Free speech issues have made the news recently as political tensions rise—along with distrust in and fatigue with social media. No one has helped me understand the issues at stake better than Stanley Fish. His Winning Arguments is very helpful, and this article from...
Bible Study Magazine Podcast Launches Today
Faithlife’s brand new Bible Study Magazine podcast, hosted by yours truly, launches today. The first season of twelve episodes (four available today; one released per week after this) is focused on how to achieve and promote biblical literacy. In the first episode, I...
It Happened Again with the KJV
I’m almost done with a year-long project writing a BJU Press Bible textbook on biblical worldview for sixth graders. I needed to quote a verse that helps them understand that Christians are called to live lives of practical good works for their neighbors. I turned to...
Four New ESV Editions, Or, How Does Crossway Do It?
I work for a Christian publisher, and we have made Bibles of various kinds. If you could listen to our internal discussions, you would hear quickly that Crossway sets the standard for Bible publishing. More beautiful typography and more innovative editions have come...
Review: Write Better, by Andrew T. Le Peau
Andrew Le Peau is surely qualified to write a book on writing better: he has been an editor at IVP for forty years. But I hope I’m qualified to say that (most of) the book, though fine, didn’t scratch where I personally itch. His advice for the first two thirds of the...
Ask Nicely for Your Church, School, or Camp to Move away from the KJV
There’s a beautiful Christian camp I’ve been to many times which serves my hometown crowd of more or less independent, baptistic churches. Anybody who knows me can guess which camp I’m talking about, but please don’t: what I’m about to say applies to many, many...
The Saddest Story I’ve Read in a Good While: Kids See through Adults’ Blindness to Natural Law
When I first heard the story below, about a New York City public school, I didn’t believe it. It seemed too convenient, like something concocted for a fundraising letter. My wife had the same reaction. I read the whole piece to assure myself of the reliability of the...
The Allure of the Iron Cage: Reactions to Steven D. Smith’s The Disenchantment of Secular Discourse
Rcently, against my better judgment and somewhat by accident, I became involved in today’s predominant form of public discourse: an online discussion with strangers. I found myself the lone defender of the fairly straightforward idea (it seemed to me at the time) that...
Are There Critical Text Readings in the NKJV after All? A Nerdy and Detailed Response to a Set of Fair Questions.
Sometimes it takes people with the skeptical eye provided by a minority viewpoint to see things the majority cannot, comfortable as it is in its unquestioned worldview. Who questions what all “sane” people believe? We actually need a few conspiracy theories out there,...
An Example of What You Can Get out of a Self-Helpy Book When You Must
My company offers incentives to employees every year to read business books. By this means I have gotten through some self-helpy stuff I admit I would have disdained otherwise. To be honest, I feel icky when I read books that purport to lead you to a successful life...