Tag Archives: conservatism

Christianity and the Alt-Right

Christianity and the Alt-Right

Kevin T. Bauder The old dictum says that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I disagree. A friend is someone who values and honors what I value. An enemy is someone who destroys or debases what I value. It is quite possible for an enemy of my enemy to destroy or debase what… Continue Reading

Conservative Christianity: The Rejection of Crisis

Conservative Christianity: The Rejection of Crisis

Kevin T. Bauder [This essay was originally published on February 27, 2009.] Conservative Christians recognize that they have received a doctrinal and moral patrimony. They wish to leave this legacy to be enjoyed by their children for generations to come. In order to conserve their heritage, they must pledge themselves both to guarding the integrity… Continue Reading

Cooperation and Culture: Conclusion

Cooperation and Culture: Conclusion

This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series That They May Be One: Conservatism, Cooperation, and the Center of Christian Unity You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

The gospel is the boundary of Christian fellowship and cooperation, but the degree to which we cooperate with others who believe the gospel will be necessarily affected by the degree to which there is agreement in important secondary matters because those secondary matters affect the gospel and our worship of God. This is the idea… Continue Reading

Philosophy and applications in the local church

Philosophy and applications in the local church

This entry is part 7 of 8 in the series That They May Be One: Conservatism, Cooperation, and the Center of Christian Unity You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Last week I argued that differences among philosophies of culture must necessarily affect cooperation on various levels of ecclesiastical cooperation. Having said this, it is important to distinguish between philosophy of culture and worship and particular applications of that philosophy. I am suggesting that agreement concerning philosophy is an important factor influencing my ability to… Continue Reading

Loud Clanging Cymbals

Loud Clanging Cymbals

In the last issue, I wrote about a speaker who deviated from his topic to deliver certain remarks—apparently extemporaneously—in defense of contemporized worship. I am not interested in indicting the speaker, but I am interested in evaluating the soundbites that found their way into his address. Last issue I discussed his suggestion that we are… Continue Reading

A New Song?

A New Song?

It is possible to disagree with people whom we respect. I had that experience earlier this year when I heard a speaker try to defend several aspects of contemporized Christianity. His name doesn’t matter, but what he said does. While I genuinely appreciate some of the leadership that this speaker has shown, his remarks in… Continue Reading

The Center of Christian Unity

The Center of Christian Unity

This entry is part 4 of 8 in the series That They May Be One: Conservatism, Cooperation, and the Center of Christian Unity You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

The purpose of this series is to ask the question of whether a conservative philosophy of worship and culture should affect ecclesiological cooperation. For the past several weeks I have been explaining how I define conservative Christianity. Conservative Christians believe in absolute standards of truth, goodness, and beauty and in preserving certain cultural forms and… Continue Reading

Reading to Understand Conservatism

Reading to Understand Conservatism

The current political season has revealed that many avowed conservatives are less driven by ideas than they are by resentment and ambition. The turn from thoughtful conservatism to a conservatism of bitterness is unfortunate. Conservatism begins with ideas before it moves on to policies and then political candidates. Sadly, few today who label themselves conservative… Continue Reading

The Importance of Form

The Importance of Form

This entry is part 3 of 8 in the series That They May Be One: Conservatism, Cooperation, and the Center of Christian Unity You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Last week I briefly summarized what I consider the first pillar of conservative Christianity–affirmation of transcendent truth, goodness, and beauty–and spent a bit of time on absolute beauty since it is the transcendental often overlooked. The purpose of explaining these principles is that I will later ask the question of whether these issues are important… Continue Reading

There are no conservative hermits

There are no conservative hermits

The following is excerpted and adapted from an address that I had the privilege of offering at a recent gathering of conservative friends, on the nature of pastoral love. As many of you have found (and despite accusations to the contrary), conservatism is a much broader set of commitments than a particular music preference. Among… Continue Reading

Paul the Cultural Conservative

Paul the Cultural Conservative

One of the most difficult passages of Paul’s writings to interpret is 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. In this passage, Paul commands Christian women who are praying or prophesying to cover their heads. At almost every turn, interpretative issues arise. Part of the problem is that we have very little understanding of cultural practices of the time that… Continue Reading

Knowledge Puffs Up

Knowledge Puffs Up

Love edifies. It builds up others. When Christians love other believers, they take concrete steps to help them spiritually. When God loves his people, he acts on that love by transforming us into people who glorify him (through justification and sanctification and the other benefits of our calling in Christ). Love looks similar in our… Continue Reading

Article 15: On Local Churches and the Sovereignty of God

Article 15: On Local Churches and the Sovereignty of God

This entry is part 17 of 17 in the series A Conservative Christian Declaration You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

This is a series to further explain the articles of “A Conservative Christian Declaration.” . We affirm the primacy of the local church in the conservation and nourishment of historic, biblical Christianity. We affirm that godly elders must patiently teach God’s Word and model right belief, living, and loving (1 Tim. 3:15, 4:16). We further affirm… Continue Reading

We Must Perpetuate a Conservative Christianity

We Must Perpetuate a Conservative Christianity

Many Christians today are understandably concerned about the state of our nation. There seems to be corruption on many levels, and very few politicians appear worthy to be trusted. Where will our nation be in 10 years, when my children reach adulthood? What will it look like? What kinds of things that are mildly tolerated… Continue Reading

Lewis, liturgy as dance, and the regulative principle

Lewis, liturgy as dance, and the regulative principle

Some time ago, I posted a link here to one of my favorite quotes from the eminently quotable C. S. Lewis. Lewis offers a comparison between liturgy and dance: both must be learned, he suggests, so that when they are employed, they needn’t be thought about. When dancing (I suppose, not having any experience here myself),… Continue Reading

Accepting sola scriptura and arguing musical style

Accepting sola scriptura and arguing musical style

This is a little intro piece that I’ve written for some friends who have asked for a basic defense of musical conservatism. It hardly gets us to full-blown conservatism, but at least offers the structure of why I think the Bible, while not addressing musical style, still gives us a standard for musical style. _____… Continue Reading

The Lord is God (still)

The Lord is God (still)

As conservatives, it can be easy to grow discouraged. There are very few of us. It seems that all of American Christianity (sorry, David de Bruyn) is abandoning the way of worship that we understand to be reverent. The good, the  true, and the beautiful rarely brings in an audience. Our churches are shrinking. Fundamentalism… Continue Reading

Why do we think new is better?

Why do we think new is better?

New and improved! Fresh! The latest! Exciting! You don’t have to go far in our society today to witness claims of having the newest, latest product. One would not think of buying something old, stale, and “so yesterday.” This applies to commercial products that are marketed by clever advertisers, but, unfortunately, it also often applies… Continue Reading

The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk

The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk

This entry is part 9 of 18 in the series Books Every Conservative (and Liberal) Christian Should Read You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

“In the United States at this time Liberalism is not only the dominant but even the sole intellectual tradition,” Lionel Trilling famously declared in 1950. There was truth in what Trilling said, but not the whole truth. Three years later a young professor from Michigan State University conceded, “For a century and a half, conservatives… Continue Reading

Cultural skepticism, the opposite of worldliness

Cultural skepticism, the opposite of worldliness

Conservatism will have little attraction for those who fail to be skeptical of their own culture. The skepticism of which I speak must run deep; there is a sort of piecemeal skepticism that is insufficient for the task. A pack of these two-bit skeptics is currently busy occupying various cities. It is comparatively unusual for… Continue Reading