Posts by Carl Trueman

Posts by

On what wings dare we aspire?

Carl Trueman
Jan 25, 2014
Regular readers will know that I occasionally try to keep track of the ever-expanding letters which are being used to describe the sexual chaos that exists in PC World (and I am not referring to the magazine favoured by computer geeks). Well, Carlton Wynne has brought to my attention that Professor...

Your Wednesday Wake-Up Call

Carl Trueman
Jan 22, 2014
The latest Mortification of Spin is up. This week, the team tackle the issue of what constitutes a good sermon. In one of the outtakes, I did get a chance to show Todd and Aimee a diagram explaining the differences between the OPC and their own chosen denomination, the PCA, but it seems the...

Your Wednesday Wake-Up Call

Carl Trueman
Jan 22, 2014
The latest Mortification of Spin is up. This week, the team tackle the issue of what constitutes a good sermon. In one of the outtakes, I did get a chance to show Todd and Aimee a diagram explaining the differences between the OPC and their own chosen denomination, the PCA, but it seems the...

Familiarity and Contempt

Carl Trueman
Jan 22, 2014
There are a number of problems with Jeremy's Owenian take on liturgy. First, Owen himself must be read against the background of the way in which state imposition of liturgy had taken place within the English context. This lies behind Owen's tendentious and, indeed, fallacious history of liturgy...

Familiarity and Contempt

Carl Trueman
Jan 22, 2014
There are a number of problems with Jeremy's Owenian take on liturgy. First, Owen himself must be read against the background of the way in which state imposition of liturgy had taken place within the English context. This lies behind Owen's tendentious and, indeed, fallacious history of liturgy...

Around and About

Carl Trueman
Jan 21, 2014
If you are trapped inside in the snow and have read all the Danielle Steel on the bookshelves and stoked the fire with a few end time novels , here are a few other places which might provide food for thought. Banner of Truth has a couple of new videos where Mark Johnston and Ian Hamilton talk about...

Around and About

Carl Trueman
Jan 21, 2014
If you are trapped inside in the snow and have read all the Danielle Steel on the bookshelves and stoked the fire with a few end time novels , here are a few other places which might provide food for thought. Banner of Truth has a couple of new videos where Mark Johnston and Ian Hamilton talk about...

Applying Luther's Criterion for Canon to 'Left Behind'

Carl Trueman
Jan 20, 2014
Tim Wengert, my opposite number at the Lutheran Seminary in Germantown, has just published a thought-provoking book on Luther and the Bible, Reading the Bible with Martin Luther . In applying Luther's canonicity criterion of 'What pushes Christ' to the Left Behind series, he says the following: By...

Applying Luther's Criterion for Canon to 'Left Behind'

Carl Trueman
Jan 20, 2014
Tim Wengert, my opposite number at the Lutheran Seminary in Germantown, has just published a thought-provoking book on Luther and the Bible, Reading the Bible with Martin Luther . In applying Luther's canonicity criterion of 'What pushes Christ' to the Left Behind series, he says the following: By...

Quality Service and a Katharine Von Bora Moment

Carl Trueman
Jan 16, 2014
I am told that customers at WTS Bookstore are now requesting pictures of certain Westminster Faculty, pictures which are designed to help bring out their inner beauty and winsome personalities, to accompany orders. Here is one example of the quality work these men at the bookstore can do. Not quite...

Quality Service and a Katharine Von Bora Moment

Carl Trueman
Jan 16, 2014
I am told that customers at WTS Bookstore are now requesting pictures of certain Westminster Faculty, pictures which are designed to help bring out their inner beauty and winsome personalities, to accompany orders. Here is one example of the quality work these men at the bookstore can do. Not quite...

To be tired of Luther...

Carl Trueman
Jan 16, 2014
... is to be tired of life. Most of those who know anything about Luther's life tend to think of his appearance at the Diet of Worms in 1521 as the point at which he was most vulnerable --- the isolated reformer surrounded by the massed forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church. In...

