Pious and Secular America

Back in 1958 Reinhold Niebuhr published a collection of essays which he titled, Pious and Secular America (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1958).  The first essay has the same title of the book, and I found it to be quite thought-provoking and penetrating.  Notice the depth of these quotes. "...Here we are in the 20th …

The Patristics and Systematics

I'm sure many of you - like myself - have heard a hundred critiques of systematic theology.  They go like this: it is totally modernistic, it is rationalistic, it is cold and dry like a brick wall, it is a product of the scientific branch of the Enlightenment, it imposes a dogmatic aspect upon Scripture …

Paradoxes and Contradictions in American Christianity

Since reading D. G. Hart's A Secular Faith, which deals with Christianity in/and America, I grabbed George Marsden's Religion and American Culture.  Both are fascinating and well worth the investment and time.  I am always dismayed when reading of the history of Christianity in America, from Finney to Fundamentalism to faith-healing, though I suppose most …

Don’t Come to the Garden Alone!

I'm sure many of you have heard the hymn "In the Garden" by C. Austin Miles (d. 1946).  The song has always given me the creeps.  Here are a few lyrics. "I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses...he speaks, the sound of his voice is so sweet the …

Brueggemann: Israelite Hope vs Enlightenment Despair

The following quote is well worth reading through carefully. Enjoy! "At the culmination of Israel's portrayal of reality is a certitude and a vision of newness, a full restoration to well-being that runs beyond any old well-being.  This culmination in well-being, assured by the resolve of Yahweh, is articulated in the conclusion of most psalms …