Author: Fred Sanders
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To Be a Pilgrim: Reading Allegory Rightly
John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress has been one of the most popular books ever written in English. Samuel Johnson said it was one of only three books which make you wish it were even longer than it is (the others are Robinson Crusoe and Don Quixote). Vincent Van Gogh listed it along with the Bible and…
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John 3:16’s Systematic Theology
You can wave it on a banner at a ball game or print it underneath your In-N-Out cup; John 3:16 is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. No matter how often I see it, no matter what kind of knuckle-head has stuck it to their bumper, no matter how isolated it is…
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Mother's Day 1974
From the archives, circa 1974, we have a tribute to Mom by Freddie-Age-Six. Yes, these are drawings by Freddie-Age-Six-In-1974, father of Freddy-Age-Six-In-2007. The subject is Mom. The verdict is: “My Mom is nice. I like her.” This may seem like faint praise, but bear in mind that I wrote a whole book about my Mom…
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The Outbursts of Everett True
Everett True was a cartoon character in the first couple decades of the twentieth century. He looked like some kind of middle class Winston Churchill, portly, bowler-hatted, and always armed with an umbrella. The joke in the Everett True comics –there was really only one joke– is that True didn’t put up with all the…
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Trinity, Fountain of Salvation
It’s easy to lapse into thinking about the doctrine of the Trinity as just some information about God. There’s some kind of downward pull on our thought-lives that makes Christianity seem like a set of 35 key ideas that you have to believe and remember. It’s easy to think that “God is one being, in…
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Caterpillar ariiiiiise
Sphere upon sphere, the caterpillar rises up into the air, gesticulating with its countless leg/arms. One eye is quite round and quite large, pushing the other eye aside and squashing it to an ellipse. The artist, Phoebe Age Four, selects a bright shade of green for the image, and punctuates it with one carefully-deployed red…
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Check Out My Toy Train
I’m not saying you have to get me a Lionel toy train with a gold engine and red cars and a remote control device with dual speed levers. All I’m saying is, if I had a train like that I would hug it with both arms and have the biggest smile on my face you…
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How to Read Karl Rahner
Karl Rahner (1904-1984) is near the top of the list of most influential and important Roman Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. This Jesuit super-genius was one of the advising theological experts (periti) at Vatican II. Last year, Alvin Kimel over at the pontifications blog declared that “the theologians and clergy of the Catholic Church…
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Snow White Ornament
Phoebe Age Four produced this drawing and testified that it is a picture of Snow White. Trying to throw her arms around the world, Snow White has an expression on her face which is open to interpretation. Is she as happy as she wants us to believe? Why is her smile unsettled? Her head and…
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What’s New in Trinitarian Theology
God never changes, but theology can. The triune God never changes, but there’s always plenty to talk about and lots to learn in the field of trinitarian theology. Good books keep rolling off the presses on this central Christian doctrine (see my recs for intro books here), and there are also interesting things developing outside…
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Bike or Scooter
Dear Applicant, We regret to inform you that your request for a patent on the Bike Scooter has been rejected. The review commission’s main objection to the application is the incoherence of the device itself. You did not include a description of how the device works, and the the schematic drawing included is not rendered…
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The Prodigal Bride
Take the book of Hosea and re-tell it as a cryin’-in-my-beer tear-jerker country song. Cowboy Hosea ambles up to the jukebox, plunks in a couple quarters for that special song from their honeymoon, then turns to his honkeytonk gal and drawls, “You done me wrong, Gomer, but I still love you like you wuz the…