This summer, noted systematic and historical theologian Dr. Matthew Barrett publicly announced his exit from the Southern Baptist Convention and his reception into the Anglican Church in North America. His exit elicited a firestorm of accusations as well as sympathetic well-wishes, revealing a rift within American Evangelicalism over the significance of history, liturgy, and authority…
Every news cycle brings a fresh reminder that I am a “fellow citizen” with men who don’t know me, who often would hate me if they did, and are nothing like me. The phrase “fellow citizen” reminds me of “comrades” in the USSR. Americans are not “fellows” in any genuine sense, just as the soviets…
Eternal in Love: A Little Book about a Big God. By R. T. Mullins. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2024. 178 pp. $40 (hardcover), $25 (paper). Ryan Mullins’s Eternal in Love may be described as a “little book,” but it is anything but small in substance. It is short, yes. It is concise in its prose, certainly….
Thro’ the night of doubt and sorrow Onward goes the pilgrim band, Singing songs of expectation, Marching to the promised land; Clear before us through the darkness Gleams and burns the guiding light: Brother clasps the hand of brother, Stepping fearless through the night. The glory of God is shown in how the Holy Creator…
Commandments Seven and Eight In my reflection on the sixth commandment, I noted that the two tables of the Decalogue follow the logic of a descending order of severity: having a false god and murder are the “capital vices” of man’s duty to his Maker and his neighbor, respectively. Of course, the commandments that follow…
Christianity is a religion full of paradoxes—a fact Anglicans are keen to acknowledge. For instance, that the church is both open and closed. On the one hand, the church of Christ would seem to be open to all with very little needed to become a Christian. On the other hand, there is nothing more demanding…
Sing Unto the Lord: A Liturgical Hymnal. Anglican Music Publishing, 2023. 942 pp. $29.95 (hardcover). In my previous article, I reviewed the service music of Sing Unto the Lord, the 2023 hymnal intended for contemporary language ACNA worship.[1] At the end of 6900 words about the 159 pages of service music, I asked the question:…
Before any law was given, before any liturgy was written, the light of nature taught man that God is to be worshipped, and that such worship requires a holy place. This instinct, grounded in natural religion, is one of the pillars upon which the Catholic tradition builds its sacramental and liturgical theology. Natural religion, as…
Let us now our voices raise,Wake the day with gladness;God Himself to joy and praiseTurns our human sadness;Joy that martyrs won their crown,Opened heav’ns bright portal,When they laid the mortal downFor the life immortal. Let us praise God for mortal men who boldly burned out bright in faith. This day we commemorate St. Bartholomew, to…
Thick, mist-forged shackles held us in the cave, imprisoned for the crime of losing all. We saw nothing but shadows on the wall— they gamboled and they taunted us. We gave in to the dark. A crushing fear replaced our hope for liberation with despair. Our cries withered to whimpers on thin air out in…