(1) In Defense of Christendom: Having ignored its inheritance, Europe wonders why its house is falling apart. (Wall Street Journal)
***This column may be the best thing you read this week. Here’s a clip:
“The death of Europe is in sight. …Europe is dying because it has become morally incompetent. It isn’t that Europe stands for nothing. It’s that it stands for shallow things, shallowly. Europeans believe in human rights, tolerance, openness, peace, progress, the environment, pleasure. These beliefs are all very nice, but they are also secondary. …What Europeans no longer believe in are the things from which their beliefs spring: Judaism and Christianity; liberalism and the Enlightenment; martial pride and capability; capitalism and wealth. Still less do they believe in fighting or sacrificing or paying or even arguing for these things. Having ignored and undermined their own foundations, they wonder why their house is coming apart. What is Europe? It is Greece not Persia; Rome not Carthage; Christendom not the caliphate. These distinctions are fundamental. To say that Europe is a civilization apart is not to say it is better or worse. It is merely to say: This is us and that is you. Nor is it to say that Europe ought to be a closed civilization. It merely needs to be one that doesn’t dissolve on contact with the strangers it takes into its midst.”
(2) Pastor-Rapper Trip Lee Shares About His ’Organic Journey’ Toward Calvinism, (Christian Post)
(3) More Presbyterians Vote to Leave, (Roanoke Times)
***Here is a church willing to pay a hefty price tag to get out of the liberal PCUSA. One wonders how many congregations would jump at the chance to get out, if they had a “no cost” window of opportunity.
“Under those terms, First Presbyterian will change its name to First Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Roanoke. The church will keep control over its historic building on South Jefferson Street, appraised at $3.9 million, but will pay the Presbytery $800,000 over the next 10 years and hand it the title to the church’s manse.”
(4) Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College, listed these 6 books people should read if they want to save Western civilization. (HT)
(5) An update on the praying, football coach: Washington School District Negotiating (AP)
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