Christianity and Culture

The former British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling (he of the white hair and black eyebrows), has written a memoir of his time at No.11 Downing Street. It's called Back from the Brink and provides a fascinating insight into the economic and political troubles the Labour government...

The Elder By Cornelis Van Dam 320 p. P&R Publishing (November 2009) Dr. Cornelis Van Dam, professor of Old Testament at the Theological College of the Canadian Reformed Churches in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada has written a very helpful and informative work entitled The Elder. This book will serve...

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27 (ESV) It was third grade and I was watching the events unfold. One kid, twice the size of a normal third grader, was...

In contrast to the popular fiction and apologetic writings of C.S. Lewis, a less familiar body of social commentary exists within the writer's corpus. These writings give some of the clearest insight into the political, social, and philosophical environment in which Lewis lived and which influenced...

Some weeks ago a friend forwarded me a link to the blog of an American Christian academic. Now, at the risk of protesting too much, I must stress that I don't read blogs - I really don't read blogs - unless, that is, they are sent to me by someone else. Sufficient to my own life is the tedium and...

Among the morning's tide of emails, the usual flotsam and jetsam. But one item caught my eye, the one headed 'Of Interest?' It should really have gone straight into junk. But I opened it. (I did not notice the name of the sender, in case you're curious).That was all. Which I did. There was a lot of...

Anyone who has ever emigrated as an adult to a foreign country will tell you that, while the physical process of moving can be dispatched in a relatively short period of time, the emotional and cultural transition takes much longer and probably never quite comes to an end. For me, the distance from...

I've been thinking recently about something television star Kelsey Grammer said. It's not because I saw a rerun of Cheers. Unfortunately, the context is tragic. Grammer has me thinking about well intentioned people who end up "packing unforgiveness." Where deep wounds are concerned, there are those...

Ecclesial theology has fallen on hard times as of late--not absolutely, but pervasively. But what is ecclesial theology? It is, I would suggest, more than ecclesiology; and defining it over and against academic theology is a start, but more needs to be said. Earlier this year, I was hired as the...

Ecclesial theology has fallen on hard times as of late--not absolutely, but pervasively. But what is ecclesial theology? It is, I would suggest, more than ecclesiology; and defining it over and against academic theology is a start, but more needs to be said. Earlier this year, I was hired as the...