This year marks the 200th anniversary of one of my favorite books – Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Actually, its full title is Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus. And that is a good reminder that this novel is really about Frankenstein the man, not about his creation. Frankenstein is the one who steals from the gods (God?) the ability to create life from that which is lifeless. And, as long as we are clearing up misconceptions, the novel is not about re-animating the dead, as is often popularly shown in the movies, … [Read more...] about Book Review: Frankenstein
salvation
Book Review: The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life and Imagination in the Work of C.S. Lewis
I seldom give much consideration to the title of non-fiction books other than from the perspective of whether it is a book which might be worthy of my time and (perhaps more importantly) of my limited dollars. However, as I read the first couple of essays on the thought of C.S. Lewis in this book by well-known evangelicals, I was struck by the thought that the book was misnamed. The book should be called, “Why we think it is ok for evangelicals to like Lewis.” They go so far as to call Lewis “the patron saint of … [Read more...] about Book Review: The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life and Imagination in the Work of C.S. Lewis
The Legacy of Kuyper
The sixth and concluding post in a series drawing from and interacting with Richard Mouw's Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction (Eerdmans, 2011). Stay tuned for additional series by Dan Jesse applying Kuyper's insights to our context in higher education. We must continue to move forward in the tradition put forth by Luther. The Reformation has a famous saying, Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda! The church needs to reform, and forever be reforming. What is not meant in this motto is that we … [Read more...] about The Legacy of Kuyper
Kuyper on The Role of the Church
The fifth post in a series drawing from and interacting with Richard Mouw's Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction (Eerdmans, 2011). Today there is a fundamental error occurring in the way we think about the Church. We confuse and collapse two concepts into one, leading us down a dangerous path. These concepts are the Church of Christ and the Kingdom of Christ. “Kuyper makes much of the fact that the Kingdom of Christ is much bigger than the institutional church.” (Mouw, 57) When we hold that the … [Read more...] about Kuyper on The Role of the Church
Kuyper’s Vision of Sin and Redemption
Second post in a series drawing from and interacting with Richard Mouw's Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction (Eerdmans, 2011). If you missed it, you may desire to start at the beginning of the series with The Lure of Kuyper. Following the biblical narrative, Kuyper holds: when Eve and Adam succumbed to the Serpent's challenge, then, they turned their wills away from God and placed their ultimate trust in something less than God. (Mouw, 10) This turning of the will, not necessarily the act, is … [Read more...] about Kuyper’s Vision of Sin and Redemption