Introduction Though often treated as an ancient heresy confined to the early centuries of the church, Gnosticism remains a persistent theological temptation. Its modern expressions are rarely labeled as such, yet its core instincts continue to surface in Christian teaching,…
“Sine dominico non possumus” (“We can’t do without the Lord’s Day”). This was the answer of a group of 49 Christians (31 men and 18 women) who were arrested for participating in a Lord’s Day service. They lived in or…
The corridors of history are filled with surprising twists and abrupt turns. Some philosophers, noting how the cogs of history seem to turn abruptly upon the smallest of happenings, have sometimes discussed what popular culture refers to as “the butterfly…
As Athenagoras examined Christianity in the second century, he found it utterly absurd. A religion about a man who was executed as a criminal and returned in a resurrected body? How primitive, he thought! Following Plato, any respectable philosopher knew…
Some people were surprised when I said I was writing a biography of Herman Bavinck for kids. Although his name is gaining greater recognition even outside Reformed circles, most people see Bavinck primarily as an academic author of extensive works…
If there is one haunting line from literature that may encapsulate the American and Christian spirit regarding Salem, Massachusetts, it may be Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous line from The House of Seven Gables: “Shall we never get rid of this Past?…
Part 1 can be found here. Alcuin & the Carolingian Renaissance Something should be said here on the impact Alcuin had on the Carolingian renaissance, especially the connection between Alcuin’s political theology and his philosophy of education. For Alcuin, true…
Introduction About three hundred and twenty-five years after Alaric sacked Rome, and the light of the Eternal City was fading into twilight, indeed, with the sudden rise of vicious Viking raids around Europe, these were dark days. What made them…
If you were to travel to the Reformation Wall in Geneva, Switzerland, or to the Huguenot Memorial in Franschhoek, South Africa, you would likely happen across that famous Latin phrase, “Post Tenebras Lux.” Taken from the Latin Vulgate translation of…
When Waban, ruler of the Natick people, complained that no matter what they did, they could never please the English nor be considered their equals, Daniel Gookin could only reply, “Waban, you know all Indians are not good; some carry…
