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Articles
Glorious Humility
One of the most memorable sermons I’ve ever heard was on the glory of the risen, ascended, and coming-again Jesus. Usually, the preacher observed, we picture Christ in the...
No Salvation Without the Other
In the aftermath of Archbishop Viganò’s fresh detailing of Catholic clerical scandal and his call for the resignation of Pope Francis, I have been preoccupied with what all this...
Revoice and a Vocation of “Yes”
At the end of July, in a barely air-conditioned Presbyterian church in St. Louis, Missouri, beneath soaring stained glass windows, a crowd of mostly non-straight people—some four hundred strong—gathered...
A Homily to Remember
Surveying a throng of English royalty, political officials, visiting dignitaries, beautified guests, and various celebrities and other friends, the preacher stepped up to the lectern to deliver his wedding...
Andy Stanley’s Modern Marcionism
Walk into one of the old Episcopal churches on the East Coast, and once your eye has adjusted to the light slanting in through the clear glass windowpanes onto...
Nicholas Wolterstorff’s Cheap Shots
Nicholas Wolterstorff’s recent case for same-sex marriage, delivered as a lecture at Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids in mid-October, bears many of the virtues we’ve come...
If the Church Were a Haven
In the days following the Orlando shooting, many mourners observed that clubs like Pulse have been among the precious few places for the LGBTQ community throughout its history to...
There and Back Again: A First-Century Jewish Tale
Captivity: A Novelby György SpiróNew York: Restless Books, 864 pages, $29.99 Michael Chabon once wrote a novel titled Jews with Swords, then re-titled something tamer (Gentlemen of the Road)....
God’s Strangeness
Skimming through a stack of books recently, I found myself reading a testimonial of sorts from James D. G. Dunn, the great New Testament scholar who coined the phrase...
Pope Packer
J. I. Packer: An Evangelical Life by leland ryken crossway, 432 pages, $30 I f Evangelical Protestants had a pope, who would it be? Until his death at age...
Eve Tushnet’s Spirituality of Humiliation
Eve Tushnet’s new self-published novel Amends (available as an e-book or a paperback) is peak Tushnet: there are more quirky one-liners than the best standup you’ve seen, more offbeat metaphors...
Imperfect Goodbyes and the Hope of Resurrection
I was on the phone with my mother the moment when my grandmother died. The two of them, along with my father, were together in the living room of...
The Pulpit is the Prow
When I was four years old, I would (so I’m told) stand the ottoman in the living room on its end so that it could serve as a pulpit....
In Praise of Irrelevant Reading
When I moved to England to start a Masters degree in theology, I knew I wanted to study St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. Like many of my counterparts...
Praying the Lord’s Prayer in Gethsemane
When I pray the Lord’s Prayer, I often think of an essay I read years ago by the theologian David Wells. Petitionary prayer, Wells wrote, is “rebellion against the...