Incarnation and renewal

My December column for Christian Courier has been posted here: Incarnation and renewal, with this subtitle: "Christ took on our perishable flesh to redeem us for an imperishable life with him in his coming kingdom." An excerpt:

As I approach age 68, I am increasingly aware of the fragility of our earthly existence and that our years on God’s earth are limited. My father has been gone for two years. His younger sister died in October at age 90 . . . . Since May I have suffered from severe shoulder pain that is limiting my activities . . . . Moreover, I find November and December depressing months, with darkness enveloping our northern hemispheric latitude for so many hours each day. In such circumstances, it is easy to become discouraged.

Nevertheless, as a cradle Christian, I, along with the rest of the church, have rehearsed the redemptive story embedded in the church calendar for nearly three score years and ten – so many times that by now its cyclical patterns have become a source of comfort and stability. 

Read the entire article here.

Socialism and pluriformity

Two months ago I mentioned that I would be writing a series of short articles on political ideologies for the Politics Network of UCCF: The Christian Unions in the United Kingdom. The first was titled, Understanding Liberal Mythology, and was posted in October. Now the second piece in the series has appeared and is called, Socialism and Pluriformity. An excerpt:

What is socialism? It is a political ideology that aims to equalize the enjoyment of economic resources across a society, thereby eliminating the ancient cleavage between rich and poor. This would be done by everyone pooling their resources instead of each person claiming exclusive ownership over a portion. In other words, common property would replace private property. Under this arrangement, each person would work to produce the wealth that would go into a common pot, refraining from making a particular claim to the fruits of their labours. As the pot would be continually filled and refilled, any members of the community could draw from it to meet their own needs . . . .

However, the larger a community becomes, the more difficult it is to carry this out in the same way. Why?

Read the entire article to find out.

December newsletter: World Cup edition

My latest Global Scholars newsletter is now posted: DECEMBER 2022 newsletter: World Cup edition. How is my work relevant to the World Cup? Read and see for yourself. And while you are at it, please consider making a year-end donation so I can continue my work. Thanks so much in advance!

Incidentally, I've been informed by people in the know that my position on the alternate Brazilian team is not goalie but striker, "perhaps an even more prestigious position considering that is who scores many of the goals." I suppose I do tend to underestimate myself!

CARE UK event

As I did around this time last year, I had another great conversation today with the current group of young people in the CARE Leadership Programme in the United Kingdom. CARE stands for Christian Action, Research, and Education. The website describes the programme:

The Leadership Programme provides talented Christian graduates, who have a desire to serve the Lord in public life, the opportunity to experience a year in Parliament or a policy-shaping NGO.

For four days a week, graduates are placed with a Parliamentarian or in an NGO, helping with speech writing, research, advocacy and public relations. Most internships are London-based, but we also offer Parliamentary placements in Edinburgh at the Scottish Parliament and occasionally media and business placements. This eleven month educational programme provides a unique insight into Parliament and how it works . . . .

Additionally, for one day a week, graduates participate in an intensive study programme that includes theology, political theory and training in leadership skills.

Included in their studies is my book, Political Visions and Illusions, about which they posed some great questions for our discussion. I pray that God will bless these young people as they seek to serve him and their fellow citizens.

ANAJURE lecture and discussion

Last evening I was privileged to address remotely a group of Brazilians at the invitation of Gabriel Dayan Stevão de Matos, executive director of Associação Nacional de Juristas Evangélicos (ANAJURE), or the National Association of Evangelical Jurists. My talk was on the relationship between ideology and idolatry, and it was followed by questions from the participants.

As always, I was overwhelmed by the expressions of appreciation for my work and for my participation in this event. I was particularly moved by a prayer for me at the end of the event. May God bless the people of Brazil, and may he continue to advance his kingdom in that beautiful country.

Aqui está uma descrição em português:

A mystical faith

Christian Courier has published my recent column titled, A mystical faith, with this subtitle: "Our approach to God must always be accompanied by the humble recognition that he deserves our worship." An excerpt:

No one has ever accused me of being a mystic. For one thing, I don’t dress the part. No flowing robes or beard down to the belly. Corduroy trousers and tweed jackets are my style. But even apart from sartorial evidence, my writings show few signs of flirting with mysticism. I love the carefully constructed logical argument, whose symmetry I find deeply satisfying – even beautiful!

Nevertheless, I have always known that mystery accompanies faith in the God who created us and saved us through Jesus Christ. Part of this may flow from my paternal Orthodox roots, but even a Reformed Christian upbringing made me aware of God’s presence in a way that defies explanation.

