How do we make sense of this cultural moment?

Dr Philip Jenson offers a review article on Carl R. Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2020). At the end of 2020 Carl Trueman published a book that tells the story of an inexorable and irreversible cultural shift that … Continue Reading

Understanding emerging gender identities

Mark Yarhouse is well known as a psychologist offering a Christian perspective on the complex questions around transgenderism and gender dysphoria, and I have previously reviewed his book Understanding Gender Dysphoria. He has teamed up with Julia Sadusky, a clinical psychologist and youth and ministry educator, and an advisor to Preston Sprinkle’s Center for Faith, Sexuality and … Continue Reading

How do we find our true identity?

Ed Shaw writes: Today there is so much confusion over questions of identity – especially for the younger generations the church is struggling to reach. When, for instance, it comes to our experiences of gender or sexuality the options used to be binary: “I’m a man!” or “I’m a woman!”, “I’m straight!” or “I’m gay!” – … Continue Reading

What is an evangelical?

A couple of years ago, Jon Kuhrt posted a fascinating graphic on his blog site to describe his journey of discover as a Christian. Raised as an evangelical, he was nurtured in the things in the blue column as being true markers of Christian faith. But out of a personal commitment to help others, he … Continue Reading

Security and identity

Where do you get your sense of personal security? What defines who you are? What gives you a secure sense of identity? For most of us, it will involve a range of factors—our occupation (often important for men), relationships (often important for women), our achievements, perhaps our appearance. For much of the time, we can happily get on with life without worrying about this, but there are key moments which test our security in our identity:

  • The years when we are forming our understanding of ourselves. I remember the intense competition, as a teenager in an all-boys’ school, for kudos and being in the ‘in’ group—and the freedom that came from discovering I was accepted as I was, first by Christians and then by God.

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