Karl Barth famously wrote that in heaven all the official music is Bach, but in private God listens to Mozart. I'm jealous for Bach, my favorite composer, but just listen to the second act of The Magic Flute. Is there any music sweeter and more joyful than that final duet between Papageno and his Papagena? Papageno, a baritone, is the comic birdcatcher who accompanies prince Tamino, the tenor and, ostensibly, the hero. Tamino is earnest and serious, while Papageno wears…

In recent years there have been numerous books, almost a nascent genre, in which disaffected or "enlightened" evangelicals share how they were wounded by their childhood faith and have now outgrown it. I am always amazed when the new insights and startling breakthroughs shared in these books are things that the wider church has practiced for centuries. More amazing is how evangelical readers, who have largely ignored the historic church, seem so eager to receive the condemnation and kicks from…

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…

Calvinists come in many stripes and colors. There are five-point Calvinists, who may believe they originated with Calvin, but actually owe more to the Canons of Dort; Westminster Calvinists who adhere more to the Westminster standards than Calvin; neo- Calvinists who find their inspiration in the theologies of Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck; and neo-Orthodox Calvinists who are closer to Karl Barth than Calvin. And then there is Marilynne Robinson, a self-confessed Calvinist, whose Calvinism is not simply distinctive; it…

With the new year, we begin a new series, "Not My Own: Reflections on the Heidelberg." We have asked various authors to share a time or memory when the beloved Heidelberg Catechism became more significant and personally poignant, an experience that was illumined as the words of the Catechism shone upon it. In the months ahead, we hope to hear a variety of voices express how the Heidelberg shaped and touched them. One Living Body by Allan Janssen Question 75.…

There are many markers of our ecumenical age, from official dialogue among Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Reformed to a US President of Protestant faith honoring graduates of the University of Notre Dame. In such a promising and cooperative time dare we look back to the Reformation era, when things first fell apart, when dogmatism, intolerance, and violence shattered Christian unity? Should Calvin and historic Reformed voices be heralded again, voices that excoriated idolatrous images, warped worship, and other "abominations of…

Sarah DeYoung Brouwer was baptized on a beautiful spring day in Central Pennsylvania. At only three or maybe it was four months of age, she had no idea what was happening to her. But her parents knew. By presenting Sarah for baptism we believed that we were giving to her the most precious gift that we could think of to give her. Not as expensive as a college education, but more precious. At the time, I was very new to…

Have you heard any good sermons lately? Many people answer, "No." If you are dissatisfied with the quality of preaching that you hear, you may be listening for the wrong thing. Here are some suggestions. Observe Paul's example. The Apostle Paul was a gifted speaker but by his own admission, he deliberately preached dull sermons. He explained that he tried to avoid "eloquent wisdom so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power." (1 Corinthians 1:17)…