To be tired of Luther...

Carl Trueman
Jan 16, 2014
... is to be tired of life. Most of those who know anything about Luther's life tend to think of his appearance at the Diet of Worms in 1521 as the point at which he was most vulnerable --- the isolated reformer surrounded by the massed forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church. In...

The Rat Pack, Ref21 Style

Carl Trueman
Jan 15, 2014
As you can see, the team had rather a lot of fun at the marathon recording session last week, even though the Puppet Master showed up to cast his long, sinister, cold shadow over the otherwise happy proceedings. The first fruits of the party, the latest Mortification of Spin: Bully Pulpit , is now...

The Rat Pack, Ref21 Style

Carl Trueman
Jan 15, 2014
As you can see, the team had rather a lot of fun at the marathon recording session last week, even though the Puppet Master showed up to cast his long, sinister, cold shadow over the otherwise happy proceedings. The first fruits of the party, the latest Mortification of Spin: Bully Pulpit , is now...

I'm in a Luther State of Mind

Carl Trueman
Jan 14, 2014
Immersed in Luther this week, I have a couple of posts up my sleeve. The first is slightly unusual, in that I appear to have scooped Classical Frank, my music consultant in Mississippi, in noticing that a new cd, Luther's Wedding Day , has just been released which offers a putative reconstruction...

I'm in a Luther State of Mind

Carl Trueman
Jan 14, 2014
Immersed in Luther this week, I have a couple of posts up my sleeve. The first is slightly unusual, in that I appear to have scooped Classical Frank, my music consultant in Mississippi, in noticing that a new cd, Luther's Wedding Day , has just been released which offers a putative reconstruction...

A Few Good Men, Not a Few Good Yes Men

Carl Trueman
Jan 13, 2014
I had the pleasure yesterday of administering ordination vows to two new elders at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church (see the photo), an experience enhanced by the knowledge that I am now no longer the youngest member of the session there. Working with The Shadowy Figure Known Only as the Librarian...

A Few Good Men, Not a Few Good Yes Men

Carl Trueman
Jan 13, 2014
I had the pleasure yesterday of administering ordination vows to two new elders at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church (see the photo), an experience enhanced by the knowledge that I am now no longer the youngest member of the session there. Working with The Shadowy Figure Known Only as the Librarian...

MoS on MLJ

Carl Trueman
Jan 8, 2014
On this week's MoS, Todd and I are joined in the Underground Bunker by Dr. Jonathan Master of Cairn University, with whom we then discuss the fascinating, flawed, frustrating, yet inspiring book by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers . Packed full of excellent advice, mystical Welsh...

MoS on MLJ

Carl Trueman
Jan 8, 2014
On this week's MoS, Todd and I are joined in the Underground Bunker by Dr. Jonathan Master of Cairn University, with whom we then discuss the fascinating, flawed, frustrating, yet inspiring book by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers . Packed full of excellent advice, mystical Welsh...

Reading Augustine with Collin Garbarino

Carl Trueman
Jan 2, 2014
The older I get, the more convinced I am that Augustine is the greatest theologian of them all, from his analysis of human psychology to his reflections on human culture. I started the new year committed to rereading The City of God and just noticed that Collin Garbarino, over at First Thoughts ,...

Reading Augustine with Collin Garbarino

Carl Trueman
Jan 2, 2014
The older I get, the more convinced I am that Augustine is the greatest theologian of them all, from his analysis of human psychology to his reflections on human culture. I started the new year committed to rereading The City of God and just noticed that Collin Garbarino, over at First Thoughts ,...

A Happy New Year, a Not So Happy New Word, and a Toddless Podcast

Carl Trueman
Jan 1, 2014
As we enter the new year, I am delighted to point readers to one of the Alliance's other websites, Place for Truth , which is overseen by Jonathan Master of Cairn University, and which contains many articles of interest by writers such as David Wells and Michael Haykin. What can one say? Ref21 is...

