A recent discovery My wife, Gail, is an avid genealogist, and she recently made a marvelous discovery. Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, who was burned at the stake in Oxford, on October 16, 1555, in the reign of “Bloody Mary,” is part of my family story because he is my 12th great-uncle. My direct family […]
Tag: autobiography
Last week (July 17, 2020), God welcomed J. I. Packer to his life after death, with Christ, and I’m confident that he was received with a hearty: “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Many people who knew him much better than I did have published tributes to him, but I want to share my […]
I am happy to report that a new book is hot off the press, Calvinism and Middle Knowledge: A Conversation, to which I contributed two chapters and half of a third one, which was co-authored with Paul Helm. I’ll give a brief introduction to the book, and then I will trace the history of my […]
I came to the third chapter of Robert Picirilli’s book, Free Will Revisited, with particular eagerness. I concur with him “that what matters most, in the discussion of free will (or any theological issue), is what the Bible says” (p. 18). I also agree with his intent when he states that “the Bible never undertakes […]
Last year, Gail and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary, and we often had occasion during the year to thank the Lord for his kindness to us. We started dating when we were 17 and 18, so we sort of grew up together. We are grateful to have reached this stage of life with good […]
A few years ago, I wrote a post about my “habits of reading.” I revisited it today because my life has changed a bit since then, and statements I made about specific books I was reading at that time no longer are true. For that reason, I have made no such references in the update […]
While I followed the vacuum cleaner around this morning (which, by the way, I realized it to be the best carpet steam cleaner solution), I was listening to a fascinating talk by William Lane Craig about the integration of creation and evolution. (more about that on another day.) But then the battery in my mp3 […]
On July 21, 2014, I published a blog post in which I recounted the long journey I had taken toward becoming an annihilationist. At that time, I declared myself agnostic concerning the nature of hell, although I believed that the Bible taught annihilation more clearly than any other of the alternatives. Later, I was […]
I have begun to read Michael J. McClymond and Gerald R. McDermott’s masterpiece, The Theology of Jonathan Edwards, and I’m finding it wonderfully stimulating to my own theological thinking. Early in the book, I enjoyed the discussion of “the ethos and method of Edwards’ theology,” particularly as I reflected on my own method in relation […]
At his blog, Jesus Creed, Scot McKnight has reposted the account of my journey in understanding the nature of hell. Scot’s posts frequently generate an active comment thread, so I’m letting you know in case the conversation interests you.