Theological, philosophical, and other essays by Bruce Willke.https://brucewillke.com/musings/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/when-christianity-becomes-american/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/when-christianity-becomes-american/The Americanization of Christianity did not begin with American nationalism. Nationalism is one of the consequences of a much deeper problem. Christiani...Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/postmillennialism-and-the-visible-kingdom/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/postmillennialism-and-the-visible-kingdom/Looking back, I think my move toward a sacramental and visible Church was probably influenced more by postmillennialism than I realized at the time.Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-desert-and-the-wellspring/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-desert-and-the-wellspring/I have become increasingly convinced that a low view of the Church leaves a person alone in the desert with his thoughts.Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-hypostasis-of-marriage/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-hypostasis-of-marriage/One of the things that has become increasingly beautiful to me is how God reveals heavenly realities through tangible ones. We often speak of metaphors...Tue, 28 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/st-john-of-damascus-and-why-images-matter/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/st-john-of-damascus-and-why-images-matter/I’ve been reading On the Divine Images by St. John of Damascus, and one thing keeps standing out to me. His defense of images isn’t really about paint a...Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/terminator-2-and-the-christian-imagination/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/terminator-2-and-the-christian-imagination/One of the things I enjoy about good stories is that they often tell truths their authors may not have consciously intended. Whether deliberately or sim...Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-hand-that-wrote-again/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-hand-that-wrote-again/I've been working through the rest of St John of Damascus's *On the Orthodox Faith*, and somewhere in it I realized I had never read his life. I should...Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/there-is-a-poetic-way-of-informing-the-world/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/there-is-a-poetic-way-of-informing-the-world/One of the biggest changes in how I read Scripture and even how I look at the world has been learning that there is a poetic way of speaking that is act...Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/what-exactly-happened-on-the-cross/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/what-exactly-happened-on-the-cross/One of the questions that has occupied my mind lately is this: what exactly do people think happened on the cross?Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/a-response-to-common-objections/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/a-response-to-common-objections/Before I go any further, I want to answer a few objections that I think are fair. I also want to clean up a few things I said earlier.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/calvinism-illumination-and-the-real-question-behind-sola-scriptura/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/calvinism-illumination-and-the-real-question-behind-sola-scriptura/I've been listening to a debate on *sola Scriptura* and illumination, and it made me realize something.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/ecclesiology-follows-christology-a-cyrilline-critique-of-the-invisible-church/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/ecclesiology-follows-christology-a-cyrilline-critique-of-the-invisible-church/A Cyrilline argument that ecclesiology follows Christology and that Christ's visible, incarnate Body cannot be reduced to an invisible church.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/everyone-has-a-tradition-even-james-white-admits-this/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/everyone-has-a-tradition-even-james-white-admits-this/I want to be clear that I am not making some strange Orthodox claim that only Protestants possess traditions while Orthodox Christians somehow approach...Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/no-one-escapes-the-question-of-authority/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/no-one-escapes-the-question-of-authority/An essay on Scripture, tradition, the Church, and the unavoidable question of interpretive authority.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-pillar-and-ground/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-pillar-and-ground/I have not abandoned the gospel. I have come to understand more of its fullness and how the good news is truly good. It is not merely something to which...Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-problem-is-not-grace/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-problem-is-not-grace/A critique of what the Reformed decree does to Scripture, freedom, and the character of God.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-question-isnt-certainty-its-normative-authority/https://brucewillke.com/musings/blog/the-question-isnt-certainty-its-normative-authority/One thing I've noticed is that conversations between Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox often end up talking past each other.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT