WELCOME TO CLOSED DOORS
Theses on Denominational Life
Posts related to life in the Christian Reformed Church (and other related thoughts).
CATECHESIS: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Catechesis The question, put to me by a former student of mine, was about catechesis—systematic instruction in the faith. We would not have called it that. We called it “catechism.” We went to catechism. I began going to catechism somewhere around second grade. Our first catechism books were pared down versions of the Heidelberg Catechism,…
THE HISTORICAL ADAM AND OTHER MYTHS: MEDITATIONS ON THE PAST, PART 3
The importance of the past In his introduction to Athanasius’s On Incarnation, C. S. Lewis suggested that one should read at least one old book for every new one. By old, he had in mind books from the previous century and beyond. He mentions in a single breath St. Luke, St. Paul, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas,…
CONFESSIONAL UNITY
Choosing Unity instead of Conformity Unity and Conformity In church disputes—and there are always church disputes—it is easy to confuse conformity with unity. They are not the same. Unity acknowledges and embraces difference; it brings differences together. Conformity wants sameness; it insists that everyone think and talk the same. Unity builds bridges; conformity tears them…
THE COLLAPSE OF AUTHORITY: NOTES ON THE CRC SYNOD The real story The synod of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) has just completed its work. Synod 2025 was devoted mostly to cleaning up the margins on a series of decisions beginning with Synod 2022—decisions that have fundamentally remade the CRC and driven away many members. …
Culture or Confession? Bad Theology 7
Is God Mean? I had meant to write this week about penal substitutionary atonement (PSA). (Doesn’t that sound exciting?) I thought to call the piece: “Is God Mean?” And, in line with the direction of my Bad Theology series, to ask whether a mean God leads to mean politics. (The answer is yes.) For those…