A John Frame Sighting!
Why do I think John Frame's triperspectivalism is so important? Because it provides what I take to be scriptural (or at least scripturally-consistent) lenses; and when I look through those lenses I see with greater clarity. It happens all the time. It just happened, in fact, as I read a 1998 Amazon review of a book called Ethics After Babel. The reviewer appears to be, like his one companion on the small list of reviews, a college ethics professor who used or evaluated the book for class. He...
BJU Expands Mission Statement
BJU has expanded its mission statement, and Dr. Stephen Jones has recorded a video describing the update. Here's the new mission statement, starting with the old: Within the cultural and academic soil of liberal arts higher education, Bob Jones University exists to grow Christlike character that is scripturally disciplined, others-serving, God-loving, Christ-proclaiming and focused above. As a Christian liberal arts higher education institution we: educate regenerate men and women of varying...
The SBC on Calvinism and Arminianism
There are some advantages to a church joining a Christian denomination. You're likely to be part of some group or other, and if you make it official (by joining a denomination) you get the benefits of united action, pooled resources, and due process. There are some disadvantages, as the history of Christianity in America, at least, has made clear. If theological liberalism establishes itself in centers of power, results can be disastrous. I think independent Baptist churches—the group of which...
Everyone Knows Best and Everyone Knows All
These comments have come back to my mind many times since I read them. The author lays out an incredibly difficult vision to live up to. I honestly quail in the face of it. But love for my neighbor demands it, and I seek by God's grace to do it. I tried to shorten this, but I couldn't. Each of the major paragraphs contains necessary gold. Look at any U.S. map charted along measures of education, collar, and (increasingly) marriage and family wellbeing and we are officially polka-dotted. The...
Usage Determines Meaning (Applause Please)
When my three-year-old son asks while we sit in a large crowd, "Why are the people clapping?" he's essentially asking, "What is the meaning of this applause?" My answer is going to be very situation-specific: are we in a concert hall at a concert—and is the clapping taking place after or during the music, by the audience or by the performers? Are we at a political rally? Are we at a baseball stadium during a double-header, and are we singing "Sweet Caroline" or did a third-baseman just make an...