Why is it that Paul could tell the Athenians that they were groping toward the true God, even in their idolatry?
Why is it that he could tell the Romans that "what can be known of God is plain" to the pagans?
Is the same true today?
Most evangelicals don't have a good answer. Traditionally, this question was answered in terms of "natural theology," an idea most evangelicals are liable to dismiss as Roman Catholic.

But it was clearly affirmed by no less than John Calvin:
"That there exists in the human minds and indeed by natural instinct, some sense of Deity, we hold to be beyond dispute, since God himself, to prevent any man from pretending ignorance, has endued all men with some idea of his Godhead."

Only about halfway through this monster essay, but so far, impressed by @JonathanLeeman's good-faith effort to understand and accurately summarize the contours of the debate.

9marks.org/article/a-new-… @JonathanLeeman My biggest beef is with the rhetorical and conceptual framing. To call your opponents "authoritarian" is kinda to deny a fair hearing, but more importantly, "liberty" vs. "authority" simply perpetuates the key error.
"Authority is the objective correlate of freedom"--O'Donovan

Gov. Northam’s statement on the mask mandate change in VA is clear as mud. “The mandate is being lifted to align with CDC guidance that vaccinated people may now go unmasked in most settings.” Implication: But unvaccinated people still have to mask. (1/6) He ends: “It's very simple: it’s either a shot or a mask—it's up to you.” Translation: if you don’t get vaccinated, you still have to mask. But next sentence: “If you're not vaccinated yet, we strongly encourage you to wear a mask in public.” So…you’re just “encouraged”?” (2/6)

I've always had a lot of respect for @timkellernyc, but how much did Perry and Whitehead pay him for this infomercial?
quarterly.gospelinlife.com/book-review-on… There's some great thoughts toward the end of this piece, but he offers a shockingly uncritical summary of the confused and confusing framework that Perry and Whitehead supply in their book for trying to categorize "Christian nationalism."

A thread on election fraud, political grandstanding, and incitement—expanding on my tweets last week about Hawley and Carlson.
Let us begin by stipulating the following. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, and the first rule of rhetoric is knowing one’s audience. 2. Consider three convictions (1) Widespread election fraud occurred, on such a scale that Biden “stole” the election. (2) You doubt that, but you think it’s at least possible. (3) You’re pretty sure that, despite irregularities here and there, they did not alter the outcome.

A thread on Big Tech censorship: 1. Censorship we have with us always. We can and often should complain about it, but we shouldn’t act like it’s some shocking new thing. Every society in every age has practiced various forms of censorship. Without it, society cannot hold together 2. In the past, censorship has been exercised by: church authorities, civil authorities, media magnates, powerful business interests, traditional norms, mob justice, or combinations thereof. Of these, only civil authority can censor according to publicly-accountable rule of law.