Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638) Bishop of Ypres – founder of the Jansenist Movement Continue reading →
2007 Archive
Picking a Psalm for Worship
Not having been raised in the Reformed tradition, indeed, not having been raised in the church, I am still getting to know the Psalter the way I should. Second, I don’t read music. As my musical children tell their unmusical dad, “The . . . Continue reading →
More on Worship and the RPW
I have some posts in response to the post earlier today on worship. Jamie asks, …Do you believe in any kind of responsive reading of creeds or confessions? I was in a Free Church of Scotland all last year, and I know . . . Continue reading →
If We Won't Discipline, Are We Really the Church?
One of the clearest commands our Lord gave during his ministry, before his crucifixion, death, burial, and ascension, was to practice discipline in the congregations (Matt 18). It has been abused, but more often it has been neglected. The Apostle Paul also . . . Continue reading →
An Interview On Adoption
Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared on the Nightlight Christian Adoptions blog in 2007. It appears here as an archive. As part of our blog’s adoption interview series, I’m interviewing several theologians about the doctrine of spiritual adoption and its implications for . . . Continue reading →
Theonomy and the Federal Vision
One aspect of the self-named Federal Vision movement that is sometimes overlooked is its connection to theonomic ethics. “Federal Vision” (hereafter FV) refers to a movement with roots in the early 1970s (see below) but that developed in the 1990s. They took . . . Continue reading →
Three Ways of Relating to the One Covenant of Grace
Sometime back the question was raised: We know that there are at least two categories of people within Scripture, the elect, and the non-elect. However, it might be apparent that there is a third class of people, those who have taken the . . . Continue reading →
Evangelicals And Catholics Together: A Post-Mortem
New Preface This essay originally appeared in print in 2001 and later online, on the Heidelblog. When the essay first appeared the controversy over Evangelicals and Catholics Together was still relatively fresh. Reformed leaders (e.g., Mike Horton, R. C. Sproul, James M. . . . Continue reading →
Idea: Let's Try Every Way But Christ's Way
Thanks to a link by Justin Taylor I read an article by Nancy Morganthaler this morning that is disturbing on so many levels I hardly know where to begin.
The Nine Points of (URCNA) Synod (Schereville) 2007 Against the Federal Vision
THE NINE POINTS OF (URCNA) SYNOD (SCHEREVILLE) 2007 Synod affirms that the Scriptures and confessions teach the doctrine of justification by grace alone, through faith alone and that nothing that is taught under the rubric of covenant theology in our churches may . . . Continue reading →
For Those Just Tuning In: What is the Federal Vision?
In talk radio the host is supposed to “re-set” the show at regular intervals. He is to remind listeners to which show they are listening and on what network or station. One reason why the host does this is because some listeners . . . Continue reading →
More On The Second Service
I’m getting some interesting feedback on the earlier post regarding the second service. A few thoughts:
Why A Second Service?
Here is a link to an excellent piece by G. H. Visscher. One of the most disturbing trends of modern Reformed church life is the disappearance of the second service. What does it mean? It means at least two things: 1) we’ve . . . Continue reading →
Lex Credendi
The medievals had a slogan, “The law of praying is the law of believing.” It means, “If we can change liturgy, we can change what folk believe.” This axiom means that whoever controls the liturgy controls the future of the church, humanly . . . Continue reading →
Talking Past One Another?
I didn’t know Rich Mouw has a blog. Indeed, a number of evangelical scholars maintain blogs, including John Stackhouse. In a recent entry he responded to criticism of his essay in The Christian Century proposing that Protestant re-think their approach to the . . . Continue reading →
Review: The Story of Christian Theology: By Roger E. Olson
Intervarsity Press, 1999. 652 pp. $34.99
Historical theology is an important part of the process of deciding who we are, what we believe and consequently how we will behave. For confessional Protestants, the past is not absolutely definitive, since all theologies besides God’s revealed word err, but its . . . Continue reading →
How Not to Train Pastors (3)
Part 2 Well, the discussion over at the PB is still going. Here some responses from that discussion and elsewhere. To Jerrold’s objection I answer (expanding on what wrote originally): In the interests of time, I would like to focus on one . . . Continue reading →
How Not to Train Pastors (2)
Part 1 There has been considerable discussion about this post over at The Puritanboard The PB thread was started my my friend Jerrold Lewis. I haven’t read his blog post, so I’m only responding to the discussion on the PB. I see . . . Continue reading →
How Not to Train Pastors (1)
I wrote this near the very beginning of the Heidelblog, in 2007. As high-speed internet service was becoming more widespread, online education was beginning to catch on and all many seminaries were beginning to adopt it. The world has changed since then. . . . Continue reading →
Misery (Question 3)
If I may start with something I posted a few weeks ago: The English noun, “misery” is probably derived from the Latin verb misereo, “to pity.” The Latin adjective miser means “wretched.” In our translation, the noun “misery” (German, Das Elend; Latin, . . . Continue reading →