Reformed Dogmatics and Reformed Ethics (Bavinck)

So good! "...The difference [between dogmatics and ethics] does not lie in the fact that the former deals with the understanding and knowledge, while the latter is concerned with the will and conduct. This would boil down to a division of human beings into two parts, of which one half is purely intellectual and the…

The Early Church on Homosexuality

In the days of the early church – I’m thinking specifically of the 2nd century – Christian apologists had to defend the faith against false charges, accusations, and misrepresentations.  One such apologist, Athenagoras (d. 200 AD?), wrote a booklet to Roman rulers called A Plea for the Christians.   This apology by Athenagoras is still quite relevant…

Modesty

In the first century, Paul said that Christian women “are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense” (1 Tim. 2:9 HCSB).  Speaking more broadly of sexual purity, all Christians should dress decently and not in a sexually immoral or suggestive way.  Kent Hughes talks about modesty in chapter seven of Set…

Christian Ethics and Digital Media

Around eight years ago, very few people spent time on Facebook or Twitter, nobody had any apps or smartphones, text messages were still a novelty, and the average person spent far less time online that the current average of 6+ hours per day.  How should we view digital media today?  Is there a Christian “ethic”…

Keeping Theological Ethics Theological

If you do any intermediate reading in Christian ethics, Stanley Hauerwas should be on your reading list.  Though I don't always agree with everything Hauerwas says, I've appreciated The Hauerwas Reader edited by John Berkman and Michael Cartwright (Durham: Duke University Press, 2001).  This book contains 600+ pages of Hauerwas' essays on everything from discipleship…