The Correct Shape of the Petals in a TUDIP
I personally do not hold to the doctrine of limited atonement as I understand it. I can get there theologically, and the idea doesn't bother or offend me—but I can't get there exegetically. I find efforts to get around 1 John 2:2 to be just that. I have not made the doctrine a matter of intense study, however, or at least not for a long while. There are two many doctrines and too few hours. At some point you have to stake your claim and live as if your theology is true even if you feel all too...
Kindle Deal Today Only
Today only, get a Kindle or Kindle Paperwhite (my recommendation, and what I personally use) for $20 off. A few tips: Get the version with special offers. Some of them are good and they save you money. If you never ever read in situations with low light, you don't need the Paperwhite. But I still like it. Don't let your inability to afford the Paperwhite keep you from getting the regular Kindle. Amazon's ebook "ecosystem" is the best available and seems to be the best bet for the future...
Legendary American Novelist on the Fantasy of Western Popular Culture
Insightful words from Philip Roth: The power in any society is with those who get to impose the fantasy. It is no longer, as it was for centuries throughout Europe, the church that imposes its fantasy on the populace, nor is it the totalitarian superstate that imposes the fantasy, as it did for 12 years in Nazi Germany and for 69 years in the Soviet Union. Now the fantasy that prevails is the all-consuming, voraciously consumed popular culture, seemingly spawned by, of all things, freedom. The...
Roe at 41
Excellent article. Recent abortion cases have uncovered a weakness in the arguments of the Roe court: if the harms of unwanted pregnancy are largely those of future economic and personal hardship, not pregnancy itself, then the fathers of unborn children have nearly as much right as mothers to terminate a pregnancy. And if men who cause their sexual partners to have unwanted abortions (that's what happened in some of these cases) can be prosecuted for feticide, why does the law define the...
The GOP and Social Conservatives
This is exactly what I said would happen. This is what I said almost a year ago: Republican Christian conservatives, I suspect that your party as a whole will only care about you as long as you give it votes. And this is what has happened, according to this morning's New York Times: Over the past four years, an increasing number of Republican leaders have argued that the party needs to embrace gay marriage, or risk losing younger, independent voters who polls suggest support it. “It just makes...