Fifty Years Ago
November 2013 Archive
We Never Ask “Am I Elect”
Let no one, then, seek confidence in his own election of God anywhere else than “in Christ,” unless, indeed, he would blot out, and do away with, the “book of life” in which his name is written. God’s adoption of us “in . . . Continue reading →
Must We “Translate” the Gospel?
David Fitch says and assumes, “yes,” but I doubt it. The “missional” movements are not really fundamentally different from the middle-class, pedestrian “church growth” movements of 25 years ago. They all seem to assume that accommodation is something that we do as . . . Continue reading →
"Sola Fides" is not Sola Fide
I’m reading Rowan Williams on Arius. Early in the book he uses the expression “sola fides.” In context, he seems to be making an indirect reference to the Protestant doctrine of sola fide. I’ve seen this in other writers. When I first noticed . . . Continue reading →
Perkins On Christ’s Active Obedience And Our Gratitude
CHAP. XXXVII. CONCERNING THE SECOND DEGREE OF THE DECLARATION OF GODS LOVE. The second degree, is Justification, whereby such as believe, are accounted just before God, through the obedience of Christ Jesus. 2. Cor. 5. 21. He has made him to be . . . Continue reading →
What Is True Faith? (5) A Gift
In the first four parts of this series we looked at what Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 21 says about the three aspects of faith (knowledge, assent, and trust). Faith, however, has an object. It always does. A mere historical faith looks to the . . . Continue reading →
You Are What Rome Says You Are Even If She Openly Contradicts Herself
On every front, then, the Council redrew the boundaries of what had seemed to 1959 a fixed and immutable system. For some Catholics, these changes were the long-awaited harvest of the New Theology, the reward of years of patient endurance during the . . . Continue reading →
No One In The Reformed Tradition Has Taught That The Mosaic Covenant Was Exclusively A Covenant Of Works
This is the key. No Reformed thinker that I am aware of has taught that the Mosaic covenant was exclusively a covenant of works. I wonder if perhaps people hear us teaching this under the influence of dispensationalism, which teaches that each . . . Continue reading →
Accounting For Original Sin In Our Doctrine Of Sanctification
1.2.1 We are all, by nature, void of all strength and ability to perform acceptably that holiness and righteousness which the law requires, and are dead in trespasses and sins, and children of wrath, by the sin of our first father, Adam, . . . Continue reading →
Resources On the Doctrine of Sanctification And The Third Use Of The Law
Apparently, there is only one way to speak about sanctification and it is no longer sufficient to uphold and teach the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Westminster Standards (Reformed confessions) on justification, sanctification, and the third use of the law. . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Dennis Johnson On Philippians
When we think of the Pauline epistles we probably think first of Romans or perhaps 1 and 2 Corinthians. Of course, where we’re reading is sometimes determined by controversy. There are lots of controversies associated with Romans and the Corinthian correspondence (election, . . . Continue reading →
Machen’s Enemies Then And Now And The Myth Of Influence
Almost thirty years ago, when I first started to become interested in Reformed Christianity I happened to mention it to the Rev Wally Easter, pastor for evangelism at Westminster Presbyterian Church, in my hometown. Wally was a sweet fellow and very graciously . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof: This Third Use Is Denied By The Antinomians
A usus didacticus or normativus. This is the so-called tertius uses legis, the third use of the law. The law is a rule of life for believers, reminding them of their their duties and leading them in the way of life and . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 49: Making Some Sense of The Republication Debate Pt 2: With Chris Gordon
Parts of the confessional Reformed world in North America are in the midst of a controversy over whether it is biblical, confessional, and historically Reformed to teach that the Mosaic covenant was, in some sense, a republication of the covenant of works. . . . Continue reading →
A Constitutional Crisis?
If civil freedom, including religious freedom, is the relative absence of restraint and the restrainers (those charged authority to uphold the law) are to be constrained by a constitution, then when the constitution is ignored freedom is necessarily jeopardized.
The Narcissistic End Of Reformational Catholicism
Reading Leithart’s original piece with Sanders’ reaction and Leithart’s own clarification in mind, it looks like the Reformational catholicism for which Leithart is calling is really himself. After all, it exists “only in pockets” and is mainly a “hope.” Nothing wrong with . . . Continue reading →
Downtown Escondido
This gallery contains 7 photos.
Are God’s Demands Always Gracious? (Updated)
David Robertson is pastor in the Free Church of Scotland. He has a blog and recently he reviewed Tullian Tchividjian’s latest book, One Way Love. There has been some back and forth and most recently Robertson has written an Open Letter. In . . . Continue reading →
Resources On Fencing The Lord’s Table
Some HB readers have been discussing the question of fencing the Lord’s Table. Fencing is a figurative way of speaking. There aren’t literal fences in Reformed Churches. It’s a way to describe the Reformed attempt to apply Paul’s instruction in 1 Corinthians . . . Continue reading →
Everything Does And Does Not Come Down To Triperspectivalism
One final note: whether you think this is a really good systematic theology or one of the most important in the last generation or two, probably depends on how much you get into tri-perspectivalism. I have friends who find Frame’s triads of . . . Continue reading →