A Happy New Year, a Not So Happy New Word, and a Toddless Podcast

Carl Trueman
Jan 1, 2014
As we enter the new year, I am delighted to point readers to one of the Alliance's other websites, Place for Truth , which is overseen by Jonathan Master of Cairn University, and which contains many articles of interest by writers such as David Wells and Michael Haykin. What can one say? Ref21 is...

Last Minute Christmas Presents

Carl Trueman
Dec 24, 2013
Over at Logos, I notice that Dan Phillips' book on Proverbs is now available for pre-order . That is something to which we Logos users can look forward in the new year. While tomorrow is the big day, business here will continue as normal. Thanks to the wonders of technology, there will be a new...

Last Minute Christmas Presents

Carl Trueman
Dec 24, 2013
Over at Logos, I notice that Dan Phillips' book on Proverbs is now available for pre-order . That is something to which we Logos users can look forward in the new year. While tomorrow is the big day, business here will continue as normal. Thanks to the wonders of technology, there will be a new...

A Logos Deal

Carl Trueman
Dec 20, 2013
Logos have an excellent looking last minute Christmas deal here . Well worth looking at!

A Logos Deal

Carl Trueman
Dec 20, 2013
Logos have an excellent looking last minute Christmas deal here . Well worth looking at!

In the Words of Cassandra

Carl Trueman
Dec 19, 2013
Christianity Today has reported a public response from Tyndale and Mark Driscoll over the recent mess. You can read it here . Alternatively, you can find its basic principles outlined here . The key paragraph reads as follows: The whistleblowers will be maligned, marginalised and then safely...

In the Words of Cassandra

Carl Trueman
Dec 19, 2013
Christianity Today has reported a public response from Tyndale and Mark Driscoll over the recent mess. You can read it here . Alternatively, you can find its basic principles outlined here . The key paragraph reads as follows: The whistleblowers will be maligned, marginalised and then safely...

Yes, West Virgina, there is a Santa Claus.

Carl Trueman
Dec 18, 2013
As the festive season approaches, the MoS team can look back on quite a year: we started off as two incompetent and world-weary middle-aged geezers (good word for you, if you are out there, Tim B) and ended as -- well, two incompetent and world-weary middle-aged geezers who have been joined by a...

Yes, West Virgina, there is a Santa Claus.

Carl Trueman
Dec 18, 2013
As the festive season approaches, the MoS team can look back on quite a year: we started off as two incompetent and world-weary middle-aged geezers (good word for you, if you are out there, Tim B) and ended as -- well, two incompetent and world-weary middle-aged geezers who have been joined by a...

The Bald and the Beautiful

Carl Trueman
Dec 16, 2013
The Rev. Jeremy Gradgrind's anti-Santa polemic will have to await the next Mortification of Spin to receive its due reward, unless 'Nunchucks' catches him first. Awful -- all those children out there unable to distinguish fact from fiction and fun from felony. In the meantime, I am still basking in...

The Bald and the Beautiful

Carl Trueman
Dec 16, 2013
The Rev. Jeremy Gradgrind's anti-Santa polemic will have to await the next Mortification of Spin to receive its due reward, unless 'Nunchucks' catches him first. Awful -- all those children out there unable to distinguish fact from fiction and fun from felony. In the meantime, I am still basking in...

Compassion, Cancer Care, and Christ

Carl Trueman
Dec 12, 2013
Todd Pruitt and I had the great pleasure recently of interviewing nurse, Christopher Bogosh, about his new book, Compassionate Jesus , which addresses the sensitive matter of Christians and end of life care. You can hear the interview here .

Compassion, Cancer Care, and Christ

Carl Trueman
Dec 12, 2013
Todd Pruitt and I had the great pleasure recently of interviewing nurse, Christopher Bogosh, about his new book, Compassionate Jesus , which addresses the sensitive matter of Christians and end of life care. You can hear the interview here .

