Reformation21

What's this? Carl's gone but there's a new guy on Ref21? He sounds familiar ... from somewhere . Yes, I'm British. English actually. Which apparently makes me sound about 20% more intelligent than I really am, to some Americans. I should move there maybe, and get paid 50% more than I deserve. Yes,...

The American Dream might just be best summed up as a life of freedom, personal happiness, material comfort and lasting fulfillment (all nicely enclosed in a white picket fence). Hard work, long hours, and independence are woven into the fabric of our hopes as the means by which to procure this...

As a brief postscript to yesterday's posts on pastors, I received an email last night from Danny Hyde, the URC minister in Oceanside, CA, drawing my attention to Acts 20:20, where Paul describes his ministry among the Ephesians. It provides precisely the historical picture which his letters would...

In 1998, whilst on faculty at the University of Nottingham, UK, I was invited by my late and much missed mentor, Bob Horn, to become the editor of Themelios , the UCCF/IFES theological journal. It was a key moment for me, the point at which I decided that, in addition to my more academic work, I...

This week, I want to focus on a few good books that have recently been published or are about to hit the bookshelves. I also want to address the tricky question of Luther and the Jews: both in virtually every Sunday School class I have ever taught on Luther, and in my own recent work on Holocaust...

The announcement that The King's College, New York, has appointed Dinesh D'Souza as its new President is interesting for a number of reasons. D'Souza undoubtedly makes a good choice for an institutional president -- articulate, dynamic, and learned, as well as being a public figure of considerable...

The sixth, seventh, and eighth marks of a good preacher are, for Luther, that he should know when to stop, he should be certain and diligent in his subject, and he should put his life, limb, possessions and honour into it, There is a ninth mark, but we'll come to that in a moment. Of the three...

The last two elements which go to make up a theologian are, for Luther, careful and constant reading, and a practical knowledge of the academic disciplines. This last can be dealt with quickly: essentially, Luther saw a good, rounded academic education as important for being a good pastor and...

The fourth element of the making of a true theologian for Luther is occasio . This is not the easiest word to translate in context but means something like `opportunity' or `opportune moment.' As such, it is not immediately obvious to a newcomer to Luther's theology what he means. Is it the...

OK, as we enter the fourth post in this series, I am conscious it might be starting to look a bit like one of those oh-so-godly-but-goodness-me-aren't-they-dull-as-ditchwater series one finds occasionally in reformed magazines, with titles such as `Reflections on the Life of That Eminent Servant of...