Identity and Idolatry
[This essay was originally published on June 29, 2012.] When you ask people, “Who are you?” they usually answer first by giving you their name. A name, however, is only a label. It does not reveal the identity of the person to whom it is attached. If you...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, part 10: Magic in Fantasy (Continued)
The Bible certainly distinguishes sources of the supernatural. Some supernatural events are caused by God. Others are caused by Satan and his forces. Satan is the prince of the power of the air and the god of this age. He and his demons can do things that are beyond...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 9: Magic in Fantasy (Beginning)
Many Christians who do not see a problem with fantasy per se are nevertheless troubled by the presence of magic in some fantastic writing. In the Christian view, real magic has exactly one source: Satan and his demons. To trifle with any form of magic (even the...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 8: Good and Bad Fantasy
We have seen that fantasy can be a powerful tool for communication. It allows us to suggest ideas imaginatively that might be resisted if they were stated explicitly. It allows us to engage sensibilities that might remain unaffected by more prosaic discourse. It...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 7: Fantasy’s Function
Over the past couple of essays we have seen two biblical examples of fantasy being used in fable. Can we learn anything about fantasy by studying these examples? I believe the answer is yes; these biblical fables offer several lessons. The first is fairly obvious:...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 6: Fantasy and Fable
As we have seen, the writers of Scripture had good reason for employing fantastic elements in their prophetic writing. The Bible also includes another kind of literature that uses fantastic elements. This kind of literature is called fable. To be clear, the biblical...
A Friend and Mentor, Part Two: The Influence of a Godly Man
I met Charles Hauser when I enrolled at Denver Baptist Theological Seminary in the fall of 1979. That semester I took two of his courses: one in theology and one on the Christian life. I can remember two statements that he made during that first semester. One was,...
A Friend and Mentor, Part One: The Facts of His Life
The young Charles A. Hauser, Jr., suffered from a speech impediment. He struggled to make himself understood. Consequently, he intended to follow his father into the world of banking, where he would be working with ledgers and financial statements rather than with the...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 5: Reasons for Fantasy
In the last essay we answered one question, but we asked another. We learned that since the Bible uses fantastic literature, and the Bible is never wrong, then fantastic literature cannot always be wrong. At least some uses of fantastic literature must be justifiable....
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 4: Is Fantasy Always Wrong?
Is fantastic literature always wrong, or can it sometimes be justifiable and moral? Everybody agrees that fantasy can be written in immoral ways or turned toward immoral purposes. Any kind of art can be used for bad purposes, and fantasy is no exception. I would never...
A Message from Ukraine
Editor’s Note: Central Baptist Theological Seminary has a genuinely global ministry. We teach students in many countries, including both Ukraine and Russia. What follows is a message from one of our students who is also a Ukrainian pastor. You may recognize the...
Let Me Say It Again
During the 1990s I was planting and pastoring Faith Independent Baptist Church in Sachse, Texas, while working on a degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. During those years I encountered two protest movements that stood at opposite ends of the political spectrum. One...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 3: What Is and Is Not the Goal
This is the third in a series of essays that try to answer the question of whether Christians can make use of fantastic literature and, if so, what use they can make. To this point the series has offered a working definition of fantastic writing, has distinguished it...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 2: A Further Distinction
The purpose of these essays is to explore the Christian’s use of fantastic literature. The discussion began with a definition of fantastic literature as belletristic writing that employs at least one of three elements: humanizing subhuman creatures, attributing...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 1: Definitions and Questions
The year was 1971, and I was a junior in high school. I needed something to do in study hall, which happened to be held in the classroom where the English teacher kept a rack of paperback books. The cover of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring caught...
Two Conversations at Once
I did not listen to much classical music while I was growing up. I can remember hearing Tchaikovsky’s Overture Solonnelle (the 1812 Overture) when I was in about eighth grade. I was fascinated by it. When at seventeen I was able to buy my own stereo, the first...
Most Interesting Reading of 2021: Part Two
Last week I provided half the list of the books that I found most interesting throughout my reading during 2021. This week I provide the other half of the list. Perhaps I should mention that these books are listed in alphabetical order by the surname of the author....
Most Interesting Reading of 2021: Part One
Every year at about this time I publish an annotated list of the books that I found most interesting during the preceding twelve months. Whenever I publish this list, I explain that I don’t necessarily agree with these books. I don’t even necessarily...
Devotion
[This essay was originally published on February 26, 2016.] Time is limited. Earthly life ends with a period or even an exclamation point, not with an ellipsis. We are granted threescore and ten years, or, if strong enough, fourscore. Anything beyond that is an excess...
A Christmas Canard
Certain professing believers are detractors of Christmas observance. They insist that real Christians must not celebrate Christmas in either their homes or their churches. The objections that they raise fall into two broad categories. The first category is grounded in...
About In the Nick of Time
Occasional Essays and Other Stuff for Christian Students Presented by the Research Professor of Systematic Theology of Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis.
American Christianity needs Christian leaders. Christian leaders explain the Scriptures, bringing them to bear upon life’s urgent questions. Christian leaders exemplify the life of faith, finding their ultimate satisfaction in God alone. They unite intellectual discipline with ordinate affection, turning their entire being toward the love of God. These essays are dedicated to the task of inviting Christian students to become tomorrow’s Christian leaders.
—Kevin T. Bauder
“Be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
APPLICATION & AID