Showing results by author "Douglas Wilson" in All Categories

Many conservatives are ready to give up fighting against the legalization of marijuana. “Hasn’t the war on drugs been a failure?” they ask. Libertarians turn this surrender into a virtue: “People should be free to do what they want, as long as they’re not hurting anyone.” But as Christians, we must be ready to swim against the tide, even when it’s no longer cool. Liberty for potheads means tyranny for everyone, including the smokers enslaved by the drug.

You can sin with food in many ways: by not sharing it, but eating way too much of it, or by throwing it across the restaurant table, for example. But you do not sin with food by bowing your head over it, saying grace with true gratitude in your heart, and tucking in. Sharp-edged but humorous, Confessions of a Food Catholic addresses the unscriptural approach to food that many Christians have developed in recent years. (By the way, a "food catholic" is somebody who accepts all eaters of all foods, even if the food catholic himself doesn't actually eat quinoa.)

Longtime pastor Douglas Wilson takes a hammer to some of our very favorite graven images, and (surprise, surprise) we've set up display cases for most of them in our churches: liturgy, tradition, systematics, infant baptism, and that crafty old Baal doctrine. Alongside a critique of philosophical assumptions about human nature, dualism, and grace, Wilson stresses the unavoidable and absolute necessity of individual hearts being born again. He concludes by laying out the case for the church.

Once captured and enslaved in Tripoli, Thomas Watson has escaped at last and vowed never to return. Susannah Wilcox secretly longs for adventure and is thrilled when she is sent to Naples to finish her education. Jules Monroe is freeborn but longs to prove to himself and the wider world that he is a man, out on the sea with his cousin Samuel. Their stories all meet in 1803 aboard the Philadelphia, a 36-gun frigate. Unfortunately, the ship has fallen into the hand of Barbery pirates, and such a powerful weapon will allow them to decimate the United States’ fledgling navy.

The repetition of Christmas traditions can appear to dull the powerful nature of the holiday. God Rest Ye Merry is meant to rekindle the Christian's understanding of Advent on every front, from politics to shopping to uproarious celebration.

In this collection of essays, Douglas Wilson explores all sorts of areas where the Bible should be applied in our lives--but isn’t. From the home to the public square, from the marriage bed to the pulpit, Doug uses Scriptural wisdom to expose the rot of our modern culture, and to show us how to build a culture with Christ at its center.

It's election season - America's most lucrative sport - and there are no rules. When climate scientist Dr. Helen Gardner accidentally reads an email from the International Task Force on Climate Change which proves that global warming is a lucrative scam, she's shocked and horrified. But that's nothing compared to how she feels the next day when her boss (the head of the Task Force) tries to have her killed. Helen goes into hiding with the help of her neighbor, a "fundy" Bible college professor named Cody, and an anti-eco-activist lumberjack-writer.

It is no secret that our world desperately needs change. Politicians know this and use it to collect votes. Journalists exploit it to sell newspapers and magazines. Advertisers, to sell everything else. Each of these groups (and countless others) spend their lives working to convince others that they hold the key to a better country, a better life, a better future. But what exactly is this change we all long for? And how can it ever come about?

Doug provides a primer to help understand and respond to the infinitely elastic sexuality demanded by nihilistic evolutionary postmodernism. Once you deny God and reality, sexual identity is free to be defined however we want. These and other issues are addressed in this short series of punchy pamphlets. These bite-size guides—digestible in a sitting or two—are great introductions to cultural hot topics.

When we say, "God is an omniscient God," what does that really mean? Some deny this doctrine, arguing that since God has given us "free will", it must be impossible for Him to see and know all things. But as Doug Wilson points out, if we want to worship an ignorant God, then we will become an ignorant people. This essay works through key biblical texts which demonstrate God's all-seeing, all-knowing nature. Wilson explains what they teach us about the Gospel and our salvation.

In this audiobook, Douglas Wilson combines G. K. Chesterton-like prose with the Apostles' Creed and explains such doctrines as the trinity, creation, fall, salvation, Scripture, and the church with clarity and imagination. Rather than seeing fundamentalist doctrines as a narrow and confining straitjacket, Wilson sees them as the only way for people to find true freedom and joy.

Finding love is painful when you're crippled by the past. Savannah Westmoreland has come to the town of Paradise Valley to start afresh. But when her mysterious new pastor and the town's most powerful businessman both begin to compete for her affection, Savannah realizes she will have to face her past once and for all or leave Paradise forever. But there's more to the story - and more danger lurking - than Savannah knows.

In this collection of essays, Douglas Wilson talks about one of the most beloved Christian writers of the 20th-century: C.S. Lewis. Lewis was the kind of writer who, whether you agree with him or not, will edify and sharpen you. Douglas Wilson discusses everything from Lewis's odd images of salvation in The Last Battle to Lewis's view of creation to his take on Heaven, Hell, and education.

This does not mean a withdrawal from politics to our own communities and churches. Instead, we Christians must take what we have learned from the wreck of secularism and build a Christendom of the New Foundation: A network of nations bound together by a formal, public, civic acknowledgement of the lordship of Jesus Christ and the fundamental truth of the Apostles' Creed.

They all walk toward the Abyss for different reasons, each of them with varying persuasions. Along the way, they meet Evangelist, and as a result, they face the Great Persuasion. Some of their conversations are recorded in this audiobook.

America's first poet, Anne Bradstreet, wrote poems regularly for her family's private enjoyment. But in 1647, unbeknownst to Anne, her brother-in-law set sail for England with a manuscript of her poetry. Upon his return, he presented her book to her: The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America. Anne was thoroughly embarrassed but also pleased. Subsequent generations have valued her gifts as a poet as well, and her poetry remains in print to this day.

Wordsmithy is for writers of every sort, whether experienced veterans, still just hoping, or somewhere in between. Through a series of out-of-the-ordinary lessons, each with its own takeaway points and recommended readings, Douglas Wilson provides indispensable guidance, showing how to develop the writer's craft and the kind of life from which good writing comes.

2020 has been a year like no other. Thankfully, there was a No Quarter November to match. When he writes, Douglas Wilson usually offers qualifications for the statements that tend to ruffle feathers, and anticipates objections with nuance and balance. In this collection of NQN 2020 essays, Douglas Wilson addresses the election mayhem, women's ministries, the enneagram, the "gift of singleness", and much more.

In Five Cities that Ruled the World, theologian Douglas Wilson fuses together, in compelling detail, the critical moments birthed in history’s most influential cities—Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York.

This anthology of over a hundred poems written by Calvinists is a surprising introduction to the aesthetics of the Reformed tradition. Who knew there was such a host of Calvinist poets? Containing notes and short biographies to aid your enjoyment, this collection is the perfect starting point for appreciating these men and women—and the faith that inspired their words.