Category: Culture

Theopolis Podcast: Paths to Human Maturity, An Interview with Dr David Field

~ Alastair Roberts ~ Leave a comment

In this episode of the Theopolis Podcast, Peter Leithart and I are joined by Dr David Field, to discuss his work in the area of psychology and counselling. Dr Field’s work has been vigorously discussed on the Theopolis blog (see this opening post and the responses linked at the top) and elsewhere over the last month.

You can follow the Theopolis podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, and on most podcast apps. You can read show notes over on the Theopolis podcast website. You can also see past episodes I have contributed to by clicking the ‘Theopolis Podcast’ link in the bar above.

Conversation with Paul VanderKlay on Jordan Peterson, Social Justice, Gender, the Church

~ Alastair Roberts ~ Leave a comment

I’ve followed Paul VanderKlay’s YouTube channel for some time. Paul is a minister in the Christian Reformed Church of North America, based in Sacramento. Seeing a profound interest in deep conversations with young men in particular following the rise of Jordan Peterson, he has made such conversations a key dimension of his ministry and now has a large following and extensive engagement with a demographic that so many other ministers are uncertain of how to reach. He recently invited me to have a conversation with him on his channel. We had a long call yesterday and this was the result.

You can also listen to the conversation in podcast format on Podbean or iTunes.

Transcript for Should We Sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Jesus at Christmas

~ Alastair Roberts ~ Leave a comment

One of my supporters has very kindly transcribed this video, in which I address the novel practice of singing Happy Birthday to Jesus at Christmas time. I don’t have time to transcribe my videos myself, so anyone willing to volunteer to transcribe one video every week or fortnight would be greatly appreciated! The transcript is very lightly edited at a few points for the purpose of comprehension.

Continue reading “Transcript for Should We Sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Jesus at Christmas” →

Should We Sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Jesus at Christmas? (#QTWTAIN)

~ Alastair Roberts ~ 1 Comment

I recently ran into a new (to me?) liturgical trend that seems to be suddenly ubiquitous, and that, at least initially caught me somewhat flat footed: Celebrating Christmas by singing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus, and/or making part of the Christmas celebration a birthday party for Jesus.

My initial feeling is that this celebration is extremely misguided, and I think I can articulate some objections; but I’m having some difficulty clearly and thoroughly articulating an objection (assuming it is problematic), and I don’t know how to respond well. What are your thoughts on this sort of liturgical practice, and how to respond to it well? I’m particularly concerned regarding the catechesis of my daughter.

(RE: Its ubiquity: Today our pastor said the church would sing “Happy Birthday to Jesus” in the liturgy after the Christ candle in the advent wreath is lit–as if the Christ candle were His birthday candle(!), and there’d be birthday cake for Jesus after the service; my daughter sang it as part of her preschool’s Christmas celebration; and my nephew’s LCMS Christmas celebration was a celebration of “The birthday of our best friend, Jesus”.)

Continue reading “Should We Sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Jesus at Christmas? (#QTWTAIN)” →