It Goes Without Saying? A Reflection on Pope Francis
April 25, 2025 “If necessary, use words.” The original (Saint) Francis purportedly said this. Preach the gospel all the time, and—if necessary—use words. To this, we talkers want our chance to reply. First, we might point to when Paul asked, “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” Second, we […]
Roots and Renewal: Why History Matters
Over the greater part of a decade, I served as a missionary in Central Europe, where the currents of history run deep. If you have ever traveled through that part of the world, you will have noticed something remarkable: though secularism has asserted its dominance, Christianity’s imprint remains unmistakable. It lingers not only in the […]
The Importance of Reading Scripture Out Loud
It is a fascinating fact of intellectual history that, in antiquity, reading was not the silent, solitary endeavor we assume today, but rather an event of the spoken word—aural, communal, performative. Words in text, in other words, were not merely for the mind but for the ear. Consider the account in Acts 8:30. Philip, upon […]
Remembering Saint Patrick and Hope for Today
“Kiss me. I’m Irish!” That was the phrase on my friend‘s coffee mug. When I saw it, I thought, “I have no idea what that means, but I sure could have used that mug in high school.” Among Irish mythology, the story goes that kissing an Irish person will bring you luck. The legend originates […]
What Is the Book of Enoch?
The Book of Enoch is perhaps one of the most widely known pieces of literature from the corpus known as the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. It purports to be the work of Enoch, seventh in the line from Adam (on Seth’s side), though some of it is supposedly also written by Noah. When you are asked […]
Church History Debates: The Filioque & From Whom the Holy Spirit Proceeds
From whom does the Holy Spirit proceed—just God the Father or the Father and the Son? And does it matter? This debate would go on to play a pivotal role in fracturing two halves of the church, into West (Roman Catholic) and East (Eastern Orthodox). Background and Summary The separation of West (Roman Catholic) from East (Eastern […]
What It Means to Be Protestant: A Review
Gavin Ortlund in his outstanding new book What It Means to be Protestant: The Case for an Always-Reforming Church points to three aspects of renewal. These three aspects comprise what he calls “mere Protestantism”: A renewal of the gospel, A renewal of Scripture as our final authority, and A renewal of the teachings of Scripture […]
Church History Debates: Should We Venerate Icons?
A hallmark of Old Testament Judaism was its strict opposition to idolatry, and hence to religious images that could lead to image worship. The earliest Christians seemed to follow their Jewish predecessors with an uneasiness to such things. Their rejection of image-worship contributed to their caricature in the broader society as “atheists.” At some point […]
