The Situation in Britain English society may have moved beyond the medievalism of the Ancien Régime in France, but in many ways the situation in Britain was just as dire for the lower classes. England was in the middle of the Enclosure Movement, a major disruption of rural
“History is a vast early warning system.” —Norman Cousins A Bit of History Europe in the second half of the eighteenth century was a mess. On the continent, a system known as the Ancien Régime (roughly, the Old Order) governed political and social life. Particularly in France, it
In discussions of so-called “same sex marriage,” Christians are frequently accused of hypocrisy for taking the passages in the Law of Moses dealing with homosexual behavior literally but ignoring for example those concerning eating shellfish or wearing clothing made of two different kinds of fiber. The accusation might
Dominion in Proper Context In the previous articles in this series, I discussed the Great Commandment and the Great Commission and argued that these were two of the three things God has called us to do. The Great Commandment, with a focus on loving our neighbor, means seeking
In the previous article, I argued that a fully-formed biblical worldview recognizes three callings on the life of the believer: the Great Commandment, the Great Commission, and the Cultural Mandate. Of these, the Great Commandment is the most important, and the other two flow from there. For a
When evangelical Christians think about God’s purpose for the church and for their lives, they often think almost entirely in terms of evangelism. Growing in personal integrity and holiness of life also fits in, but sharing the Gospel is frequently seen as the single most important thing we
The Protestant Reformation was triggered by a conflict over the issue of justification, that is, how our sins are forgiven and how we obtain salvation. To resolve this issue, it was necessary first to address the question of theological methodology: what is your final source of authority in
In the first article of this series, I argued that modern American Evangelicalism has misunderstood the teaching of the Reformers that we are saved by faith, not works, and with it the Biblical text that we are not under law but grace. While it is certainly true that our
Although there were many streams of Protestant thought during the sixteenth century, nearly all of them agreed on three key ideas summarized by three Latin phrases: sola fide, we are saved by faith alone; sola gratia, we are saved by grace alone; and sola scriptura, scripture alone is
Fasting is a spiritual discipline that was practiced by Jesus and early Christians and that today is practiced in many places around the world today where the Gospel is growing most rapidly. Yet in the Western church, it is largely ignored. Our culture, which is built on self-indulgence,
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