June 2026 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. Jan Dudt brings Christian ethics to his biological expertise in discussing the latest medical technology. “For the Christian aware of developments in the biological sciences and health care, artificial gestation, a.k.a. artificial wombs or ectogenesis, is a developing technology that brings hope and dystopian fears at the same time.” Our Servant Exchange on the topic of Christian nationalism includes Mr. Baird’s response to Dr. Hart’s review of his book King of Kings, published last month. Dr. Hart offers a rejoinder. David VanDrunen reviews Your Body Is Holy: The Christian Understanding of Sex by Paul Tyson. While useful in upholding an essentially Christian view of human sexuality, a major problem exists in Tyson’s conception of holiness. According to him, everything good is holy. This is simply unbiblical, but as VanDrunen says, “This is a book with much good material alongside serious flaws.” William Shishko reviews Make Smart Choices (Not Foolish Ones) Together by Andrew Selle. Selle’s extensive experience as a counselor in the context of the church makes this book especially helpful because it emphasizes the importance of “a multitude of counselors.” Our poem this month is from Robert Frost (1874–1963), “The Line-gang.” Some might object that a few of the poets I publish are not by Christians. But I would remind ministers, especially, that one of the requirements for our ordination is to be “proficient in the liberal arts” (FG 21.8). And knowledge of English poetry would seem to be an essential part of that proficiency. It is also very important to note that one third of the Bible is in poetic form. The Psalms were frequently on the lips of our Savior. I only recently discovered this poem of Robert Frost. It was first published in 1916. It is a fascinating reflection on the incursions of modern technology into Frost’s rural world. Its meter and rhyme are purposely uneven. It falls one line short of a sonnet. It is a lament noting that the linemen planted dead trees in the place of living trees, which were more broken than cut. This is the mixed blessing of technology in the hebel world of Ecclesiastes. The cover photograph is of a sunset at York Beach, Maine.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “JAN DUDT ARTICLES”
/OS/pdf/Subject_Index.pdf

Dudt, Jan. “Adam, Modern Anthropological Science, and Faith.” | 32 (2023): 18–21.
_____. “An Attempt at Reconciling Paleoanthropology and Scripture.” | 32 (2023): 123–26.
_____. “Ecology and Environmentalism: A Christian Perspective.” | 29 (2020): 34–39.
_____. “Going Beyond Stewardship—Where Is Dominion?” | 29 (2020): 155–58.
_____. “Reproductive Technologies: Blessing or Curse, Dilemmas for Christians.” | 33 (2024): 56–61.

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.