In many traditional discussions of the church, a host of definitional distinctions are brought out right away: the church invisible vs. visible; triumphant vs. militant; representational vs. lay; and so forth. All of these distinctions have their place, and in their place are very important. Here, however, I propose to start with the primary lexical meaning of the Hebrew qahal or Greek ekklesia as “the called,” which, in the biblical context, connotes a people called out of the sinful mass of humanity to be the people of God, to worship him in truth, and be constituted as the corporate body identified with the living and true God. Continue reading
Book: Carsten. Princes and Parliaments in Germany
What does a fifteenth century German Diet have to do with American Continue reading
(DVD) Al Gore: An Inconvenient Truth
Everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it. Continue reading
Windows Hearts
Anyone else ever won this devastatingly? Continue reading
Berlin’s Park to Honor the Soviets
In the east-end district of Berlin called Treptow, the Soviet masters constructed a park to their own glory: the Sowjetisches Continue reading
(DVD) The Exodus Decoded
Simcha Jacobovici researched and narrates this documentary for the History Channel.
The thesis is that the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt indeed Continue reading
Dresden vor 62 Jahren
Speaking of Dresden… today is the 62nd year anniversary of its destruction by the Allies.
When I studied at the Goethe Institute in Lüneburg Continue reading
Book: Barnes. Prophecy and Gnosis
Review of Robin Bruce Barnes, Prophecy and Gnosis: Apocalypticism in the Wake of the Lutheran Reformation (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1988). BT 819.5 .B35 1988
Under the rubric of apocalypticism, this book weaves together a story about views of time and history, eschatology, astrology, magic and secret societies in Lutheran Germany in the century following the Reformation.
Prof. Barnes (of Davidson College) defines apocalypticism as a view of the future combining prophecy and Continue reading
Dresden today
When I arrived in Dresden, I had a sense of urgency, both due to a mental tic by which I was under the impression that Tristan and Isolde was to be performed that very night (whereas it proved to be the next night, so I really had plenty of time, but didn’t know it), and due to the usual WC need: all of which caused me to think I lost my parking ticket, and on top of that it was snowing, and there were no typical tourist signs pointing things out, so I went jigging around in the snow, fretting about the parking ticket, freezing, and not knowing north from left. Continue reading
Conspiracy Theories
Like a few recent commentators, I too believe that there is a good deal more to history than what the court historians report. Like the poor, conspirators will always be with us. Augustine reminds us that history is to understood as a battle between two cities. One uses the power of the Word and Spirit to advance its kingdom, the other is apt to cheat, steal, rape, kill and blunder. But the City of Man’s main method of warfare is not force, but dissimulation and secrecy. Christendom seems to have forgotten that our enemy is the deceiver of the nations. Continue reading
Basics of Christian Just War Theory
In the comments section to a previous post, somebody asked if Continue reading
Try the Met this Saturday
This Saturday (Feb 10) the Met broadcast will be Continue reading
Leipzig
In the later twelfth century, Leipzig Continue reading
Musetta gets the prize today
Today’s NY Met matinee broadcast of La Bohème had mixed Continue reading
Naumburg
Naumburg is a town on the Saale River roughly in Continue reading
The Pulling Down of Strongholds: The Power of Presuppositional Apologetics
The following article is from the current edition of Faith for all of Life, the bi-monthly publication of Continue reading
I’ll take mine rare
It’s official. Hillary Clinton has announced that she will be running for the Office of President of the United States of America. Her handlers are already packaging her as Thatcher redivivus. Continue reading
The Ring: A brief survey of performances and works
For those interested, I have put together a brief Continue reading
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Over the next several months (perhaps years, we’ll see) I plan Continue reading
Die Walküre, Act I synopsis
The orchestra opens with the strings furiously Continue reading
Particular Redemption
The following is an letter I wrote to a friend who had questions about the reformed doctrine of “limited Continue reading
Sheehan ‘n Sean
Cindy Sheehan appeared on Sean Hannity’s show Continue reading
Iraq is back and no end
Somebody help me. Anymore, I’m never quite sure if I’m Continue reading
Köthen
The town of Köthen (sometimes spelled with a C) is southwest of Dessau and due north from Halle. It doesn’t even show up on the Google map until you zoom in pretty far; but as so often with German towns, it turns out to be quite substantial once you get there. (Pix is of the palace complex: it is quite modest, though there is a bit more to it than meets the eye here.)
The founder of German pietism, Johann Continue reading
On visiting East Germany
The former communist-block part of partitioned Germany, whose rulers called it the “German Democratic Republic,” can still be referred to by the name current both then and now, namely Continue reading
Our beloved Führer prays to Mrs. Ford
Actually, the exact words were more like, he “extends” Continue reading
A selfishness to be pitied
The old man sitting next to me at the performance of Continue reading
Metrical Time: where does it come from?
The relation of God and time has been a study of renewed interest Continue reading
Book: Neusner. A Rabbi Talks to Jesus.
In this book, Jewish Prof. Neusner interacts with Christianity Continue reading
I Pledge Allegiance?
For a long while, the Pledge of Allegiance has struck me as being wrong on several Continue reading