It’s 1991, I am flying home from Germany, sitting next to a man who is almost in tears, he is so upset. He’s a physician involved in an FDA study of a new drug. It’s a double-blind study involving four separate teamsone . . . Continue reading →
2014 Archive
The Mystery And Necessity Of The Trinity
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one!” In contrast to the polytheistic religions of her neighbors, Israel was made deeply conscious of the fact that there is only one God (hence, the term, “monotheism”). The monotheistic doctrine of . . . Continue reading →
The Mormon Denial Of The Christian Doctrine Of The Trinity
Latter-day Saints also believe strongly in the fundamental unity of the divine. They believe that God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost, though distinct beings, are unified in purpose and doctrine. It is in this light that Latter-day . . . Continue reading →
Christian Doctrinal Interpretations Vs. Joseph Smith’s Revelations
These passages can be interpreted in different ways. Yet by viewing them through the clarifying lens of revelations received by Joseph Smith, Latter-day Saints see these scriptures as straightforward expressions of humanity’s divine nature and potential. Many other Christians read the same . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Mike Horton On Sanctification And The Means Of Grace (2)
If Christians have often been tempted to mysticism (the quest to meet God without instruments, media, or means) they have also been tempted to magic, tempted to turn the sacraments into things they are not. The medieval Western church taught and the . . . Continue reading →
Persecuted
More about the film.
Legal Scholars Explain Arizona SB1062
SB1062 would amend the Arizona RFRA to address two ambiguities that have been the subject of litigation under other RFRAs. It would provide that people are covered when state or local government requires them to violate their religion in the conduct of . . . Continue reading →
Drawing the Line: Why Doctrine Matters
Imagine Mike. He’s an unusual mechanic. Where other mechanics find natural laws (such as gravity) unavoidable and even useful, he suspects them to be arbitrary, invoked in order to stifle his creativity. We can imagine how the story ends. Cars brought for . . . Continue reading →
Deference To The Modern Priesthood?
It’s Not Science. It’s A Cult
It Never Rains In California
This gallery contains 2 photos.
You Might Be An Antinomian (Or Maybe Not)
Intermittently over the last 30 years we’ve been discussing justification. It began when Norman Shepherd, who taught at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, proposed in class that sinners are justified through faith and works. He used that language. He used it in a . . . Continue reading →
A Constitutional Tipping Point
The Arizona Question
The question isn’t whether businesses run by people opposed to gay marriage on religious grounds should provide their services for gay weddings; it is whether they should be compelled to by government. The critics of the much-maligned Arizona bill pride themselves on . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 63: Nomism And Antinomianism (6)
The Heidelcast is working through The Marrow of Modern Divinity (1645). Last time we began looking at the doctrine of the covenant of grace. We saw that the principle of the covenant of grace is fundamentally different from that of the covenant of works. . . . Continue reading →
The Christian Faith Is Trinitarian
When most people think of the Reformed confession of the Christian faith they probably think about predestination. This is the minimalist definition that is often used. When evangelicals say, “I’m Reformed” what they often mean is, “I’ve adopted the doctrine of election” . . . Continue reading →
The New Penance
And that’s the rub, isn’t it? How can a richeral be redistributionist and statist when such ideologies are targeted at one’s own cherished lifestyle? So penance, medieval exemption, and confessions step in as civilization’s age-old remedies for the guilt of such a . . . Continue reading →
The Idolatry Of Going Along To Get Along
(HT: Stella Morabito)
The Effects Of Reformation In Geneva
Daily religious life changed in significant ways in the first years following Geneva’s Reformation. The city churches—which the French reformers called temples—were reduced in number of rom seven to three, and the outlying parishes consolidated. A company of around fifteen Protestant pastors . . . Continue reading →
ReformedCast: On The Distinction Between The Law And The Gospel
Thanks to Scott Oakland for inviting me to do episode 145 of the ReformedCast. We talked about the distinction between law and gospel. Scott asked good questions and we were able to cover a lot of what is currently being discussed now: . . . Continue reading →