On one level, families and Christianity reinforce each other on the level of plausibility. The responsibilities of parenting often drive people to (or back to) church. At the same time, Eberstadt points to the Christian narrative’s dependence on family language, such as God the Father, and God the Son. At a deeper level, Christianity’s social... Continue Reading

As many are aware, there is an ongoing debate in conservative Reformed circles over the relationship between justification and union, and two key issues have come to the fore—the descriptive question of whether Calvin viewed justification as flowing from and dependent upon union with Christ, and the normative exegetical/theological question of whether union should have... Continue Reading

The second half of his book is focused on addressing specific concerns of particular organizations and individuals. Because Pastor Otis is an elder in a reformed, Presbyterian denomination, he is particularly concerned with organizations and individuals either within the reformed world or with considerable influence within reformed churches. These include: the BioLogos Foundation, Dr. Tim... Continue Reading

D.G. Hart’s long-awaited Calvinism: A History is finally here and it has proved worth the wait. The stalwart opponent of Schwaermerei everywhere does not disappoint. Again, I have thus far read only the first few chapters but the work is obviously well-written with the usual learning, wit and stimulating analysis one expects. Along with Benedict’s... Continue Reading

Overall I don’t expect this to change the views of diehard atheist evolutionists, but I would hope that my theistic evolutionist friends will give this book a close reading. A caution: this is a tome that took me two weeks to go through in evening reading, and I am familiar with the field. Like the... Continue Reading

This book makes a significant contribution to the literature on this timely subject, and Christians interested in engaging the marriage debates in the public square, and willing to invest the time to read a finely-nuanced book with care, will find this a stimulating study. Yet they may find it more discouraging than encouraging, for its... Continue Reading

Duguid sums up well what Esther cooperatively does for the sake of the empire. “She was willing to be poked and prodded, perfumed and prepared over a period of twelve months for her one night stand in the royal bedroom” (29). “We would hardly coin the slogan ‘Dare to be an Esther’ at this point... Continue Reading

This book can make a case for something…here it is in a single word: redemption. Redemption is a religious word, but it’s a word taken from the slave market, entirely appropriate for a book titled The Art of Freedom. The Clemente Course offers a kind of secular redemption, and Shorris’s anecdotes show the beauty and grandeur of... Continue Reading

Put differently, there is an assumption that we can only believe that we have the writings God intended if there are very few (if any) dissenters and if there is virtually immediate and universal agreement on all 27 books.  But, where does this assumption come from?  And why should we think it is true?   When it... Continue Reading

Thus, given the ultimate political purpose of the book, the final problem with Moss’s thesis is not really historical at all. It is the fact that she fails to set the function of martyr narratives within the wider framework of modern politics. The problem is not martyr myths; it is that politics, stripped of any... Continue Reading