George M. Marsden celebrates his 87th birthday today. I celebrate him.   I have known Professor Marsden for more than 45 of those 87 years, so I’ll refer to him as “George” in what follows—not (heavens, no!) as a peer, but as a very-much-junior whom he early on welcomed into friendship. According to Wikipedia, George is best known for his multiple-award-winning biography of Jonathan Edwards. But that splendid book came late in a career that was already powerfully influential

So now begin the violet days, days of bruises and honour, the time of “bright sadness,” the season of Lent.   What is Lent?   The word “Lent” has nothing to do with “lending.” It is the season of the church year anticipating Easter—and the great days following that greatest of days. Christianity grew up largely in the Mediterranean and in Europe, so lent  comes from words for spring . As Easter marks the renewal of the world in the resurrection of our Lord, so the time leadin

“Be careful what you wish for,” runs the adage. Wishing, however, doesn’t matter much to most of us. When did wishing ever make it so?   “Be careful what you pray  for” should matter to those who pray to Yhwh, Maker of heaven and earth. Yhwh is the living God, and he makes things so. Christian nationalism is in the news because it is so entwined with the Trump administration. And what happens in America happens to the rest of the world. Meanwhile, forms of Christian national