“The Gospel Coalition has drawn a line in the sand on AI usage in the writing we publish. In short: We don’t want AI’s tentacles on any of the written works we publish. We want our audience to trust that what they get at TGC is human-made, human-edited, human-assessed, made in human community for other humans” - TGC
To Write Well Is Human
“A major publisher recently pulled a new novel for a novel reason: a strong suspicion that the book was at least partially written by a generative artificial intelligence app. This is likely to become an increasingly common pattern in the world of trade publishing, and new research suggests AI-generated writing is widely infiltrating American newspapers.” - CToday
Reading Isn’t “Dead”: Text Is (Still) King
“The hot new theory online is that reading is kaput…. We are careening toward a post-literate society, where myth, intuition, and emotion replace logic, evidence, and science. Nobody needs to bomb us back to the Stone Age; we have decided to walk there ourselves. I am skeptical of this thesis.” - Persuasion
The Pastor as Writer
“…make no mistake, brother pastor, your writing is important. It is one of the means by which God is shepherding your local church. Therefore, you should think of your writing as a craft worth cultivating.” - 9 Marks
Why Styling Your Documents Matters, and How to Do It Well: A Simple Guide
“I think I’d better start with what in the world styling your documents even is. And the way to start is to show you a document that has not been styled.” - Ward on Words
Why We Must Fight the Demise of the Essay
“I was reminded of theologian Jonathan Tran’s reflections on why college matters: it is a sacred time, set apart for learning, a time suspended from ‘real life’ in a meaningful way. Or, at least, it should be. When done well, it forms hearts, minds, and souls for a lifetime of service and meaningful work. This is what AI now threatens.” - Providence
Now Available: The 2025 Issue of the Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
“The 2025 issue contains ten peer-reviewed articles and 12 pages of book reviews. This year’s journal is dedicated to Dr. R. Bruce Compton, who will retire this month after 41 years of faithful service as a professor at DBTS.” - DBTS
Improving Writing Skills as a Pastor
“…crafting sentences that flow smoothly and are readable is becoming increasingly rare. I often read news articles from major outlets that are filled with typographical errors….I mention this not to throw stones but to encourage you to personally combat this tide of dehumanization. Read books. Write. Sharpen your craft if you are a pastor.” - Richard Bargas
Jesus’ or Jesus’s?
Long ago, a question posted in the Sharper Iron forum regarding the possessive form of “Jesus.” Is it Jesus’ or Jesus’s or something else?
Commenters provided good answers for the English usage and style options at the time. In short, Chicago Manual of Style called for one option, while other style guides had different rules.
Today, style manuals still differ on this point. In some cases, though, their specifications have changed.
2024 Eliot Awards and Observations on the State of Print Media
“the journalistic voice and sensibility that one once found in newspapaers and small magazines is increasingly difficult to find today because the jobs that sustained them are largely disappearing.” - Mere Orthodoxy