Rogationtide

“We have been given the earth to live, not on, but with and from, and only on the condition that we care properly for it” – Wendell Berry [1]      We are mudmen. Molded from the soil and ensouled by Divine breath, humanity was given the monumental duty to image the Creator. In Hebrew, the word for “man” has its root in the word for soil. Man is inextricably linked to both the land from which we were formed and the God who formed us.  Theology does an excellent job describing that first relationship, but not so much on the second. Ecological ethics wrestles with our relation to the land, but that often fails to take into account the God who gave it to us. Scripture provides the framework for environmental ethics better than any other. The Bible portrays an ontological agrarianism rooted in God’s sovereignty which ought to compel the Church into hopeful action.              Agrarianism can be defined as “a way...

  A Hollow and Crude Failure at True Biblical Manhood. Although Foster and Tennant may have been attempting something noble, the result of their work ends up undercutting true masculinity. The “masculinity” displayed in "It’s Good to be a Man" looks more like the sinful, self-obsessed manhood of the world than the sacrificial manhood of Christ’s kingdom. The humble, compassionate masculinity of Jesus is scarcely to be found, replaced instead by far too much of the brash, self-exalting masculinity of Barabbas. Strong Biblical Manhood is wonderful, and I agree with Foster and Tennant that it is indeed nearly forgotten today, but I fear that there is little of it to be found in this book. Perhaps I am being so hard on them because we share so much common ground; I also have high expectations for authentic Christian masculinity. All in all, I probably agreed with 60-70% of the book. As a reformed complementarian, I sympathize with the impetus behind this book. I too am alarmed by...