POINTING

to the

PASTURELANDS

Reflections on Evangelicalism, Doctrine, & Culture

J. I. PACKER

Pointing to the Pasturelands: Reflections on Evangelicalism, Doctrine, & Culture

Best of Christianity Today

Copyright 2021 Christianity Today International

Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

LexhamPress.com

You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission.

Email us at permissions@lexhampress.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are the author’s translation or are from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (esv) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (kjv) are from the King James Version. Public domain.

Scripture quotations marked (niv84) are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked Revised Standard Version (rsv) are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Print ISBN 9781683595434

Digital ISBN 9781683595441

Library of Congress Control Number 2021940532

Lexham Editorial: Elliot Ritzema, Abigail Stocker, Abigail Salinger

Cover Design: George Siler, Brittany Schrock

CONTENTS

Foreword by Russell Moore

Part 1: Columns

1 Satan Scores Twice

2 ’Tecs, Thrillers, and Westerns

3 A Bad Trip

4 The Unspectacular Packers

5 Great George

6 All That Jazz

7 An Accidental Author

8 Decadence à la Mode

9 What Lewis Was and Wasn’t

10 It’s Wrong to Eat People

11 Nothing Fails Like Success

12 John’s Holy Sickness

13 Hype and Human Humbug

14 Mistaking Rome for Heaven

15 The Prayboy Club

16 Klaus Bockmuehl’s Rich Legacy

17 Why I Like My Pie in the Sky

18 Humor Is a Funny Thing

19 Fan Mail to Calvin

20 How Will I Be Remembered?

21 Surprised by Graphics

22 God’s Plumber and Sewage Man

23 Bungee-Jumping, Anyone?

24 Packer the Picketed Pariah

25 The Whale and the Elephant

26 Fear of Looking Forward

27 When Prayer Doesn’t “Work”

Part 2: Articles

28 Fundamentalism: The British Scene

29 Christianity and Non-Christian Religions

30 Charismatic Renewal: Pointing to a Person and a Power

31 Walking to Emmaus with the Great Physician

32 Poor Health May Be the Best Remedy

33 How to Recognize a Christian Citizen

34 What Do You Mean When You Say “God”?

35 The Reality Cure

36 Rome’s Persistent Renewal

37 Why I Left

38 What Is at Stake?

39 The Devil’s Dossier

40 Pleasure Principles

41 Why I Signed It...