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
Having first recommended books which expound the strong foundation of our faith, I have moved on to recommending books which reflect upon the milieu in which we must live our faith. Godliness is the Scripture is never merely correct doctrinal statements, signed and sealed behind glass for all to see. It is also right living… Continue Reading
Some writers are skilled builders, and it is enjoyable just to watch them work, even if you couldn’t care less what they are building. C. S. Lewis is one of those writers, and the book under consideration is one of those books. Consider: how many books you can think of from the twentieth century from… Continue Reading
This past week I spoke at the Wilds Christian Camp and Conference Center Music Conference. I was the keynote speaker for the pre-conference on Monday, I presented one general session, and I taught three workshops. Several people, both at the Wilds Music Conference and online, have asked for copies of my notes from sessions I… Continue Reading
It has been called “the second most important book you will ever read.” Whatever rank of importance it may command, there is no doubt that Christianity and Liberalism is a book conservative Christians must read repeatedly. “The purpose of this book,” Machen begins, “is not to decide the religious issue of the present day, but… Continue Reading
UPDATE (5/29/11 6:24a EST): Several people have requested that I include links to the extra hymns in these services; they are linked below. Next week I am looking forward to participating in what has become an annual gathering of conservative friends. We’ve met for the past four years for mutual encouragement, instruction, discussion, and worship.… Continue Reading
First, the conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order. This is the foundational principle of conservatism; as a Christian conservative, I would modify it thus: there is a created, enduring moral order. The point here is that the conservative is convinced that at least some things in this changeable world are unchanging, and that… Continue Reading
What I have described in this series is nothing more than historic conservative Christianity—Christianity that aims at conserving God’s truth both doctrinally and aesthetically. It is popular today to speak deridingly about “cultural conservatism” vs. “theological conservatism.” Most evangelicals and increasing numbers of fundamentalists claim that cultural conservatism is at best unnecessary and at worst legalistic. For example, Mark… Continue Reading
I have argued to this point that preserving the truth must include not only the preservation of right doctrine, but also the preservation of right imagination. As we have already seen, the imagination is shaped and cultivated through aesthetic forms. We have focused most specifically on literary forms since this is what we find in the Bible, but… Continue Reading
Conservative Christianity, at its heart, is committed to preserving transcendent ideas rooted in the very nature and character of God. It seeks to accomplish this goal through the conservative of a tradition that has nurtured the expression of those ideas for ages. If our goal as conservative Christians is to conserve biblical worship and continue to… Continue Reading
If we truly desire to be governed by and to preserve transcendent ideas about God, then our worship must be regulated by God’s Word. This commitment to the Regulative Principles of Worship solves the question of what we will include in our corporate worship, but it doesn’t necessarily address how we will do it. Conservatives have always recognized that… Continue Reading
Christian conservatism stands upon two primary pillars: 1) a commitment to align one’s ideas with transcendent absolutes that are rooted in God himself; and, 2) a commitment to preserve those traditions that have best expressed those transcendent ideas. In this essay I will explore the second of these twin pillars. In order to understand the… Continue Reading
Avoiding legalism is firstly a matter of rightly understanding what it is. To begin with, we must reject incorrect definitions of legalism. One such error is the belief that interpreting Scripture literally and applying it to modern living is a form of legalism. For some people, legalism is another word for taking Scripture literally, and… Continue Reading
Conservative Christians are not strangers to the charge of legalism. Begin tinkering with the sacred cows of worship music and Christian culture, and you will attract the title legalist like running past a hive with honey on your head attracts a swarm. As a pastor, one of the most painful things that can be said… Continue Reading
The term “conservative” gets thrown around a lot, but do people really know what it means? We’ve progressed to the point, even among those who have a heritage in fundamentalism, where “conservative” is considered a bad word; something extra-biblical, un-biblical, and even anti-biblical. For example, a pastor from Arizona wrote the following on September 26,… Continue Reading
I’m excited to announce that beginning next Monday, October 25, this site will be adding four additional regular authors to our article lineup. Up until now, I have written most of the articles published regularly on this site, with occasional guest contributors. Beginning next week however, we are adding four more regular authors: On Mondays,… Continue Reading
In part 2 of this podcast, Scott Aniol talks with TJ Klapperich and Scott Williquette about the regulative principle of worship, what the difference is between conservatives and progressives, and the influence of charismatic theology on worship. [podcast]http://www.religiousaffections.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Podcast_-God-Centered-Worship-Part-2.mp3[/podcast] Download Subscribe to our Podcast! iTunes | RSS Continue Reading
I have received several e-mails asking if parts or all custom writing paper of this series may be used in church newsletters, bulletin inserts, etc. You may feed free to use and reproduce anything on this site as long as nothing is changed and proper attribution is given! Full Paper (PDF) Part 1 – Introduction… Continue Reading
How can we conserve biblical worship? We can conserve biblical worship by regulating our worship by God’s Word, by learning to distinguish between ordinate affection and appetite and choosing worship forms that foster those affections for God, by cultivating those worship forms that have been nurtured within the community of faith, and by proactively transmitting… Continue Reading
Conservative Christians will be committed to transmitting these worship forms to future generations. This leads to my final point of discussion. If our goal as conservative Christians is to conserve biblical worship and continue to cultivate worship forms that best foster ordinate affection for God, then we must be committed to transmitting these worship forms… Continue Reading