Issue
Christ in a Post-Christian Culture
Vol. 18, No. 1 • Jan/Feb 2009
The Patriarchal narratives of Genesis have much to teach modern Americans about the relationship between their earthly pilgrimages and the surrounding culture. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob existed in a decidedly “non-Christian” society (pardon the anachronism). And yet, every step of their pilgrimage was a witness to the God who had covenanted with them to bless […]
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In This Issue
The Patriarchal narratives of Genesis have much to teach modern Americans about the relationship between their earthly pilgrimages and the surrounding culture. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob existed in a decidedly “non-Christian” society (pardon the anachronism). And yet, every step of their pilgrimage was a witness to the God who had covenanted with them to bless […]
Culture and the Christian
Culture is one of those pesky, paradoxical concepts that everyone knows what it means as long as they don’t have to define it. Once the task commences, what appeared apparent suddenly becomes elusive. Culture is a difficult word to define because it is multi-vocal. It labels many divergent phenomena and suggests relationships among seemingly unrelated […]
Flying for Jesus
In February 2004, American Airlines pilot Captain Roger Findiesen asked Christian passengers on his Los Angeles to New York flight to identify themselves to the non-Christian passengers so that everyone could use the time on the flight to discuss religion. He had just returned from a mission trip to Costa Rica and felt that the […]
Celebrating Calvin
1. Education: The Academy Calvin broke with medieval pedagogy that limited education primarily to an aristocratic elite. His Academy, founded in 1559, was a pilot in broad-based education for Geneva. Although Genevans had sought for two centuries to establish a university, only after Calvin’s settlement did a college finally succeed. (1) By the time of […]
Text, Church, and World
All over the world, every Sunday, countless sermons are delivered. What is happening-or should be happening-when a human preacher stands to proclaim God’s Word? There are many forms of pulpit address that might go under the name of preaching. In the best of them, the Bible is always present in some defining way; but a […]
“Looking Before and After: Testimony and the Christian Life” by Alan Jacobs
Alan Jacobs lifts the title of his book from Hamlet, but it could just as easily be a description of the Roman god Janus, whom Ovid invokes in his poem “Fasti”: “Two-formed Janus what god shall I say you are,/ Since Greece has no divinity to compare with you?/ Tell me the reason, too, why […]
Ethics and Culture
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Reacting to Viral Dechurching & Exvangelical Stories
“Here’s what I love about Jesus. Jesus actually knows that the church is broken and imperfect and falls short. But the difference between us and Jesus is we see that and we use that as a justification to abandon the church. Jesus sees the church, as broken as she is, and on the way as […]
Nine of the Most Notorious Heretics
The word heresy is closely associated with the idea of schism, breaking off from the church, and theologians have made a distinction between formal and material heresy. Formal heresy is a stubborn denial of vital Christian doctrine—those who have heard the truth and then rejected it. Material heresy is what happens when a person embraces a false doctrine out of ignorance.
Why Poor Stewardship of the Body Can Be an Act of Unfaithfulness
The beautiful thing about this [sixth commandment] requirement is that it highlights that God cares about you. He cares about your body. He knows you’re made of dust. He knows that we need a good night of rest. We don’t have to feel guilty for getting it. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows […]
Imputed Righteousness and Self-Made Identity: The Crisis of Justification in Our Church Culture
This presentation analyzes the crisis of justification in today’s church, tracing its biblical foundations, reformational clarity, and modern challenges.
