This is too good not to pass on immediately—from a newsletter I write for BJU that goes out to churches: Evangelical Christians have a “deeply neurotic relationship with popular culture,” says journalist Hanna Rosin in Slate. Evangelicals in America are like the Old...
Mark Ward
The OED on “magic”
This is the section of the OED entry on "magic" relevant to the Prince Caspian discussion: The 'magic' which made use of the invocation of evil or doubtful spirits was of course always regarded as sinful; but 'natural magic,' i.e. that which did not involve recourse...
Magic in the Narniad and Righteous Indignation
The release of Prince Caspian occasioned some discussion at my office recently. Some good Christians are—understandably, if they haven't read the Narniad—wary of the magic in Lewis's "supposal." Let me hasten to say that I do not want to push anyone past his...
Christ and Culture Revisited; General Critiques of Niebuhr
In chapter 2 of Christ and Culture Revisited Carson offers some general critiques of Niebuhr which do not tie themselves to individual paradigms in Niebuhr's five-fold taxonomy. Here's one line of critique Carson gives: Niebuhr wants to see various biblical authors as...
Fundamentalism and “An Evangelical Manifesto”
Os Guinness, Richard Mouw, Tim George, David Neff, and others have released "An Evangelical Manifesto: A Declaration of Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment." Justin Taylor has already provided a good summary (with little comment). I thought I would comment on...
Christ and Culture Revisited: Carson’s Summary of Niebuhr’s Taxonomy (5)
The final three views in Niebuhr's five-fold taxonomy are all forms of "Christ above culture." 5. Christ the Transformer of Culture Summary: While the previous two views were respectively synthetic (Christ above culture) and dualistic (Christ and culture in paradox),...
Christ and Culture Revisited: Carson’s Summary of Niebuhr’s Taxonomy (4)
The final three views in Niebuhr's five-fold taxonomy are all forms of "Christ above culture." 4. Christ and Culture in Paradox Summary: While the previous view was synthetic, this view is dualistic. "In one sense, this group is much like the first, those who hold to...
Quick Questions For/About Helm
I just expressed appreciation in my last post for what I felt was a very helpful point on Paul Helm's blog, Helm's Deep. I confess I don't get one thing, however: why does Helm dismiss BT (replacing it with ET!)? I’d go so far as to maintain that the systematic...
Paul Helm on John Piper on N.T. Wright
I'm aiming at an early seminary readership (or its equivalent) on this blog, so let me summarize some fairly difficult stuff for my help and, D.V., yours. Paul Helm has written an appreciative reflection/expansion on two points in John Piper's The Future of...
Christ and Culture Revisited: Carson’s Summary of Niebuhr’s Taxonomy (3)
The final three views in Niebuhr's five-fold taxonomy are all forms of "Christ above culture." 3. Christ above Culture Summary: This view, which Niebuhr thinks is the majority position among Christians throughout history, believes that "Christ and the world cannot be...