Plantinga’s “Warranted Christian Belief” Free at CCEL

Date January 3, 2010Posted by David N

The full text of Alvin Plantinga’s groundbreaking book, Warrented Christian Belief, is now available for free at Calvin College’s Christian Classics Ethereal Library (you can also purchase a pdf copy for only $2.95).  Click here to read the book. Click here to read other online articles in Philosophy and Religion by Alvin Plantinga.

Cheer Up, Calvinist Kid!

Date December 7, 2009Posted by David N

Dr. John Mark Reynolds has written this rather interesting blog post over at Scriptorium Daily in which he gives ten reasons that “dour” Calvinists ought to cheep up this Christmas.  As a Calvinist who is neither dour nor “cool” nor anything like Katie Couric (just read the blog post and you’ll understand what I’m talking about), I still [...]

Should We Sing Only Psalms?

Date November 19, 2009Posted by David N

The earliest Protestant churches (the Reformed ones, not the Lutheran ones) sang only Psalms in their worship services, and they did so a capella (with no instrumental accompaniment). Here is a wonderful quotation from John Calvin on this subject (HT: The Heidelblog): As for public prayers, there are two kinds: the one consists simply of [...]

J. I. Packer on Reading the Bible

Date October 3, 2009Posted by David N

Let us read the Bible then — if we can. But can we? The truth is that many of us have lost the ability to read the Bible. When we open our Bibles, we do so in a frame of mind which forms an insuperable barrier to our ever reading it at all. This may [...]

Does The Church Have Authority?

Date September 16, 2009Posted by David N

At the Eastern Orthodox blog, The Well of Questions, blogger MG has been arguing for some time (most recently, here) that Protestants do not in fact believe that the church has any authority. Rather, we merely believe that the church has been right in those doctrines which it has affirmed at all times and in [...]

The Sacramental World of Harry Potter

Date August 4, 2009Posted by David N

If you don’t know already, I love Harry Potter. This wasn’t always true. I hadn’t even heard of the books until the first movie was announced. Embarrassingly, while at my Aunt and Uncle’s house, I picked up Goblet of Fire (the newest book at the time) and, seeing the name “Harry Potter” in large letters [...]

It Really Does Matter

Date July 26, 2009Posted by David N

Your Best Life Then

Date July 22, 2009Posted by David N

I’m the sort of person who puts 5 dollars in the offering plate. This is partly because I don’t ever carry much cash on me. If I’m thinking ahead I’ll write a check for 15 or 20 dollars, but that isn’t very often. I’ve been in the “starving student” cruise control mode for 6 years [...]

The Over-Realized Eschatology of American Religion

Date July 15, 2009Posted by David N

Dr. Scott Clark has a great post over at the Heidelblog pointing out one of the hallmarks of American religion: An over-realized eschatology. This is what Luther referred to as the “theology of glory” (against his “theology of the cross”). Basically, an over-realized eschatology is one that thinks you can have Heaven on Earth, in [...]

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye?

Date June 25, 2009Posted by David N

This is a post I wrote two years ago when the first Transformers film hit theaters. Since Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen came out yesterday, I thought I would go ahead and re-post it. After I see the new film, I hope to review it as well. I feel the need to quickly share two [...]