it was becoming increasingly clear that at least on the street, the the veneer of Christianity was peeling away to reveal a canvas of various native (pre-Christian) folk paganisms. As Cambridge historian Patrick Collinson concludes, the Reformation was an “episode of re-Christianization . . . Continue reading →
March 2014 Archive
Messages To Millennials (3): Work
In part 2 we looked at the way, according to a recent Pew Study, Millennials relate to the visible, institutional church. The third major topic is work. As Bradford Wilcox summarizes the results of the study he notes that 80% of those . . . Continue reading →
Maturing The Sinner’s Prayer
If potential converts (children or adults) are so unfamiliar with basic Bible doctrine that they can understand nothing more than “asking Jesus into their heart,” they probably should wait to make a commitment, until they understand the gravity of sin, and Christ’s . . . Continue reading →
The Reformed Confession Grows In Milan
Renewed interest in the Reformed confession is not a uniquely American phenomenon. There are, of course, large confessional Reformed/Presbyterian bodies in South Korea, Nigeria, The (Democratic Republic of the) Congo, and elsewhere. We where we might not expect to find a Reformed . . . Continue reading →
Messages To Millennials (2): Church
In part 1 we looked at the some of the challenges Millennials face relative to marriage. According to the recent Pew Study, Millennials identify with organized religion at a lower rate than previous generations. To quote Billy Joel, they “didn’t start the . . . Continue reading →
Messages To Millennials (1): Marriage
On March 7, 2014, the Pew Research Center published the results of a new Survey: Millennials in Adulthood. Bradford Wilcox has a summary in the NRO. According to the study, Millennials have become disconnected from some basic institutions: marriage, church, and work—though not . . . Continue reading →
The Irony Of Denying Divine Impassibility: A Greek God
This is why most of the theologians who espouse a suffering God intentionally advocate a panentheistic notion of God”that is, that while God is potentially more than the cosmos, the cosmos is constitutive of His very being. (Those theologians who espouse a . . . Continue reading →
A Conspiracy Of Silence
Yet the leaders of the “young, restless, and reformed” have not typically allowed that concern to curtail their comments in the past. Many of them have been outspoken about the teaching of Joel Osteen, for example. In their early days, when the . . . Continue reading →
Creator, Sustainer, Father (1)
One of the most basic impulses of the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment west has been to get rid of God. The Enlightenment brought a revolution. In Christian antiquity, God was and we were becoming. In Modernity (and late modernity) we are and God . . . Continue reading →
Ezra Levant Speaks Up For Free Speech
(HT: Legal Insurrection)
What The Prophets Knew
In taking the comfort of the prophetic promises to our hearts we do not, perhaps, always realize what after the tempests and tumults, in the brief seasons of clear shining which God interposed, such relief must have meant to the prophets themselves. . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Basics On Dichotomy And Trichotomy
The question came via Twitter yesterday asking what trichotomy is, from where it comes, and how Reformed theology speaks about this issue. I couldn’t do any better than Louis Berkhof (1873–1957). Born in the Netherlands, he moved to the USA as a . . . Continue reading →
If Great Grandpa Could Talk To You Now
Missed It By That Much
That depiction in the new Cosmos matches the standard textbook story of Bruno, but it is misleading and in some ways downright wrong. For starters, Bruno was not the first to link the idea of infinite space with the infinite glory of . . . Continue reading →
D. G. Hart On Americanism
This is from a conference co-hosted by Providence Reformed Church (URC) and Grace Reformed Presbyterian Church (OPC) in DesMoines. You can see all the talks here. (HT: Presbyterian Blues)
Scott Manetsch On Calvin In His Context And Ours
Scott Manetsch is on campus this week through the kind offices of the Westminster Seminary California student association. He gave a convocation lecture this morning on Reforming ministry in Geneva and will conclude tomorrow. He also sat for an Office Hours interview . . . Continue reading →
The Reformation Of Worship In Geneva
The reformers did not hold back in their assault on the physical and sensory elements of traditional worship: all sacred objects such as crucifixes, statues of saints, and holy relics were removed from the temples.1 Most were systematically destroyed; a few were . . . Continue reading →
Man Discovers Jesus’ Hymnal
What if I told you that it’s possible to sing the very songs that Jesus sang in worship? What if I told you that a man recently discovered those very songs? It’s true. Joe Holland, Pastor of Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) . . . Continue reading →
The Difference Between Reformed And Revived
So the “reformed” and the “revived” make two different kinds of determination when they look for Reformation and revival. Proponents of revival make claims that should be reserved for God, that is, whether a soul has truly come to new life in . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 64: Nomism And Antinomianism (7)
The nomist wants to know whether the works he did before coming to faith are of any value. He asks, “why then, sir, it would seem that all my seeking to please God by my good works, all my strict walking according . . . Continue reading →