
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Hugh Hewitt in high dudgeon
I don’ usually do this, but I have to pass on to you today’s episode of the Hugh Hewitt Show. He is my favorite political analyst/talking head, and he was hilarious today. He spoke like a man who has just experienced a tent-revival-style conversion. There was repentance (“I was wrong”), zeal, and a resolve to make converts to his cause. Until today, he has been copiously above the fray vis-à-vis the Trump candidacy. He has said that he’s “Switzerland”—committed to neutrality in the Republican primary and open to voting for GOP nominee even if it’s Trump. He has never been #NeverTrump, and has been arguing against #NeverTrump as wrong-headed.
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David French tells “Morning Joe” about intimidation
David French tells the “Morning Joe” crew about why he decided not to run. He also reveals how a Trump campaign operative tried to intimidate him through a family member.
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David French on “The Kelly File” explaining why he won’t run
Here’s the man himself explaining why he decided not to run.
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Apparently, Christian pop music is peppier than life.
Last week, Leah Libresco wrote a piece for FiftyThirtyEight about how peppy Christian pop music tends to be. She studied thematic content in the last five years of Billboard’s year-end top 50 Christian songs. She found that the lyrical content skewed disproportionately toward hopey-gracey themes and away from sinny-judgment themes. She writes:
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A Resolution against Requiring Women to Register for the Draft and to Serve in Combat Units
The Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting will be in St. Louis next week, and it is my hope that the messengers will have the opportunity to make a statement against requiring women to serve in combat units. I have proposed a resolution with wording that derives greatly from the The Danvers Statement and from a 1998 resolution on the same topic. The committee can decline from bringing this resolution to the floor for a vote. They can recommend an edited version. Or they can recommend it as is. We’ll see next week. Until then, you can read my proposal below.
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Nuts. David French says he will not run for president.
Well, nuts. David French has just announced that he is not going to run for president after all. When word leaked last week that he was Bill Kristol’s mystery candidate, there was an initial thrill at the prospect of having an honorable alternative to enter the race. But I have to say that French’s explanation for not running is wise. I can’t say that I disagree with any of it. It is too bad that we live in a country in which you have to be fabulously wealthy to consider a run at this point. But that is the reality. French explains:
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Do not destroy… Let them fall into the pit that they dug for me
At my church this morning, Pastor Jim Hamilton preached an excellent message from Psalms 56-57. If you have a chance to listen, I commend it to you. You can download it here or listen below. I also recommend a version of Psalm 57 that a band called The Critics put to music. I actually love this song. It’s called “Do Not Destroy,” which is a line from the superscription of the Psalm: “To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.” You can listen to the song above or download it here.
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Who is David French? And why is he running?
Yesterday, news leaked that David French is Bill Kristol’s mystery candidate. He has not yet declared himself a candidate, but he is Kristol’s man. French is a veteran of the Iraq war, a recipient of the Bronze Star, and a constitutional lawyer. He’s the author of seven books, an adoptive father, and a stalwart conservative. He is not a career politician. He also happens to be one of my favorite writers—which is why I link to his National Review articles continuously. In 2014, French delivered a commencement speech for a Christian home school group. The address says everything you need to know about why French would volunteer for the meat…