November 2025 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. My brief editorial, “When Politics Is Not a Religion,” looks at the problem of the serious divisions in our nation over politics. I will give a short answer to the question, “Why do some disagree strongly on politics and yet have deep friendships, while others break off relationships?”

While the study of the Classics is declining in the academy, David Noe brings his considerable classical learning to bear in his article “Why Pastors Should Read the Greco-Roman Classics.” As a former professor of Classics and now a pastor, his wisdom is worth heeding. He offers fascinating and informative discussions of Greco-Roman culture on the Ad Navseam podcast, where “Classical gourmands everywhere can finally get their fill.” Noe teams up with Dr. Jeff Winkle for lively discussions. His Latin Per Diem YouTube channel provides a brief daily dose of Latin.

W. H. Auden’s famous English 135 syllabus for a University of Michigan course in 1941 titled “Fate and the Individual in European Literature” recommended Charles Norris Cochrane’s Christianity and Classical Culture[1] as part of the critical reading list. I was assigned that fabulous book at Covenant College in 1974 and am rereading it as part of my retirement remedial classics studies. Auden’s extensive syllabus is my reading list, because all my favorite poets, Auden included, were classically educated. The church should be a repository of classical and all learning as we enter a new intellectual and spiritual dark age. David Noe can help.

Fundamentalism, of course, has a historical reference in our church’s past, but more generally it indicates an attitude. Fundamentalism is a black and white way of thinking. And it has an answer for everything. There is only one way of believing and living. Everyone must conform. This is what I see in parts of the Reformed church. While the particulars will vary from place to place, the rigid attitude remains. “God, I thank you that I am not like other men” (Luke 18:11).

So, we have our first Servant Exchange in years. Peter Van Doodewaard is responding to John Mahaffy’s article “The Church’s [Not So] New Fundamentalism” (June-July), to which Mahaffy gets the last word. It has been heartening to me to see these two brothers in Christ have a civil discussion over an important issue, while treating each other with respect.

Danny Olinger continues the series “Jesus, Stab Me in the Heart! Flannery O’Connor at 100” with an analysis of the O’Connor novel Wise Blood, part 1. This was O’Connor’s first novel, published in 1952. Each month Olinger has been reflecting on a sample of O’Connor’s short stories, and now a novel. (I recommend O’Connor: Collected Works, The Library of America, 1988.) Wise Blood, part 2, will complete this series in December.

T. David Gordon reviews A House Divided: Technology, Worship, & Healing the Church after COVID by Benjamin D. Giffone. Giffone focuses on the liturgical challenges brought on by Covid and the government’s response. Gordon especially appreciates Giffone’s media savvy: “I particularly welcome Dr. Giffone’s recognition that differing media always shape not only the message, but also the messengers and the recipients of the message.”

Retired pastor Ronald Pearce reviews Zeal without Burnout: Seven Keys to a Lifelong Ministry of Sustainable Sacrifice by Christopher Ash. Pearce echoes the seriousness of the problem, applauds the solutions offered by Ash, but adds a few areas which still need to be addressed.

Our poem this month, “Canticle of the Creatures,” is by Francis of Assisi (ca. 1184–1226). Known as a nature lover, it is easy to forget that he understood who created the wonderful world he enjoyed and never ceased to give his Lord thanks for it.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “GOOD LITERATURE FOR PASTORS”
https://opc.org/OS/pdf/Subject_Index.pdf

• “Preaching and Fiction: Developing the Oral Imagination.” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 16 (2007): 14–16.
• “Preaching and Poetry: Learning the Power of Speech.” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 16 (2007): 17–22.
• “Profound Devotion.” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 31 (2022): 150–51.
• “The Reading Life.” (William Edgar) 29 (2020): 163–66.
• “Why Preachers Should Read Fiction.” (A. Craig Troxel) 16 (2007): 51–55.
• “Why Read Literature?” (Leland Ryken) 21 (2012): 75–80.
• “Poetry and the Heart in Preaching the Psalms.” (A. Craig Troxel) 33 (2024): 37–43.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews, we will endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.

[1] Charles Norris Cochrane, Christianity and Classical Culture (Oxford University Press, 1944).