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Scott Hoezee

Scott Hoezee is an ordained pastor in the Christian Reformed Church and the author of several books including The Riddle of Grace (1996), Flourishing in the Land (1996), Remember Creation (1998), Speaking as One: A Look at the Ecumenical Creeds (1997), Speaking of Comfort: A Look at the Heidelberg Catechism (1998), and Proclaim the Wonder: Preaching Science on Sunday (2003). He is the Director of the Center for Excellence in Preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI.

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A Curious Omission

It is not fully clear to me why the 2022 committee did not engage the Smedes analogy nor why they characterized the 1980 report as hard and rigid and legalistic when in fact that report finally argued against being hard and rigid and above all legalistic in matters of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. The curious omission of this engagement is noteworthy and is something deserving of reflection by all who will have anything to do with the reception of this…
January 24, 2022
Reviews

Pilgrims Together

Scott Hoezee Because I recently traveled to Africa for the first time, I am keenly aware that when going to a place that is completely new, it is vital to have an experienced guide. When it comes to navigating global Christianity, I am in territory that is at least somewhat unfamiliar to me. But no worries: Wesley Granberg-Michaelson knows the terrain from Times Square to Timbuktu and can serve as a more-than-knowledgeable exploration leader. In his new book, Granberg-Michaelson spans…
January 1, 2014
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A Reply to John Van Sloten

OCTOBER 2012: RESPONSE by Scott Hoezee In his attempt to bolster the contention that all of creation is a "text" on which pastors should preach in a way similar to traditional preaching from scripture ("Engaging the Whole Counsel of God,"August/September 2012), John Van Sloten marshals John Calvin to his cause. There is much more I could say in reply to Van Sloten's rejoinder to me, but I will limit my comments here to his suggestion that John Calvin's theology authorizes…
October 1, 2012
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Where Life Is Found: Engaging with John Van Sloten’s The Day Metallica Came to Church

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012: ESSAY by Scott Hoezee For the longest time I've been gathering some thoughts to write something about my colleague John Van Sloten's book The Day Metallica Came to Church (Square Inch, 2010). And then the February 2012 issue of Perspectives arrived, and it looked like another colleague, Jason Lief, had beaten me to the punch. But since my thoughts meander in a different theological direction than Lief's article ("Leave Metallica Alone! Why Metallica Coming to Church Is a…
August 1, 2012
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A Wider Approach

MAY 2012: REVIEW by Scott Hoezee God Wins: Heaven, Hell, and Why the Good News is Better than Love Wins Mark Galli Tyndale House , 2011 $12.99. 203 pages (includes study guide). Generally speaking, one tends to be suspicious of "instant books." These days it doesn't take long to rush a book into print, but the real concern should not be how quickly a publisher managed to knock out a finished product, but how much time the author spent actually…
May 1, 2012
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Touring the Land Where Giants Roamed

APRIL 2012: REVIEW by Scott Hoezee The Best of the Reformed Journal James D. Bratt and ROnald A. Wells, Eds. Eerdmans, 2011 $20.00 325 pages. This new book, like the periodical it memorializes and celebrates, is as plain-Jane as they come. The cover is the equivalent of a plainbrown wrapper: black and white with slight shadings of gray. There's nothing particularly fancy about the font or layout—it has all the sexiness of a daily newspaper. But if, proverbially, you judge…
April 1, 2012
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Blessing

It was eight years ago when I first heard this benediction spoken at the conclusion of a worship service. My friend Neal Plantinga and I were attending a conference at Candler Divinity School and one of the worship services at the conference was led by (the now late) Rev. John Claypool, who concluded the service with this blessing. Thankfully Neal has something approaching a photographic memory and so was able later to write down the blessing (which moved both of…
March 1, 2011
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Beyond Funny

What's going on these days with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert? As many readers know, these two men are, respectively, the hosts of the Comedy Central programs The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Both are "fake" news shows and both contain just enough bleeped-out language and sexual innuendo to offend a good many Christians. Mr. Colbert began working under Stewart in the early years of The Daily Show, eventually morphing himself into a faux arch-conservative who played off of…
January 11, 2011
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Tribute to Jim Bratt

Among all of us who are currently members of the Perspectives editorial team and board, no one can recall an edition of the magazine or a board meeting that did not involve Jim Bratt. Since 1998 Jim has worked at most every level of the operation, including as one of the main editors across the last half-dozen years. In short Jim has been involved with Perspectives for most of the years since this journal joined forces with the former Reformed…
December 1, 2010