Peripatetic Pastor

Tag: Peripatetic Pastor

  • WALKING ALLEYS

    A Labor Day Meditation WALKING THE ALLEYS A Labor Day Meditation My wife walks alleys. We live in a neighborhood that has alleys. Newer subdivisions mostly don’t have alleys, but in this older part of town alleys are everywhere. If the streets are front doors for the neighborhood, the alleys are back doors. Like back…

  • THE WORK OF THEOLOGICAL RETRIEVAL

    Thinking Old Thoughts in New Ways In theology, as in much else in life, you can’t go back. Take human origins. Once the stories in Genesis were taken naively by many as the way things happened: Once upon a time there was a garden, a man, a woman, and a snake . . ., that…

  • 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,…

  • NAMING WHAT CANNOT BE NAMED: MEDITATIONS ON THE PAST, PART 4

    I had thought to conclude this short series on the necessity of history with my last post, available here. I had planned to move on in several different directions, including some thoughts on the significance of the Reformed theology of the divine decrees, trying to retrieve from that seemingly stale theology something of value for the…

  • 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,…

  • RESURRECTING THE PAST: MEDITATIONS ON THE PAST, PART 2

    “‘There is a Party slogan dealing with the control of the past,’ [O’Brien] said. ‘Repeat it, if you please.’ ‘Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past,’ repeated Winston obediently. ‘Who controls the present controls the past,’ said O’Brien, nodding his head with slow approval. ‘Is it your opinion,…

  • REMEMBERING: MEDITATIONS ON THE PAST 1

    REMEMBERING Meditations on the Past, Part 1 Adria and I are recently returned from time in Europe. We visited among other places Berlin, Prague, and Vienna. In these places we were confronted with the remnants of the still close past, the history of Naziism and of Soviet era communism. In thinking about this history, I’ve…

  • 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. …

  • LOOKING FOR LOVE

    A Review of “Materialists” by Celine Song The title of Celine Song’s new movie is apt. She portrays a Manhattan culture of unapologetic materialism. What matters is money, youth, good looks, height, power, and, well, money. Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a professional matchmaker. She works for a company with the cringy name Adore. She’s already…