The Humanitas Forum

It’s not what you’d expect from a youth minister:  “Youth enjoys no special privilege in the church-community.”  This line was penned in the late 1930s by the Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer who spent most of his pastoral career …

What is the chief end of God?  The “chief end of God is to glorify us and to be useful to us indefinitely.”  This inversion of the opening line of the Westminster Confession is theologian Leander Keck’s way …

Birthed in an age of political intrigue and religious reformation, the Book of Common Prayer has had a long and influential as well as complicated life.  Even after almost 500 years, its influence on Christian worship is “a big …

When churches grow, where do these new members come from?  And why have they chosen this particular church?  These questions have bedeviled church leaders, especially those in megachurches, for decades.  The search for answers has provided employment …

Sound, expository preaching is not a “magic bullet.”  It is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for being a good minister of the Gospel.  This is the argument made by Manhattan (New York) pastor Tim Keller.  While …

In the early 1800s, Søren Kierkegaard wrote that “sleepy passions” are unworthy of “beings made in the image of God.”  His complaint against his age was not that it was wicked.  Rather, “my complaint is that it is …

Some of the most important questions never get asked!  Certain things seem so obvious that we never think to inquire into their nature.  Reading is one of those things.  It’s taken for granted that reading is for …

“To need God is a human being’s highest perfection.”  Describing this proposition as an “upbuilding thought,” Søren Kierkegaard presented it to his Danish readers as a way of introducing them to the essence of Christianity.  And Paul’s second …

Where is God?  Why does God let such things happen?  Why is he silent?  Anguish, desolation and despondency are frequently the lot of those who have raised such questions down through the ages.  Often, the asker …

My apologies!  I’m back to blogging after a long hiatus—seven weeks to be exact.  This was unplanned, and I should have kept everyone apprised of my schedule.  Again, please accept my apology

The busyness of life …