Monthly Archives: March 2009

If Guilt “Causes” Corruption . . .

By D. G. Hart | Published: March 20, 2009

. . . why can’t innocence “cause” moral renovation? Article 9 of the French Confession of Faith (in which Calvin played a large role) affirms: “We believe that man was created pure and perfect in the image of God, and that by his own guilt he fell from the grace which he received, and is… Read More→

Posted in The Hinge | 58 Comments

So You Don’t Need a Brown Paper Bag

By D. G. Hart | Published: March 19, 2009

(From NTJ, January  1998) Nicotine of Hippo     We recently heard a wonderful suggestion about the name of our journal, one that might help readers who want their church libraries to take the NTJ but fear what other church members will make of the title and its association with the evil weed. Why not tell… Read More→

Posted in Nicotine Theological Journal, Second Hand Smoke | 1 Comment

A Journal By Any Other Name Would Be As Serious

By D. G. Hart | Published: March 18, 2009

The Nicotine Theological Journal is a name that invites either a snicker or a wince. A self-conscious reference to the chief chemical in tobacco surely does not manifest sufficient seriousness about theology — hence the reactions of uncomfortable giggles or tisk-tisks implying we should act our age. Here a little historical reminder may be in… Read More→

Posted in Miscellany | 15 Comments

Is (or Was) Sam Walton Your Neighbor?

By D. G. Hart | Published: March 17, 2009

(From NTJ, January 1998) A report on NPR about a sermon by a priest in the Church of England prompted some thoughts about the implications of the Eighth Commandment. The news service copy indicated that this priest had told his parishioners that shoplifting from supermarket chains was not stealing. His reasoning was that such chains… Read More→

Posted in Second Hand Smoke, Wendell Berry | 12 Comments

Mark Driscoll is Joining the Christian and Missionary Alliance

By D. G. Hart | Published: March 15, 2009

Or so it seems on the basis of Driscoll’s recent post on the differences between the New and Old Calvinism.  (My, how pertinent the paleo/neo distinction has become.)  According to Driscoll, the differences between Calvinism 1.0 and 8.2 are simple and short: 1) New Calvinism is missional; 2) it is urban; 3) it is charismatic; and… Read More→

Posted in Wilderness Wanderings | 61 Comments

What Would John Calvin Say to Rowan Williams, and to Billy Graham for that matter?

By D. G. Hart | Published: March 13, 2009

David Neff, editor-in-chief at Christianity Today, writes a piece under the provocative title of “What would John Calvin Say to Dick Cheney?” Calvin is hot.  It’s the 500th, after all.  And the Bush administration is as out of favor as Calvin is supposedly accessible. The point of Neff’s piece is actually quite sensible.  It has to… Read More→

Posted in Wilderness Wanderings | 30 Comments

The Reign of Christ is Back

By D. G. Hart | Published: March 13, 2009

Well, technically, it never left.  But De Regno Christi, the blog that sponsored that spirited debate about the Federal Vision, was for several months down for the count.  Now, thank to Bill Chellis, a Reformed Presbyterian (isn’t that redundant?) and New York State conservative (isn’t that an oxymoron), the blog is up and running.  This is the… Read More→

Posted in Miscellany | Leave a comment

Which Came First, the Theology or the Exegesis?

By D. G. Hart | Published: March 13, 2009

Ken Schenck has been conducting a series of interviews with Pete Enns, formerly of Westminster Seminary and author of the controversial, Inerrancy and Inspiration. In the second stage or interactions, Schenck asks Enns what he would say to those who think the Old Testament scholar is not a very good Calvinist.  Enns responded: Just what… Read More→

Posted in Westminster | 22 Comments

Dog Bites Man; Evangelicalism is Collapsing (Again)

By D. G. Hart | Published: March 12, 2009

The Internet Monk, Michael Spencer, wrote an op-ed for the Christian Science Monitor (you know, the Mary Baker Eddy Christian Science Monitor — so it must be true), on the impending demise of evangelicalism.   The piece has received lots of attention and been forwarded around the e-superhighway; I received at least three emails with links… Read More→

Posted in Wilderness Wanderings | 34 Comments

Year 2000 Recipes

By D. G. Hart | Published: March 11, 2009

(From NTJ July 2000) For readers who may have stockpiled various kinds of dried foods in preparation for the computer crash to end all computer crashes, we offer the following recipe as a tasty of way of serving beans in the new millennium. It comes from the Ontario White Bean Producers. Rigatoni and White Beans… Read More→

Posted in Second Hand Smoke | 8 Comments