For years one of Christianity Today magazine’s most popular sections was a short humor column, “Eutychus and His Kin,” by a pseudonymous author. Eutychus often aimed his lampoons at the dour liberal bureaucrats in the mainline churches, especially the Presbyterians. We now know that Eutychus was Edmund Clowney, a Presbyterian theologian and one-time President of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Clowney knew that his Westminster connections would make his gentle barbs all the more resented by the Presbyterian ruling class, so his identity was kept a closely guarded secret.
Ed Clowney died in March at the age of 87. Now Ken Myers of “Mars Hill Audio” is re-releasing Clowney’s classic article, “The Politics of the Kingdom” for purchase or free download. In this article, Clowney lays out a brilliant argument for a tempered political engagement based on a Calvinist understanding of the inaugurated Kingdom of God. It is well worth the read.
Also must-reading for Christian preachers is Clowney’s Preaching and Biblical Theology. If more pulpits were informed by this book, we’d have fewer biblical illiterates in our pews. We might also have fewer who, like the biblical Eutychus, fall out from us due to boredom.
Edmund Clowney, RIP.
