Tried With Fire

I've been juggling a lot of books this summer. I've been making more of an effort to set aside reading time rather than snippets here and there, which has helped me work through the stacks sitting by my bed. I still love audiobooks, and I try to squeeze in listening time whenever I can. So here's what I've been reading: I finished A Fiery Gospel: The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Road to Righteous War by Richard M. Gamble.  Some of my friends were disappointed to learn of the non-Christian, Unitarian origins of the song. I don't relish being the bearer of bad news. Honestly. I really don't want to be like Mikey in the Life Cereal commercial who hates everything, but to paraphrase Hannah Anderson, we need to pursue the truth no matter who it implicates. And to paraphrase Dr. Gamble, history is not obligated to make us feel good about ourselves. To continue the theme of civil religion in America, I was able to borrow Dr. Gamble's 2nd book, The War for...

I've posted this quote by Carl Trueman before, but it bears repeating: "[T]he doctrine of God is a more complicated matter than the authority of Scripture, When someone starts to tinker with the doctrine of Scripture, many Christians instinctively feel that something nefarious is being done. But when someone starts to tinker with the doctrine of God, many simply assume that very clever people are engaged in improving the tradition." 1 I believe this is happening with the doctrine of the Eternal Subordination of the Son (ESS.) This doctrine believes God the Son is subordinate to the God the Father in role but not in substance, but this subordination is not just for the purpose of redemption but perpetually. I do not agree with ESS and believe it is inconsistent with the classical doctrine of the Trinity. This may seem esoteric, but our understanding of God is the bedrock on which our beliefs rest. If we get God wrong, then any doctrines that follow, which are pretty mu...