I have been reading a lot of history and biography in recent weeks, from books on the history of Mormonism to books portraying characters as diverse as Abraham Lincoln and Queen Elizabeth II. One thing that has stood out to me in my reading is how seldom unbelieving authors accurately portray the beliefs of Christians.…
In his much-praised book Killing Calvinism, Greg Dutcher writes about the tendency many Calvinists may have to be more enamored by their theology than by God himself. I suppose this may be a temptation for those who adhere to any faith or any system of theology, but it does seem particularly prevalent among Calvinists. At…
Today I’ve got another batch of books that I didn’t review. Life is such that there are lots of great books that I just cannot find the time to read and many other books I’m simply not qualified to review. These books tend to find their way into these round-ups of the ones I received…
Internet Busy-Body – The Resurgence looks at a new kind of busy-body. “Busy-body. That term is power-packed with negative associations. The “town gossip” picture in my head is not the busy-at-home lady, but instead is the woman who knows facts about other’s lives and is stocked with random trivia. Instead of working in her home…
Supply-Chain Secrets – I found this article just fascinating. It deals with Apple’s ability to completely control the supply chain and, with it, to gain huge advantages as a company. For/Against Calvinism – Monergism Books is offering a great discount on the For and Against Calvinism 2-pack (one book by Roger Olsen, one by Michael…
I have been able to do some special giveaways lately and, well, I keep getting new opportunities to give away great stuff. And that is what I want to do today (and again a week from today!). I’ve got another Kindle to give to a reader of this site. Let me give you the context…
Recent Scenes from Iraq – Another excellent photo essay from Boston.com. E-Book Sales – “Amazon.com Inc. said it reached a milestone, selling more e-books than hardbacks over the past three months. But publishers said it is still too early to gauge for the entire industry whether the growth of e-books is cannibalizing sales of paperback…
Yesterday audio and today video. No one is more surprised than I am to see me branching out into media other than the written word! Since the launch of the iPad, and the Kindle before it, I’ve received a lot of questions about how the devices work and, of course, which one is the better…
It is time for another of these irregular roundups of books that I didn’t review. It’s not that these are bad books or ones I purposely chose not to read and review. It’s just that, life being what it is, I cannot read them all. So here are a few that I wish I could…
Calvinism Is Back – The once-daily format of A La Carte means that I’m sometimes late on the news. I’m betting this article has already been posted on 8,000 different blogs. Nevertheless, here it is again. This is from the Christian Science Monitor: “In America’s Christian faith, a surprising comeback of rock-ribbed Calvinism is challenging…
The Lost Art of ReadingHere’s an interesting essay on reading. “Reading is an act of contemplation, perhaps the only act in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being. We possess the books we read, animating the waiting stillness of their language, but they possess us also, filling us with…
Why the Time Magazine Trumpeting of New Calvinism Is a Bad ThingThabiti Anyabwile offers seven quick but good reasons on why we should react carefully to this article. Driscoll’s New CalvinismPaul Grimmond, writing for The Sola Panel, offers some interesting thoughts on Mark Driscoll’s comments about the new versus the old Calvinism. Band of Bloggers…
An Eschatology WebConferenceThe Midwest Center for Theological Studies will be conducting a webconference with Drs. Waldron, Riddlebarger, Gaffin & Poythress to discuss biblical eschatology. The webconference is scheduled for 10:00AM to 12:00PM (CT) this Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009. Meet Thomas ChalmersThis blogger is giving away 5 copies of John Mackay’s Thomas Chalmers: A Short Appreciation…
Over at “Cowboyology,” Clint Humphreys has posted an interesting take on the Baptist wing of the Reformed Renewal we’re experiencing today. A former Professor of New Testament at Toronto Baptist Seminary, Clint now pastors Calvary Grace Church in Calgary, Alberta. Looking at the landscape of Reformed Baptists, he identifies five streams and suggests that most…
Friday July 13, 2007 Books: After perusing a catalog of upcoming titles from a popular Christian publisher, Phil Ryken has a warning for your young readers. Catholicism: Al Mohler hits a home run with this article explaining why he is not offended by the recent comments from the pope. Calvinism: Over at the 9Marks blog…
Last month, in an article entitled By Our Books Shall We Be Known, I discussed some commentary Al Mohler wrote based on an essay that appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The purpose of the article was, quite simply, to show that there is a lot you can tell about a person by the…
Paul Jones, organist and Music Director at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia is, by all accounts, a very talented individual. He was privileged to serve alongside James Boice (who once said “Paul is everything I ever prayed for in a music director”) and now works closely with Philip Ryken in serving one of America’s foremost…
I have once again dipped into my site’s archives to update and refresh an article I posted in the past. In the past few days there has been much discussion in the forum and in my inbox about how we can define “Calvinist” and “Reformed.” I covered this very topic last year, but since that…
Since its publication in 1986, Chosen By God has become a classic introduction to Calvinism, for it is clearly one of the best introductions to Calvinism available. R.C. Sproul, ever the theologian but one with a gift for making the complex simple, begins with an introduction to God’s sovereignty and then moves to free will…
“Getting The Gospel Right” is R.C. Sproul’s sequel to the popular book “Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification” and is a thorough treatment of the subject of Christian unity. It is essentially a response to a document that tested the boundaries of unity between Roman Catholics and Evangelical Protestants: “The Gift of Salvation” (also…