The hubris of dominion theology: Bruce Barron

Last year Bruce Barron reviewed my most recent book on his Substack under this title: Should churches endorse political candidates? Two weeks ago Barron published a new post, The hubris of dominion theology, in which he published my own comments on an earlier draft of the post. An excerpt from my comments:

I don’t think the faith of our political leaders is altogether irrelevant to doing justice in their respective offices. This is the grain of truth in Christian nationalism and similar movements. However, this is dependent on such Christians cultivating and retaining an awareness of how the several political ideologies work to distort their perceptions of reality. Adding Christian to nationalism, or to any other ideology, in no way guarantees that it will produce just governance. Sad to say, even otherwise orthodox believers are susceptible to the allure of the ideological visions (or illusions) on offer in the public realm. 

Read the entire post here.

Belonging to God: manuscript submitted

I have just submitted the final draft of my forthcoming book, "Belonging to God: A Catechism's Relevance for Private and Public Life." The publisher is Cascade, a division of Wipf & Stock. 

The earliest material in the book dates to around 2009 when I wrote a series of commentaries on the Ten Commandments for the benefit of my students. In 2016 I decided to write a fuller exploration of the Heidelberg Catechism, incorporating much of this material, although I was not yet clear as to its purpose. I completed this during the summer of that year. The following year I was caught up in the events surrounding the loss of my teaching position and efforts to find something new. In the short term this led to a revision of my first book, Political Visions and Illusions, which came out in a second edition in 2019. This was followed by translations in Portuguese and Spanish. By then I was affiliated with Global Scholars Canada, an association I have found extremely fruitful for advancing my work. Then came Citizenship Without Illusions, something of a sequel to my first book, applying its principles to the practice of citizenship.

The 'Deep State'?

My latest column in Christian Courier is titled, The 'Deep State', a term much used in certain quarters while mystifying many others. What is it? Here is an excerpt:

Those who speak of a deep state suspect that there is a vast network of persons working clandestinely within the institutions of government to derail the intentions of elected officials. Their goals are hidden from public scrutiny; their nefarious activities dressed in the garb of public service. If any official threatens to expose them, they will ensure that he or she is thwarted or removed from office.

What do we make of this "deep state"? Read more here for my take on the matter.

Recent activities for August 2026

I have now posted my Global Scholars Canada newsletter for August 2026. Included are two articles drawing on my analysis in Political Visions and Illusions, three podcast interviews, and a farewell to a beloved sister. In the meantime, I am near the end of preparing my monograph for publication. Thank you, as always, for your continuing support for my work!

Evangelical 360 interview

In January of this year Brian Stiller interviewed me in studio at the offices of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) in Scarborough, Ontario. Brian is a longtime leader of the evangelical movement in this country, having served as the president of the EFC and of Tyndale College and Seminary. He is now a Global Ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance. Our interview has now been posted and can be accessed below.