From the FounderFrom the Founderhttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/2013-01-30T00:02:00ZSquarespaceQuestions on Barnaby Rudgehttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/questions-on-barnaby-rudge.htmlJohn Mark Reynolds2013-01-29T23:46:19Z2013-01-29T23:46:19ZBarnaby Rudge defies Hollywood and shows that the Victorians were better than we are in at least on respect: they would read a longish novel centered on a “fool.” They might have used the term “idiot,” but they not only allowed him dignity, but would cheer for him too. This first of Dickens’ two historical novels (with the better Tale of Two Cities) centers on the Gordon Riots in 1790 London. They have the relationship to Dickens that the First World War has to me: distant memories of his great-grandsires...]]>Questions on Dombey and Sonhttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/questions-on-dombey-and-son.htmlWheatstone Ministries2013-01-21T22:04:16Z2013-01-21T22:04:16Z
Mr. Dombey is a miserable man: miserable to know, miserable in his person. He takes a good thing, a family business, and worships it. He is proud and, in his pride, overlooks the best gift God has given him: his daughter. Christians are all feminists, if by feminism one means the equal and full humanity of women and men before Providence. If you doubt the necessity of feminism, you could either read your favorite news site, or you might read Dombey and Son. ]]>Questions on Bleak Househttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/questions-on-bleak-house.htmlWheatstone Ministries2013-01-16T21:28:48Z2013-01-16T21:28:48Z
Bleak House is not very bleak... unless you think your passions should be rewarded. The novel celebrates humility and temperance, two virtues that Netflix is unlikely to turn into a series. Bleak House characters that do not moderate their passions aren’t just evil and failures, one even spontaneously combusts! Young adults sitting in darkened rooms playing hours of games, swilling too much caffeine, and eating microwaved food, be warned...]]>Questions on Martin Chuzzlewithttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/questions-on-martin-chuzzlewit.htmlJohn Mark Reynolds2013-01-02T22:46:52Z2013-01-02T22:46:52Z
Charles Dickens just turned two hundred. To celebrate his birthday, I am reading all his novels and short stories. Why not join me? My first was Martin Chuzzlewit,, because it deals with selfishness, which seemed appropriate around the Holidays. Selfishness is so easy after getting gifts. My desire for Epic Mickey 2 and the new Madden games were not the only kinds of selfishness I had to battle, like Mickey killing a blot..]]>The King of Love Has Comehttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/the-king-of-love-has-come.htmlWheatstone Ministries2012-12-05T01:39:07Z2012-12-05T01:39:07Z
“If you are not loving, then you are missing Christmas.”
The good news is that nobody I have ever met disagrees with this idea. The bad news is that some of us have used it to reduce Christmas to “love.”
Do not get me wrong; love is great! Love, correctly understood, is the greatest energy a man or woman can find. But that is because it is the power, the passion, that drives us to see God...]]>What Dickens Teacheshttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/what-dickens-teaches.htmlWheatstone Ministries2012-11-27T02:08:55Z2012-11-27T02:08:55Z
For one hundred fifty years we have been reading Dickens, feeling every one of the first hundred-fifty pages of his novels, but then wondering, in the last one hundred-fifty pages, why we ever read anyone else. His books defy fashion. Their morality is too Christian for modern secularism, but not dogmatic enough for the doctrinaire believer....]]>Jesus Lets Us Disagreehttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/jesus-lets-us-disagree.htmlWheatstone Ministries2012-10-26T23:22:17Z2012-10-26T23:22:17Z
Christians disagree. We do not disagree about everything. We agree about the things that make it possible to call us by one name, “Christians.” But we argue about a great many things. Serious disagreements between friends are unpleasant, and sometimes I wonder why God allows them. Sometimes I think we should just fix it...]]>Being Bad at Arthttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/being-bad-at-art.htmlJohn Mark Reynolds2012-06-01T18:14:19Z2012-06-01T18:14:19Z
