The year 2007 seems to have hit the world of biblical and theological scholarship particularly hard. Here are the names of five six scholars who have died during this year, and to whom I owe a very great debt of gratitude on account of the innumerable benefits that I have derived from their work. For [...]
Saturday a’Machen: Thinking Desperately Low of God
“[I]t has already been observed that when the liberal preacher uses the word ‘God,’ he means something entirely different from that which the Christian means by the same word. ‘God,’ at least according to the logical trend of modern liberalism, is not a person separate from the world, but merely the unity that pervades the [...]
All Translators Are Traitors, and Should Be Tried as Such
While looking up a Biblical reference earlier today, I came across a text whose translation gave me considerable pause several months ago. The passage in question is Colossians 2:18:
μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω θέλων ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ καὶ θρησκείᾳ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἃ μὴ ἑώρακεν ἐμβατεύων, εἰκῆ φυσιούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ νοὸς τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ… (Ecclesiastical Greek text)
Let no one [...]
The Search for an Orthodox Apologetics
I should like to apologize to both readers of my blog for the sparsity of my posts during the past couple weeks. Behold how I even neglected to post last week’s Saturday à Machen! The greater part of the blame goes, of course, to my beloved ISP, which for the second consecutive week elected to [...]
Saturday a’Machen: The Problem of Christianity and Culture
“If physical strength and health and the companionship of human friends may be made useful in the Christian life, surely the same thing is true of intellectual gifts. [....] If the principle of consecration is true at all—if it is true that God desires, not the destruction of human powers, but the proper use [...]
Master Hobbins and Biblical Hebrew
John Hobbins hath said:
“My son Giovanni thinks I should do live chats on biblical Hebrew. If I knew enough people were interested, I might try it.”Well, what are you waiting for? Let him know at once that you’re interested! Because you are. You know you are.
On How iTunes May Be Used for Purposes Greater than Playing Your Illegally Downloaded MP3s
Earlier this week, I became aware of iTunes U while browsing the webpage of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Through this remarkable feature, institutions of higher learning can make class lectures and other educational content available in podcast format from the iTunes Store. While much of the content is restricted to the students, faculty and [...]
The MACHEN Army
We Machen groupies sure are a small but dedicated band of folks! And apparently, the dedication of a couple of our correligionaries is such that, taking their cue from a now legendary article by John Frame, they have made their way to cafepress.com and produced a veritable treasure trove of Machen gear. Click on the [...]
Why Not to Blog on Psalm 68
During my sophomore year of college, I took a hermeneutics class that required the writing of an exegetical paper by the end of the term. That seemed fair enough, and I listened attentively as the professor proceeded to explain from the syllabus his very detailed instructions for this paper. There were several points that mystified [...]
Saturday a’Machen: Thinking Right, Living Right
“False ideas about the gospel are the greatest obstacles to a healthy Christian life; bad theology and good religion will not live permanently together in peace. If you want to live right, you must also take care to think right. Thinking right involves intellectual effort, which is distasteful to many people in this practical age; [...]
In Which I Attempt to Catch Up with All by Means of Decidedly Broad Strokes
I apologize, my genteel gazelles, for my rather prolonged absence from the blogosphere. During this past week I have been running to and fro with various and sundry errands, and this surge of activity is both utterly bewildering and awfully exhausting for a quiet, sedentary type such as Yours Truly. (Oh, forgive me; have I [...]
Saturday a’Machen: Joy in the Fear of God
“Chapters 9-11 of this epistle [to the Romans] are interesting in a great many ways. They are interesting, for example, in their tremendous conception of the mystery of the divine will. The ninth chapter is a good corrective for any carelessness in our attitude towards God. After all, God is a mystery. How little we [...]
