I’ve had conflicted thoughts about Lenten practices and other aspects of the medieval liturgical calendar for years. But I’m pretty sure my reasons are significantly different from those of contemporary evangelicals. My concern is a matter of the effectiveness (or counter-productivity) of communal formative habits and modest implementation of a regulative principle of worship in … Continue reading Lenten Thrift Shop

This is a summary of my interpretation (or adaptation?) of the ritualistic framework for soteriology that I've learned from reading Peter Leithart's materials. I favor it, because I think it does a good job modeling ordinary human social and developmental reality and the perspective from which the biblical authors were writing. This soteriological framework is … Continue reading My Leithartian Framework

Reading the Gospels as one gigantic political tragicomedy (since it is one) … The story opens with a nation having a history of slavery and exile as an occupied land looking for deliverance. An imperial census causes mass displacement. A baby is born to a royal lineage and proclaimed to be king by an entire … Continue reading The Gospels as Political Theater

This is an updated version of a prior post that's been revised to reflect some ideas that came to my attention since the original post and to use the much better title that came to mind after the fact. It's a common pop Evangelical interpretative move to handle the story of Noah and Ham in … Continue reading Saintly Noah vs Deviled Ham

It's a common pop Evangelical interpretative move to handle the story of Noah and Ham in Genesis 9:20-27 as if it's a sobering morality tale about the dangers of alcohol and an illustration of the imperfect characters of even the godly saints in Scripture. But I regard that as a poor and unwarranted reading of … Continue reading Righteous Noah vs Wicked Ham

This is a revised and expanded composite of a three-part post series on classical orthodox Nicene Trinitarianism that I wrote in the summer of 2016. I did my writing in the wake of the Great Calvinist Brouhaha about the “eternal functional subordination” of the Son and other related teachings surrounding authority and submission as distinguishing … Continue reading Nicene Trinitarianism

Christ in the role of scapegoat has some parallels or counterparts to the role of shepherd. In some respects, it’s only a matter of the point of view. Christ is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep as he himself teaches. In the eyes of his sheep, that’s who he is … Continue reading The Good Scapegoat

I've recently been writing numerous posts about my anecdotal experiences over the last decade in some of the regions, enclaves, culdesacs, alcoves, dens, and pits where lions in the wilds of ultraconservative Reformed Christianity make their home. And I decided to assemble a list of those posts in one place. So, here we go. I … Continue reading Postcards from Reformed Roarrior Territory

I'm into paradoximillennialism, which means paradoxical postmillennialism. That's my particular variation on optimillennialism, which means optimistic postmillennialism. I wouldn't be surprised if I were accused of pessimillennialism, which means pessimistic amillennialism, by another strain of optimillennialists. So what do I mean? The Alexander the Great mentality is one of the worst thing about postmillennialists in … Continue reading My Paradoximillennialism

One social media circle of Christians that's familiar to me is the tribe of ultraconservative Reformed Roarriors. For better or worse, they're a part of my people and my social circles through various former and ongoing social engagements over the years. And I have some sympathies for what they're attempting to do through their cultural … Continue reading Warlords and Witchcraft