Category Archives: Politics and sociology

I’ve added Ross Douthat’s book Bad Religion – How We Became a Nation of Heretics to the Books We Like page. A very important book, in my view, and essential reading for all American Christians, if you’ll accept that from a Brit. It’s salutory reading for us, too, since many of the detrimental trends seen in America have either sprung up independently here or crossed the Atlantic in the holds of ships.

I’m incredibly out of touch on current church affairs in my own country. I spend too much time on the transatlantic internet. Perhaps I ought to take a Christian newspaper or something. But I noticed yesterday that the British evangelical umbrella group, the Evangelical Alliance, had reluctantly expelled an affiliated organisation.

I was directed to an interesting piece on First Things from 2007 by Richard Neuhaus, in which he coins the axion: “Where orthodoxy is optional, orthodoxy will sooner or later be proscribed.” A provocative proposition – have a look at the argument and see what you think. Incidentally the theme relates vaguely to a good book challenging the popular idea that the early Church had no orthodoxy – the familiar Dan Brown idea that there was a pot pourri of beliefs until nasty Constantine (or some other spoil-sport) forced everyone into line. It’s The Heresy of Orthodoxy by Kostenberger & Kruger.