Does that make me a mystic? Read the entire article here to find out.

Byzantine Calvinist Commentary 1: nondenominational churches and the liberal narrative

Beginning this week, I will periodically be uploading video commentaries on various issues, some relevant to politics and others more generally relevant to the life in Christ, including the church. Here is the first in this series, on Nondenominational churches and the liberal narrative, which is a slight reworking of my recent blog post with this title.

A Trilha de Cantuária: culto e reforma

My recent post on The Canterbury Trail: worship and reformation has been translated into Portuguese and posted at Lecionário: A Trilha de Cantuária: culto e reforma. An excerpt follows the Portuguese translation immediately below.

Meu post recente sobre The Canterbury Trail: worship and reformation foi traduzido para o português e postado no Lecionário: A Trilha de Cantuária: culto e reforma. Um trecho:

Webber não me levou ao anglicanismo per se, muito menos a uma comunhão anglicana, uma invenção de meados do século XIX. Mas ler seus livros me ajudou a entender que até alguns dos reformadores do século 16 erraram, especialmente no que diz respeito às liturgias históricas da Igreja. Em qualquer esforço para reformar a igreja, os pretensos reformadores devem diferenciar entre o que pertence legitimamente à tradição da qual são herdeiros e o que são acréscimos antibíblicos. Isso requer conhecimento de como era a igreja antiga e como ela adorava o Deus trino. Infelizmente, os reformadores não tiveram acesso às fontes mais antigas que conhecemos hoje.

Leia o artigo inteiro aqui.

Nondenominational churches and the liberal narrative

This month Christianity Today reports that ‘Nondenominational’ Is Now the Largest Segment of American Protestants. Although I have no memory of being part of such a nondenominational congregation, my parents had me dedicated as an infant at the Wheaton Bible Church in Wheaton, Illinois, although a year and a half later I would be baptized in an Orthodox Presbyterian congregation near Chicago. Back in the day, WBC was a flourishing congregation just north of downtown. Although the man who presided at my parents' wedding was an ordained Presbyterian minister, he attended this church along with his family. Decades later it is a nondenominational megachurch, having attracted members from other neighbouring congregations, one of which recently closed.

November newsletter posted

My latest Global Scholars newsletter is now posted online: November 2022 newsletter. Among the news to report: my shoulder pain appears to be improving slowly, and I have received a second grant from the Reid Trust. Thanks for your continued prayers and financial support for my work.

A new Carolingian era

Christian Courier has posted my latest column: A new Carolingian era, with this subtitle: "Three reasons to believe that King Charles is off to a good start." Here is the second reason:

[A]lthough King Charles has not been as beloved a figure as his late mother, he is heir to a legacy of considerable good will and admiration that she earned during her seven decades of service to her country and to the Commonwealth. Sad to say, the media are not as respectful of the royal office as they were in 1952, yet I believe that our new monarch will rise to the occasion, taking every opportunity to connect with his people on a personal level. He may not be a gregarious person, but neither was his late grandfather, who endeared himself to his people through his courage and dedication during the war.

 Read the first and third reasons here.

The Canterbury Trail: Liturgy and Reformation

Kuyperian Commentary has published my post, titled, The Canterbury Trail: Liturgy and Reformation. I wrote it in response to a post by Gillis Harp: Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Reflections on the Pilgrimage to Anglicanism Nearly 40 Years After Webber’s Classic. An excerpt:

A close examination of the Apostolic Tradition [of Hyppolytus] and similar early documents indicates that many of the Reformers unduly disposed of much that should have been retained, rejecting some of the substance of the tradition along with the accretions. . . . If the Apostolic Tradition was lost to the Reformers, its liturgical rubrics and texts survived in both the western and eastern rites of the historic church and were thus available to the Reformers of the 16th century in that form. Indeed, Cranmer and Luther retained much of the ordinary of the mass, removing its accretions, translating it into their respective vernacular languages, and prescribing it for use in the churches for which they were responsible.

This is cross posted to my Genevan Psalter blog as well.

