In After Virtue, Alasdair MacIntyre observes that in all classical and heroic societies, “the chief means of moral education is the telling of stories.” In a real sense the heroes of the Iliad and the Odyssey were the moral tutors of the Greeks. Likewise Aeneas was the model of heroic piety on which young Romans …
Moral Illiteracy and the Case for Character Education Read More »
American New Testament scholar J. Gresham Machen is best known for his struggles against theological liberalism in the old Northern Presbyterian Church. Dismayed by doctrinal drift, he led in the establishment of two new, conservative institutions – Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. But his concerns extended beyond the denomination and its academies. …
Why Does the Church Decline?—J. Gresham Machen (1881 – 1937) Read More »
Puritan pastor Thomas Brooks gave thanks for the prayer life of his wife, Martha. Even when poor health demanded she be in bed, Martha instead collapsed into a corner of her home to pray. One biographer concluded the success of Brooks’s ministry was due to the faithfulness of his wife. I know many pastors, including myself, …
What are the factors that should push us toward greater platform ministry in the near-term future? Obviously the almost complete penetration of mobile technologies in the West plays a role. Along with this has come changes in our own behavior and the sorts of things we are willing to do digitally. Just a few years …
BibleMesh Unique Among Missionary Education Platforms Read More »
In the weaving town of Kidderminster from 1641 to 1660, Richard Baxter’s preaching and catechizing was the Spirit’s means to transform the parish from licentiousness to godliness. As he gathered his ministerial insights into a book for the Worcestershire association of ministers, he recognized a great danger for pastors who might attempt to follow his recommendations …
Hypocrites behind the Pulpit—Richard Baxter (1615 – 1691) Read More »
We are quick to want practical solutions and speedy resolutions to our afflictions. Instead, God often makes us wait, depriving us of what we want, and of the power to achieve it. Why? Simply so that he can gives us himself. Is this enough? What follows is a short theological and ethical meditation on the …
The Goodness of God and the Smears of the Scornful Read More »