A distinguishing mark of Reformed biblical interpretation is the acknowledgement of context. The Bible is a library of texts, each of which arises out of a particular context. The collected, canonical Scriptures as a whole also arose from a context. Our translations come from yet other contexts. We read and apply the Bible to our…
When my local coffee shop advertised a summer book club featuring Jenny Odell’s Saving Time, it didn’t initially grab my interest. I did buy a copy, though, to support their post-pandemic effort to build connections in my community. And it became one of my best summer reads! Odell takes us on a tour of the…
I am grateful that divisive Canadian topics appear in these pages. Just to name a few flashpoints: Jordan Peterson (2016), Medical Assistance in Dying (2018), and the Ottawa truck convoy (2021). In my own discussions with fellow Canadians, the question I often hear is, “What’s happening to Canadian society?” Bruce Clemenger addresses this question in…
Trauma has become one of the most exciting areas of medical research and therapeutic treatment today. Revolutionary discoveries about the mind-body unity of the human person are bringing hope to many people living with deeply embedded emotional and psychological pain. Books like The Body Keeps the Score by the Dutch scientist Bessel Van Der Kolk…
Did Michael Coren hack my computer? That was my shock when a friend pointed me to The Rebel Christ. I’m currently writing a book myself with those same three words in the title (though in a different order)! Coren is a fascinating public Canadian Christian. Over the last decade he has journeyed from a conservative…
Two decades ago, I immigrated to Canada from the United States. And for the last decade I’ve been researching the power dynamics and structures of the institutional church within the (Kuyperian) Reformed tradition. One piece that seems to be missing in current discussions of the Christian Reformed Church’s binationality and the SALT report is this…
During the 2018-2019 academic year, I was startled by the large number of students discussing Jordan Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. Everywhere I turned, Muslims, Christians and atheists were discussing and debating the socio-political perspectives and the mytho-poetic analyses that Peterson offered via YouTube, his book 12 Rules for Life, and…
Public discourse in North America is especially turbulent. I often want to call “time out.” The responses to Jim Joosse’s recent article on human rights pushed me to dive in with this call for our reflection. The topic of human sexuality is only the most recent “issue” in a long list of important questions. It…
Will you allow me to ask a taboo question? What constitutes a liberal or a conservative Christian? Is it whether you prefer a piano or guitar in the worship service instead of an organ? Is it how you think about Genesis and the scientific measurements of the age and history of the universe? Is it…
The contemporary Christian musician Andrew Peterson provocatively laments “the second coming of the Pharisees” when he witnesses Christians behaving contrary to their teacher (Come, Lord Jesus, 2000). I heard this song playing repeatedly in my mind as I read Katherine Stewart’s recent book, The Power Worshippers, on the rise and danger of Christian nationalism.
To awaken our hearts to the brilliant splendor that will shine out from the birth of the Son for us, the Holy Spirit, through Isaiah, describes our fallen world as a “land of deep darkness and of great anguish.” Such a tragedy! Our world was once bathed in light, every garden bearing fruit, and the people singing for joy: the whole country filled with delights. Now we have grown cold; the streams have frozen over; the whole land has been covered in darkness. Life is one endless valley of the shadows of death.
It would be a shame if we enforced a monotone echo-chamber that no longer sparked faith-filled engagement with our dynamic societies. We ought not muzzle ourselves and allow other voices to monopolize important cultural debates. We will compromise our loyalty to Christ if we enforce a single political perspective within our church. We must dare to dialogue with each other and the world about Christ who judges every political and ideological idolatry.
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