Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Bible and Theology

December 29, 2009

Robby George and the Reformation on Reason

Ryan T. Anderson, editor of the Witherspoon Institute’s Public Discourse, takes note of an in-depth NYT profile of Prof. Robby George (HT: MoJ). In the NYT profile, George is presented as the central figure in the formation of the ecumenical coalition behind the Manhattan Declaration, and adds a number of important contexts for George’s academic, intellectual, and political endeavors. Continue Reading...
December 28, 2009

What Would Jesus Drive? A Cadillac, of course!

There’s a new answer to the question, “What would Jesus drive?”, a contention that won’t sit well with the environmental activists who first raised the question. The inevitably revisionist logic of the prosperity gospel has to hold that “Jesus couldn’t have been poor because he received lucrative gifts — gold, frankincense and myrrh — at birth. Continue Reading...
December 28, 2009

John Calvin in Siouxland

As we enjoy the final days of 2009, notable for among other things the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth, take the time to enjoy this video creation from James C. Continue Reading...
December 24, 2009

Byzantine Hymn for the Nativity of Christ

From the Holy Land, sung in Arabic. Merry Christmas to all PowerBlog readers and our blogging crew! St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 4:4-7 Brethren, when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Continue Reading...
December 23, 2009

The Incarnation and “the foolishness of God”

I love the song, “Mary, did you know?”… Reflect on the words… The Incarnation is at the heart of the Gospel– not just that Jesus came as the GodMan in bodily form, as the ultimate sin-bearer, as the Perfect High Priest offering Himself as the Perfect Sacrifice for our sins. Continue Reading...
November 30, 2009

Deacons, Secularism, and the Welfare State

A few weeks ago Hunter Baker posted some thoughts on secularism and poverty, in which he wrote of the common notion that since private charity, particularly church-based care, had failed to end poverty, it seems only prudent to let the government have its chance. Continue Reading...
November 23, 2009

Hell and Capitalism

Contrary to the belief of some, the two realities referred to in the title of this post are not identical. But the discussion around a recent Boston Globe article reminds me of the saying from Jerry Taylor, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, “Capitalism without the threat of bankruptcy is like Christianity without the threat of hell. Continue Reading...
November 21, 2009

Sacred Selling

I have been thinking a lot about the way we sell church-related goods and services. I have been thinking about that and about Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers and sacrificial animal sellers in the temple. Continue Reading...
November 20, 2009

Oaths, Lies and Social Responsibility

The other day I was tracking down a quotation I heard repeated at a local gathering and came across an interesting book published in 1834. On the title page of the “Googled” Oaths; Their Origin, Nature and History someone had scribbled “full of information… a superior work.” Continue Reading...
November 11, 2009

Secularism and Poverty

A colleague recently mentioned that a wag had observed the church had failed to solve poverty, so why not let the federal government have a try? I think it is interesting that anyone, such as the wag in question, could think that the federal government can effectively solve the problem of poverty. Continue Reading...