Dale M. Coulter

There is a realism about history and historical progress that a Christian vision of life brings. This realism stems from what Christopher Lasch referred to as an awareness “that the contingent, provisional, and finite quality of temporal things finds its most vivid demonstration not just in the death of individuals but in the rise and fall of nations.” Such an awareness does not deny a telos to the history of life, but it does remove its fulfillment from the realm of mere human activity, whether economic, political, or otherwise. Continue Reading »

During my youth, on more than one occasion, I recall ministers declaring that Christ entered into hell’s dungeons after his death on the cross, ripped the keys out of the hands of a cowardly devil, and set the captives free. This declaration would conclude with the words of Christ, “fear not, I . . . . Continue Reading »

The recent Christ at the Checkpoint Conference has a number of evangelical groups concerned about waning support for the nation of Israel among Evangelicals (see here and here ). David Brog of Christians United for Israel even wonders whether the end of evangelical support for Israel has come . . . . Continue Reading »

A few years ago John Piper created some controversy over his declaration that Christianity had a masculine feel. The claim raised several issues, one of which was the way a divorce of theological reflection from Christian tradition leads to a lopsided and impoverished theology. The impoverished . . . . Continue Reading »

J. R. R. Tolkien begins The Silmarillion with Ilúvatar (the “Father of All”) engaged in the act of creation. Creation unfolds according to the theme of the Great Music that Ilúvatar inspires in each of the Ainur (“Holy Ones”) through the Imperishable Flame. For . . . . Continue Reading »

More and more writers—most recently Jamelle Bouie—are confidently asserting that Evangelicals were once pro-choice, but under the influence of Religious-Right organizations like Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority became prolife. This interpretation of the Evangelical position . . . . Continue Reading »

Harvard’s report on the future of the humanities comes, at one point, tantalizingly close to seeing the need for a telos. Continue Reading »

John Piper recently gave a lecture at Westminster Theological Seminary about the New Calvinism that is already getting play at several Reformed sites. His aim was to argue for an interrelationship between Old Calvinism and New Calvinism and to attempt to ground the ethnic diversity of the movement in classic Reformed doctrines. Continue Reading »

Art therapy, increasingly popular for treating patients recovering from trauma or facing other challenges, builds upon the idea that the capacity for beauty is built into the structure of human nature. Christians can add to this therapeutic insight the affirmation that part of the capacity for God . . . . Continue Reading »

Ulf Ekman’s conversion to the Catholic Church sparked a healthy discussion over how to hold the reforming impulse of Protestantism alongside the new ecumenical impulse.The starting place for such a discussion is the recognition that the reforming impulse and the ecumenical impulse converge on . . . . Continue Reading »