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The Church’s Future in a Gay-Supportive Age

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012: ESSAY by David G. Myers "Here are five reasons Christians should continue to publicly and winsomely oppose bestowing the term and institution of marriage upon same-sex couples: 1. Every time the issue of gay marriage has been put to a vote by the people, the people have voted to uphold traditional marriage." Kevin DeYoung, "Five Reasons Christians Should Continue to Oppose Gay Marriage," May 10, 2012, thegospelcoalition.org/blogs In the Reformed Church in America, a simmering cultural war has…
David G. Myers
August 1, 2012
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Mitt the Heretic

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012: AS WE SEE IT by Daniel Meeter Are Mormons Christians?" When my parishioners ask me this, I answer, "Yes, I think so." And then I add, "But they're heretics" Isn't that helpful? If it's not politically correct, it is historically so. But I really do answer this way because I am serious about my pastoral roles as an on-deck theologian and the catechist of my adult members. I answer this way because implicit in the question of my…
Daniel Meeter
August 1, 2012
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Liturgy and Lament

JUNE/JULY 2012: INSIDE OUT by Nicholas Wolterstorff "In all their affliction, he was afflicted." Isaiah 63:9 As we human beings travel through life we experience pain and suffering--in part our own, in part that of others. Some of this pain and suffering is noninnocent suffering; it is punishment for, or the consequence of, moral evil. But not all of it is that. The suffering of the Israelites in the brickyards of Egypt was not the consequence of their sin, nor…
Nicholas Wolterstorff
June 1, 2012
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Expanding the Social Imagination: Lessons from Northern Ireland

JUNE/JULY 2012: REVIEW by Gail Gunst Heffner Hope and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: The Role of Faith-based Organisations Ronald A. Wells Liffey Press, 2010. $29.95. 258 pages. Since its founding in 1921, the small country of Northern Ireland has been the site of intense human suffering because of religious and political differences. In the three decades between 1969 and 1998, more than 3,700 Northern Irish people died during “the Troubles.” Many scholarly works have been written about the role of…
Gail Gunst Heffner
June 1, 2012
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The Song of Homer and Marge Simpson

JUNE/JULY 2012: POETRY by Tom C. Hunley "I got us a divorce this afternoon.... I didn't want a hokey second wedding like those ones on TV." - Homer Simpson, "A Milhouse Divided" The Bridegroom: I have been unfaithful to my bartender, Moe, whose heart shattered like a cheap pint glass. It's like Moe could feel the swinging doors as I entered the Beer & Brawl. And Marge wasn't happy about the croonin' cowgal I met there, Miss Lurleen Lumpkin. I…
Tom C. Hunley
June 1, 2012
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Wolterstorff on Justice: The Recent Outpouring

JUNE/JULY 2012: ESSAY by Terence Cuneo Roughly a decade ago, I recall Chris Eberle asking Nick Wolterstorff whether he'd consider revising his 1983 book Until Justice and Peace Embrace. Nick's response was that he had new things to say about justice that went beyond what he had written before. Rather than revise, it would be better to start afresh. At that point, Nick might have had a clear sense of what he had yet to say about justice. But neither…
Terence Cuneo
June 1, 2012
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A Philosophical Friendship

JUNE/JULY 2012: ESSAY by Alvin Plantinga Nick and I first met when we were both sophomores at Calvin College. That was the beginning of a friendship that has lasted, so far, for some sixty-two years. In those days Plato Club, a student philosophy club, was important to us; Harry Jellema, a legendary professor of philosophy, was its faculty mentor, and we listened very carefully to what he had to say. I also recall a course in the philosophy of Immanuel…
Alvin Plantinga
June 1, 2012
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“Those Years …”

JUNE/JULY 2012: ESSAY by Richard J. Mouw At a seminary in Asia, the dean of the school introduced me to one of his faculty members. "This is the president of Fuller Seminary,"; the dean said. I think the dean expected the faculty person to be impressed by my present institutional role, but his faculty colleague obviously had other credentials in mind. Extending his hand, the faculty member remarked, "But you were also at Calvin College." A little later he commented…
Richard J. Mouw
June 1, 2012
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Nick Wolterstorff, Magister

JUNE/JULY 2012 ESSAY by David E. Timmer After nearly forty years, the memory is still vivid. Nicholas Wolterstorff was delivering an address at the first Conference on Christianity and Politics, held at Calvin College in 1973. His topic, "Contemporary Christian Views of the State," was one that held great salience for an audience of evangelical academics and activists in the wake of a wounding war and a divisive presidential campaign. As a college senior, I found myself drawn to the…
David E. Timmer
June 1, 2012
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A Lasting Legacy

JUNE/JULY 2012: EDITOR'S NOTE by Steven Bouma-Prediger Nicholas Wolterstorff is widely regarded as one of the greatest Christian thinkers of his generation. A philosopher by training but widely read in a plethora of other fields, Nick taught philosophy at his alma mater, Calvin College, for three decades before teaching at Yale for twelve years. Nick has authored important and influential books on a wide range of topics: metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, ethics, liturgy, education, social and political philosophy. For many years--the…
Steven Bouma-Prediger
June 1, 2012