In a forthcoming issue of First Things, I review a fine book by Michael McVicar, who teaches at Florida State University. His subject is the “Christian Reconstructionism” of the late Rousas J. Rushdoony, a perspective on Christianity and social-political-economic-legal thought and practice that makes much of the continuing relevance of Old Testament civil lawincluding the sanctions tied to specific laws and practices. Continue Reading »
Why is Calvinism so influential among American Evangelicals while
Lutheranism is not?
We might describe the statistically modal convert to Calvinismthat is,
the most frequently observed kind of convertas a person like this: A
young adult, usually male. Raised in a broad though indistinct
Evangelical (and sometimes nominally Catholic) home. Bright. A reader.
Searching for better intellectual answers to questions about God, Jesus
and the Bible. Is open to becoming a pastor. Why does this young man so
much more often become a Calvinist instead a Lutheran? Continue Reading »