For Those Who Don't -- or Won't -- Quite Get It

Carl Trueman
Dec 12, 2013
Regarding recent posts concerning recent events, I have been asked why I take so much pleasure in attacking God's people. That is an interesting comment, remarkable for its claims to telepathic insight into my thought processes and one that perhaps requires a small clarification on my part:...

For Those Who Don't -- or Won't -- Quite Get It

Carl Trueman
Dec 12, 2013
Regarding recent posts concerning recent events, I have been asked why I take so much pleasure in attacking God's people. That is an interesting comment, remarkable for its claims to telepathic insight into my thought processes and one that perhaps requires a small clarification on my part:...

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Carl Trueman
Dec 11, 2013
As I am somewhat preoccupied this week with organizing CROMV (the Campaign for the Rehabilitation of Milli Vanilli), I thought I would be rather lazy and simply link to an article which I wrote for the Christmas edition of Ref21 way back in 2008. Remember, folks, you heard it here first .

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Carl Trueman
Dec 11, 2013
As I am somewhat preoccupied this week with organizing CROMV (the Campaign for the Rehabilitation of Milli Vanilli), I thought I would be rather lazy and simply link to an article which I wrote for the Christmas edition of Ref21 way back in 2008. Remember, folks, you heard it here first .

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Mullet

Carl Trueman
Dec 6, 2013
A certain URC minister has leaped valiantly to the defense of Paul Crouch and provided evidence that the late reverend even produced an edition of the Heidelberg Catechism: Ref21 is grateful for the correction to our reporting, as always. We would also be very interested in any photographs which...

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Mullet

Carl Trueman
Dec 6, 2013
A certain URC minister has leaped valiantly to the defense of Paul Crouch and provided evidence that the late reverend even produced an edition of the Heidelberg Catechism: Ref21 is grateful for the correction to our reporting, as always. We would also be very interested in any photographs which...

What I saw when I first came to America

Carl Trueman
Dec 6, 2013
The death of Paul Crouch last week brought back memories of my first extended stay -- indeed, my first visit -- to the USA. It was in 1996 and I was a visiting research fellow at Calvin College in Michigan, working on my first book on John Owen. Channel hopping one night, my wife and I came across...

What I saw when I first came to America

Carl Trueman
Dec 6, 2013
The death of Paul Crouch last week brought back memories of my first extended stay -- indeed, my first visit -- to the USA. It was in 1996 and I was a visiting research fellow at Calvin College in Michigan, working on my first book on John Owen. Channel hopping one night, my wife and I came across...

Calling All Untouchables

Carl Trueman
Dec 5, 2013
It is clear that we have moved from an evangelical culture marked by celebrity, with its irritating egos, vaudeville antics and all-round buffoonery that are, to be honest, so much fun to mock. Now, we have entered an era where there is something much more sinister afoot, where the stakes are a...

Calling All Untouchables

Carl Trueman
Dec 5, 2013
It is clear that we have moved from an evangelical culture marked by celebrity, with its irritating egos, vaudeville antics and all-round buffoonery that are, to be honest, so much fun to mock. Now, we have entered an era where there is something much more sinister afoot, where the stakes are a...

The Truths that Dare not Speak Their Name

Carl Trueman
Dec 5, 2013
In last week's Spectator , Rod Liddle (we are not worthy! we are not worthy!) had a quite superb article on the increasing restrictions on freedom of speech in Britain. Well worth reading. Really quite relevant. Yes, definitely. Enough said.

The Truths that Dare not Speak Their Name

Carl Trueman
Dec 5, 2013
In last week's Spectator , Rod Liddle (we are not worthy! we are not worthy!) had a quite superb article on the increasing restrictions on freedom of speech in Britain. Well worth reading. Really quite relevant. Yes, definitely. Enough said.

Apology accepted and apology offered

Carl Trueman
Dec 5, 2013
Of course, I accept Paul's apology. He should not have spoken the truth to PR but he has learned his lesson. And I apologise for reporting him to the Old Bill (new term for you, Tim) for stealing my television some years ago. I now realise that he only took it to watch privately with his friends...