June 2026
Podcasts
It seems fitting in light of Father’s Day to consider the growing body of research verifying the important role that fathers play in raising children. Check out this podcast in which Jordan Peterson interviews author Warren Farrell about “The Absolute Necessity of Fathers” as they discuss the critical social and psychological impact involved fathers have on sons (as well as daughters).
Independence Day is just around the corner. This year, July 4, 2026, marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. There are different opinions about how that should be celebrated and how the history of the United States is most accurately evaluated. For example, how should we view the legitimacy of the Revolutionary War against England? What do we make of some of the founding fathers promoting liberty for all while at the same time owning slaves? One of the more complicated figures in our nation’s history, not only because of his political views but also his religious views, was Thomas Jefferson. Listen to a theologian and two historians discuss how we can wisely and humbly navigate the complexities of history as Christians, as well as how we can reflect on Jefferson’s legacy by checking out this 2022 Credo podcast. [FYI: A 6-part series on Jefferson is available for viewing on Amazon Prime].
Articles
The elders recently finished a book by Jonathan Landry Cruse called What Happens When We Worship (you can read Pastor Bob’s review of the book here. In his book, Cruse stresses the importance of preparing ourselves for Sunday mornings, citing a 2014 article by Jason Helopoulos suggesting some ways to do that. If you (and your family) currently lack practices that get you ready for Sunday morning worship, read the article by Helopoulos and consider implementing some of the preparatory habits he mentions in the coming weeks and months.
“Preparing for Sunday Worship”
In fall of 2025 I taught a class on the psalms at the Alcuin Study Center. As part of that class, we read some of the imprecations – verses in which the psalmist calls for God to destroy his enemies. What are we to make of these parts of the psalms? Are these kinds of prayers permissible for Christians today? Are these kinds of songs proper for Christian worship? How are they compatible with the teaching of Jesus to love and pray for our enemies? You can check out a recent article I wrote for the Alcuin Study Center in which I address the challenges of interpreting and applying the imprecatory psalms.
““O That You Would Slay the Wicked, O God": Wrestling with the Imprecatory Psalms
6W Chronicles: Brief Profiles in Church History
As a way to introduce readers to some influential figures in the church’s past, the 6W Chronicles briefly address six questions: Who? When? Where? What did they do? Why should we know about them? What works can I reference by or about them?
Who? Justin Martyr
When? c. AD100–165
Where? Justin was born near the modern city of Nablus in Samaria to Greek parents. While in Ephesus he studied philosophy, especially Platonism, in a search for God. After an elderly man pointed him to the Hebrew prophets and to Jesus, he converted to Christianity and eventually ended up in Rome around AD135, where he remained to teach and write.
What did he do? Rather than abandoning the Greek philosophers altogether, Justin wore a philosopher’s cloak and engaged in the public intellectual discourse of his day with the aim of showing how the best pagan philosophies could be integrated with Christian truth. For him, Christianity was the true and highest philosophy that corrected and completed Greek philosophy, ultimately with the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Divine Logos. Since Justin saw Jesus as the source of all reason, wisdom, and truth, whatever was true in pagan philosophy was ultimately a reflection of him. Justin’s surviving written works include his First Apology, the Second Apology (which some suggest may not be authentic), and his Dialogue with Trypho. In his Apology, Justin defended Christianity to the Roman authorities against the false and ignorant charges of atheism, immorality, and disloyalty to the Roman Empire. Justin argued that the Christian faith was philosophically defensible and that the virtues cultivated by Christianity should not only be tolerated and given legal protection, but were positively good for society. The Dialogue with Trypho records a discussion between Justin and a Jewish rabbi (possibly the historical Tarphon) in which he made a case for the superiority of Christianity over Judaism. Despite his efforts to defend the faith to the Roman authorities, he was eventually arrested, tried, and beheaded in Rome in AD165 under the prefect Rusticus during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Thus he is known as Justin “Martyr.”