Dooyeweerd and the inadequacy of conservatism and progressivism

One of Abraham Kuyper's philosophical heirs was Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977), whose prolific writings are increasingly being translated into English, Portuguese, and other languages. One of his lesser known works is his Encyclopedia of the Science of Law, of which two volumes have thus far been published in English. Although Dooyeweerd was also an heir of Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (1801-1876), whose analysis of the French Revolution owed much to that of Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Dooyeweerd was severely critical of conservatism in its many manifestations. This is from volume one of the Encyclopedia:

Iran and the arc of history

When I was an undergraduate student back in the mid 1970s, I took a concentrated summer course in the Russian language at the University of Minnesota. While my grasp of Russian would weaken over the ensuing decades, I still remember the protests on campus of Iranian students against the rule of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had less than two years remaining in his troubled reign. At the time, it seemed possible that the Shah might be replaced by a Marxist régime. My political science education, coupled with a minor in history, had prepared me for the likelihood that an unpopular American-supported monarch, whom the CIA had put in power in 1953, could be replaced by a revolutionary group sympathetic to the Soviet Union. After all, we had seen it happen before in Asia and Africa, and, of course, in Castro's Cuba, only 140 kilometres from Florida's coast.

Ukraine & Russia: To Whom Does The Land Belong?

Jason Scott Montoya interviewed me again last week, and the interview can be viewed here:

The interview along with ancillary material can also be found here: Ukraine & Russia: To Whom Does The Land Belong? Discussing Geographic Sovereignty With David T. Koyzis Ph.D.

October newsletter posted

My Global Scholars newsletter has now been posted online: October 2022 newsletter. As always, I am thankful for your financial and prayer support for my work. Please pray for a complete recovery from my chronic shoulder pain and that I might get to see two specialists before too long. Thanks again.

The altar call: good or bad? Kuyperian Commentary

My short piece from last week has been reposted at Kuyperian Commentary: The altar call: good or bad? An excerpt:

Reformed Christians in North America were historically divided over New Measures revivalism, leading to an outright split between Old School and New School Presbyterians lasting from 1837 to 1857. The division resurfaced in the 1930s during the fundamentalist-modernist controversy with Orthodox Presbyterians (Old School) going one way and Evangelical and Bible Presbyterians (New School) going another. Old School Presbyterians feared that revival methods would elicit false conversions that would quickly disappear when buffeted by the winds of adversity and the temptations of sin (Matthew 13:20-21). Once the emotional high had evaporated, converts would rest on a false assurance of salvation depending too much on their own decision for Christ apart from God’s electing grace and the work of the Holy Spirit. Revivalism appeared to be based on the false assumption that an unregenerate person could decide for Christ and thereby effectively ensure his or her own redemption—something often called decisional regeneration.

Would bringing back altar calls in churches be a good thing?

Find the answer here.

Can Christian Higher Education Stay the Course?

A blog post of mine from the beginning of last month has been picked up by the Christian Scholar's Review blog: Can Christian Higher Education Stay the Course? An excerpt:

One possible reason for a university losing its confessional moorings is an underlying worldview that divides the curriculum between divinity/theology on the one hand and so-called secular disciplines on the other, parallel to the historic scholastic division between sacred and secular. Because it was assumed that these latter disciplines were subject to the canons of a neutral reason, any connection with the faith would be extrinsic at least and unnecessary at most. In McMaster’s case, this approach is likely why the university could so easily restrict the historic Baptist element to the Divinity College, still situated uneasily on campus as a curious vestige of its earlier affiliation.

Understanding liberal mythology: The Politics Network

Last week, on 3 October, I had the privilege of conversing with between 15 and 20 young people in the United Kingdom who are part of the Civitas programme of the Politics Network. I believe this is the third time I have spoken with a Civitas group, as hosted by Thomas Kendall. The Politics Network is affiliated with Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, or The Christian Unions, located in Oxford. The participating young people are generally working for members of parliament. The topic under discussion was "The Liberal Myth: Rationalism and the Privatisation of Faith." As before, it was a most enjoyable experience.

The altar call: good or bad?

Christianity Today recently published an article by Russell Moore titled, Bring Back Altar Calls,  with the following subtitle: "They could foster the worst in evangelical spirituality. But the best of it, too." Because the article is behind a paywall, I cannot assess the author's argument, but I will take the occasion to look at the altar call because it is something with which I grew up, at least in part. No, not at the Orthodox Presbyterian Church congregation my parents started with another family in Wheaton, Illinois, when I was a small child. The OPC represents a rather pure form of Old School Presbyterianism, which took a dim view of New Measures revivalism in the 19th century. Worship in our congregation was based on the 1961 Trinity Hymnal, along with the use of traditional liturgical forms such as the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, the Gloria Patri, the confession of sin and assurance of pardon, and the weekly reading of the Ten Commandments. We sang metrical psalms from the 1912 Psalter of the former United Presbyterian Church in North America.