I quit writing poetry. All of my junior high and high school years I crafted poetry. At least, I wrote things I thought of as poetry, but they are really most charitably described as nothing more than broken prose. With all the enthusiasm and arrogance of youth, I shipped a poem off to a mentor, a real poet. And in fact, he did, most charitably, describe my poetry as not-poetry...]]>A Bad Argumenthttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/a-bad-argument.htmlPeter David Gross2012-05-04T22:38:26Z2012-05-04T22:38:26ZA bad argument is bad even if a Christian makes it, and here are two bad arguments that Christians sometimes make. They don’t make these arguments because they are Christians, just because they are not thinking well. Sometimes, when backed into an intellectual corner, Christians will say, “Well, it is all a mystery. I cannot understand it, but I believe it” . . .]]>Dealing with the Factshttp://wheatstoneministries.com/founder/dealing-with-the-facts.htmlJohn Mark Reynolds2012-04-25T23:35:19Z2012-04-25T23:35:19ZThe Barna researchers tell us that one reason people leave the Faith is that they find the exclusive nature of Christianity hard to swallow. They can accept that it is true, but not that it is the Truth. Only man narrow enough to see down a straw with both eyes would be unsympathetic to this worry . . .]]>
Barnaby Rudge defies Hollywood and shows that the Victorians were better than we are in at least on respect: they would read a longish novel centered on a “fool.” They might have used the term “idiot,” but they not only allowed him dignity, but would cheer for him too. This first of Dickens’ two historical novels (with the better Tale of Two Cities) centers on the Gordon Riots in 1790 London. They have the relationship to Dickens that the First World War has to me: distant memories of his great-grandsires...]]>
Mr. Dombey is a miserable man: miserable to know, miserable in his person. He takes a good thing, a family business, and worships it. He is proud and, in his pride, overlooks the best gift God has given him: his daughter. 
Bleak House is not very bleak... unless you think your passions should be rewarded. The novel celebrates humility and temperance, two virtues that Netflix is unlikely to turn into a series. Bleak House characters that do not moderate their passions aren’t just evil and failures, one even spontaneously combusts! Young adults sitting in darkened rooms playing hours of games, swilling too much caffeine, and eating microwaved food, be warned...]]>
Charles Dickens just turned two hundred. To celebrate his birthday, I am reading all his novels and short stories. Why not join me? My first was Martin Chuzzlewit,, because it deals with selfishness, which seemed appropriate around the Holidays. Selfishness is so easy after getting gifts. My desire for Epic Mickey 2 and the new Madden games were not the only kinds of selfishness I had to battle, like Mickey killing a blot..]]>
“If you are not loving, then you are missing Christmas.”
The good news is that nobody I have ever met disagrees with this idea. The bad news is that some of us have used it to reduce Christmas to “love.”
Do not get me wrong; love is great! Love, correctly understood, is the greatest energy a man or woman can find. But that is because it is the power, the passion, that drives us to see God...]]>
For one hundred fifty years we have been reading Dickens, feeling every one of the first hundred-fifty pages of his novels, but then wondering, in the last one hundred-fifty pages, why we ever read anyone else. His books defy fashion. Their morality is too Christian for modern secularism, but not dogmatic enough for the doctrinaire believer....]]>
Christians disagree. We do not disagree about everything. We agree about the things that make it possible to call us by one name, “Christians.” But we argue about a great many things. Serious disagreements between friends are unpleasant, and sometimes I wonder why God allows them. Sometimes I think we should just fix it...]]>
I quit writing poetry. All of my junior high and high school years I crafted poetry. At least, I wrote things I thought of as poetry, but they are really most charitably described as nothing more than broken prose. With all the enthusiasm and arrogance of youth, I shipped a poem off to a mentor, a real poet. And in fact, he did, most charitably, describe my poetry as not-poetry...]]>
A bad argument is bad even if a Christian makes it, and here are two bad arguments that Christians sometimes make. They don’t make these arguments because they are Christians, just because they are not thinking well. Sometimes, when backed into an intellectual corner, Christians will say, “Well, it is all a mystery. I cannot understand it, but I believe it” . . .]]>
The Barna researchers tell us that one reason people leave the Faith is that they find the exclusive nature of Christianity hard to swallow. They can accept that it is true, but not that it is the Truth. Only man narrow enough to see down a straw with both eyes would be unsympathetic to this worry . . .]]>