Why should we know about him? Justin was one of the earliest Christian apologists who defended the faith in the face of misunderstanding, false accusations, and imperial persecution. His First Apology provides a very valuable early description of the church’s worship and observance of the Lord’s Supper. Justin serves as a model of courageous public engagement – making the case for Christianity within the philosophical and cultural categories of his day without compromising. His martyrdom reminds us that the Christian faith is not only worth defending without compromise but worth dying for without compromise.
Works? Justin’s writings, including the First Apology, Second Apology, and Dialogue with Trypho, are widely available for purchase online. You can find them for free on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library’s website. For biographies about Justin Martyr, check out L. W. Barnard’s “Justin Martyr: His Life and Thought” or the shorter (and cheaper) volume by Francis M. Bennet called “Saint Justin Martyr: Christianity’s First Great Defender.”
Theolingo: Building Your Theological Vocabulary
Theolingo aims to help you expand your learning of important theological terms. This month’s term is the Septuagint.
The Septuagint refers to the Greek translation of the Old Testament produced between ~250-150BC. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Greek language became the dominant language within his vast territory, including for the Jewish people who remained in Greek-speaking areas even after the exile. This gave rise to the need for a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. According to an ancient Jewish document called the Letter of Aristeas, Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt (285-247BC) asked the Jewish high priest to send six translators from each of the tribes (seventy-two in all) to translate the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) into Greek. According to this story, the translators completed their work in seventy-two days. Further legend has it that each translator worked independently from the others and yet they all produced the exact same translation from the Hebrew text.
The alleged number of translators as well as the number of days it is said to have taken to finish the work explains the name (“Septuagint” comes from the Latin term meaning “seventy) as well as the frequently used abbreviation from Roman numerals that refers to the collection (“LXX” = seventy). Strictly speaking, the Septuagint refers to the Greek translation of the Pentateuch, but it has come to refer to all of the Old Testament books translated into Greek.
There are some differences between the Hebrew Old Testament and the Septuagint. For example, the Septuagint arrangement of books follows a different order than the Hebrew Bible. Also, Psalms 9 and 10 are one psalm in the Septuagint so Psalm 11 in the Hebrew canon (and in our English translations) is Psalm 10 in the LXX, Psalm 51 with David’s confession, is Psalm 50, and so on. Finally, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings are listed as 1, 2, 3, and 4 Kingdoms while Ezra and Nehemiah are designated 1 and and 2 Esdras respectively.
Awareness of the Septuagint is important for Bible readers since the New Testament quotes from it often (see, for example, Peter’s speech in Acts 15:17). The New Testament witnesses to the revelation of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament expectation were not left to grasp at Greek words from the surrounding secular and paganly religious culture for their books, letters, and early sermons. Rather, they were able to select terminology intentionally from the Septuagint with an already established theological meaning.
Quotes
After searching for truth in philosophy, Justin Martyr eventually found the truth in a person: Jesus of Nazareth. Justin described his conversion experience in his Dialogue with Trypho.
“Straightway a flame was kindled in my soul; and a love of the prophets, and of those men who were friends of Christ, possessed me; and while revolving his words in my mind, I found this [Christian] philosophy alone to be safe and profitable. Thus, and for this reason, I am a philosopher. Moreover, I wish that everyone, making a resolution similar to my own, would not keep themselves away from the words of the Savior.” – Justin Martyr
I have recently started reading Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards, in which he attempts to explain the role of emotions in the Christian life. Near the end of part one, he offers some balanced insights.
“True spirituality must be something more than pure emotion – and yet we cannot be truly spiritual if our hearts are untouched … Just as there is no true religion where there is nothing but emotion, so there is no true religion where there is no religious emotion at all … When we are prejudiced against all religious emotions, we allow our hearts to be hardened, and we stunt the life and power of religion, condemning ourselves to dullness and apathy. There are false emotions and there are true. Because a person is very emotional does not prove that he has any true religion – but if he has no emotion, it proves he has no true religion. The right way is not to reject all feeling, nor to approve all, but to distinguish between emotions, approving some and rejecting others, separating the wheat from the chaff, the gold from the dross, the precious from the worthless.” – Jonathan Edwards
Final Thought
The Word of God cannot possibly have full and final authority in your life if you don’t know what it says. Keep listening. Keep reading. Keep studying.
