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In light of today’s historic Supreme Court decision prohibiting states from defining marriage as it has always been defined — between one man and one woman (even polygamous societies wouldn’t dream of extending marriage to homosexuals) — it’s important to remember that we did not lose the same-sex marriage battle today but, rather, over the last… Continue reading

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The greatest invention of Romanticism was the invention of the reinvention of the self.[1] Before Romanticism, in Christian culture, and even the Enlightenment, the goal of the self was to conform to external reality. In the case of Christianity, that was God’s revealed law. In Enlightenment, that was universal human reason and experience. With Romanticism,… Continue reading

A popular error relating to concentrations of wealth is manifested in pious calls for “the simple life.” This is the idea that we should make do with less and less — almost subsistence living. (Not quite: after all, good Christian Americans, even the economic moralizers, still need absolute necessities like corn-fueled cars and fresh organic pomegranate… Continue reading

When both the Presbyterian Church-USA (mainline) and City Church-San Francisco (evangelical), both religious bodies professing Christianity, formally embraced same-sex “marriage” (SSM), they immediately posed an unprecedented challenge to 21st Christianity. If that qualifying adjective “professing” was jarring, you can be sure it was the intended effect. The question Christians must face at some point —… Continue reading

By anti-intellectualism I mean suspicion or opposition toward the intentional cultivation of the intellect. It’s not limited to the church, by any means (the United States in particular is deeply anti-intellectual[1]); but I’m interested just now in its stranglehold on the church. Before I subject it to a withering assault, however, I’d like offer two… Continue reading

An understandable and rational Christian response to the pervasive secular (as well as pagan[1]) disease is to quarantine ourselves in our families and, at most, in our churches. The attitude is: even though our society may become more secular, we can become more Christian. A large number of ministries are committed to restoring the family… Continue reading

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Behind the mad rush of two Republican governors to amend state legislation guaranteeing citizens religious liberty is a simpler — and more momentous— issue.    You have likely entered a business establishment and encountered a sign, “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.” Well, of course. You own the establishment and you can determine who… Continue reading

Here is an excerpt from the talk “Theological Presuppositions of Political Liberalism” that I’ll be delivering Wednesday, April 1 at the Oklahoma City PAC. Worldview and politics . . . [W]hen we consider politics, we are considering much more than politics. We’re considering a life system, a worldview, as we say. Our political views are… Continue reading

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1 Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) OCPAC LUNCHEON, 12:00 NOON “Theological Presuppositions of Political Liberalism” Olivet Baptist Church 1201 NW 10th Street Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73106 COST: $7 to eat, $1 to attend THURSDAY, APRIL 2 RECLAIMING AMERICA FOR CHRIST PASTORS’ LUNCHEON, 12:00 NOON “The (Christological) Promises Crush the (Cultural) Evil” Twin… Continue reading

2014 was another mediocre year at the movies. The last exceptional year was 2007, and the last one before that was 1972. Perhaps the exceptional years come in 35-year intervals. The exceptions over the last decade have been children’s movies, particularly those from Pixar. They have been consistently superb. The most unforgettable performance in 2014… Continue reading

Change is the only constant, as the old adage goes, but over the last century in Western culture, change has been elevated to a moral imperative, a sociopolitical ideology. The roots of this dramatic change in change are found in Modernism. This is not a loose synonym for contemporary times but, rather, an actual artistic… Continue reading

Good evening, Doc Sandlin. I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well. Was wondering if you can help me to sort through some political/ theological questions I have been confronting lately. To begin, I am a Reformed Christian. I am also, what I would describe as, a proud, patriotic American who believes… Continue reading

My problem with Julie Rodgers’ hire as Wheaton chaplain and as a speaker (she is a celibate lesbian) is certainly not that both are trying to reach out and minister to students who struggle with homosexuality (or what is nowadays sometimes euphemistically termed “same-sex attraction [or orientation]”). Homosexuality is not an “untouchable” sin, and homosexuals… Continue reading

February 2015 Update In fact, if the trumpet makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle? 1 Corinthians 14:8 Dear Friends and Supporters, The horrific Islamofascist murderers at Charlie Hebdo, the popular satirical newspaper in Paris, have exposed the dire crisis in Western liberalism, whose guiding principle has become multiculturalism. This is the relativistic… Continue reading

This is a strange article about a strange book creating a strange world. But its very strangeness is a life-and-death matter. Introduction Let’s begin by noting a short exchange between Jesus and his disciples recorded by Luke: The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like… Continue reading

A message delivered to the Fellowship of Mere Christianity, July 23, 2014 at City Church, Corpus Christi, Texas (Heb. 1:1–3) Introduction In his classic Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis compares the communion among Christians to a commodious house with a great hall. Adjoining the great hall were a series of rooms. Lewis says that “mere… Continue reading

John Gray, post-postmodernist, perpetuates the merely postmodern idea that reality and ethics must be local and “perspectival”: right and wrong are just a matter of personal preference, like “Boxers or briefs?” and “Chicken salad or tuna salad?” Universal, transcultural ethics are a humanly constructed illusion often designed to vest merely local, perspectival ethics with universal… Continue reading

John Gray, self-appointed academic assassin of the Enlightenment, observes that the United States, unlike other Western democracies, has little history of regional and local cultures that stand out as authoritative communities in the face of the universalizing culture of the Enlightenment.[1] Like many other postmodernists, Gray deplores how the Enlightenment de-privileges the local and particular.… Continue reading