Many are the mistakes at present about religious matters; but none are more destructive than those which concern the law and the gospel. The generality of our people confound them, and put one in the place of the other. Some suppose they . . . Continue reading →
2014 Archive
A New Dark Age
Fulfilling Or Fulfilled? An Ambiguity In Belgic Confession Article 5
Belgic Confession Art. 5 French English Latin English car les aveugles mémes peuvent apercevoir que les choses adviennent qui y sont prédites. For the very blind are able to perceive that the things foretold in them are fulfilling. (Schaff) quum et ipsi . . . Continue reading →
Truth About Religious Liberty And Obamacare
Office Hours: The Role Of Prayer In The Work Of Sanctification
Scripture teaches us that prayer is essential for sanctification. In 1Thessalonians 5:16-17 Paul says simply, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, ESV). He doesn’t elaborate. He doesn’t defend his exhortation. He just says it. I take it that, for Paul, . . . Continue reading →
Westminster Confession
Chapter 1 Of Holy Scripture 1. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 65: Science!
We’re talking a break from the series on nomism and antinomianism to talk about science. Not long ago there was a debate between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Ken Ham the Creationist Guy that garnered a considerable amount of attention. Why did . . . Continue reading →
Submitting To Scripture
Being a complementarian woman in an egalitarian world is wildly unpopular; it can also be perceived as decidedly ignorant. Some readers may sympathize with my hope for reprieve. And while the word has fallen out of favor with some, I know no . . . Continue reading →
Muller On Reformed Orthodoxy On Double Procession And The Filioque
2. The demonstration of the filioque: “double procession.” The traditionally Western trinitarian concept of the double procession of the Holy Spirit was consistently upheld by the Reformers and argued with some vigor against the Greek Orthodox view. The Reformed exegetes, moreover, understood . . . Continue reading →
The Sermon On The Mount In The First Use
So it is with the whole of the discourse. The new law of the Sermon on the Mount, in itself, can only produce despair. Strange indeed is the complacency with which modern men can say that the Golden Rule and the high . . . Continue reading →
School Or Re-Education Camp?
Two Men And An iPad = Fun
Secularization Interrupted
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 →
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 →