In the intolerance, I also saw hope. During one particularly memorable day, when radicals started shrieking when I questioned why our professor referred to an unborn child as a mere “clump of cells,” I remember speaking to a small group of students . . . Continue reading →
February 2015 Archive
Heidelberg 58: Bored By Heaven? (2)
58. What comfort do we have from the article of “life everlasting”? That, inasmuch as I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, I shall after this life possess complete bliss, such as eye has not seen, nor ear . . . Continue reading →
ISIS Is Islamic Apocalypticism
The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from . . . Continue reading →
Science Versus Groupthink
It’s become clear to me that it is not possible to undertake independent research in any area that touches upon climate change if you have to make your living as a professional scientist on government grant money or have to rely on . . . Continue reading →
The Crusades Are Too Complex To Be Shoehorned
I think Obama was historically ignorant and politically ill-advised to bring the Crusades into the discussion, for reasons we have discussed in this space (in short, because the historical phenomenon is far too complex to be shoehorned into a neat, politically useful . . . Continue reading →
“Divine Winds” And Gay Elders: Where The QIRE Leads
The church has long been tempted to use a canon opener since the late 2nd century. As it became clear that the great acts of redemption were complete, that God’s special revelation had ended, the Montanist movement reacted by claiming to receive . . . Continue reading →
Owen: Faith Is The Instrument And Spring Of Sanctification
3. Faith is the instrumental cause of our sanctification; so that where it is not, no holiness can be wrought in us. “God purifieth our hearts by faith,” Acts 15:9, and not otherwise; and where the heart is not purified, there is . . . Continue reading →
A Statement Remarkable For Its Moral Clarity
Heidelberg 58: Bored By Heaven? (1)
58. What comfort do we have from the article of “life everlasting”? That, inasmuch as I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, I shall after this life possess complete bliss, such as eye has not seen, nor ear . . . Continue reading →
Sacraments Versus Selective Piety
An appropriately rich Reformed sacramentalism also renders Ash Wednesday irrelevant. Infant baptism emphasizes better than anything else outside of the preached Word the priority of God’s grace and the helplessness of sinless humanity in the face of God. The Lord’s Supper, both . . . Continue reading →
Godfrey On The Crusades
Heidelcast 84: When Marriage Is Decoupled From Nature
With episode 84 we are taking a brief hiatus from our series on the moral law to talk with one of my favorite authors, Stella Morabito, about an article she published in The Federalist, “A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to . . . Continue reading →
Grammar Guerrilla: Counsel And Council
So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers (Matt 27:7). Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.” (Acts 25:12) When . . . Continue reading →
Faith Is The Open Hand Of A Beggar
Question 36. But how are we justified by faith? Answer: Not because of the worthiness of our faith, as if God justifies us because of it, as the Remonstrants would have it, and [as if] faith is here reckoned as a virtue . . . Continue reading →
Can Sharia And Freedom Be Friends?
(HT: Prager University)
Why Brian Williams’ Lies Mean More Than You Think They Do
By now you know that anchor of the NBC evening newscast, a position once held by the likes of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley,1 has admitted fabricating stories about his experiences reporting from Iraq. He is under investigation by his network. When . . . Continue reading →
The Bait And Switch Of Gay Monogamy
…Michaelson confesses: “there is some truth to the conservative claim that gay marriage is changing, not just expanding, marriage. According to a 2013 study, about half of gay marriages surveyed were not strictly monogamous. This fact is well-known in the gay community—indeed, . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: The Wisdom Of Ecclesiastes
The book of Ecclesiastes has often been taken as a counsel of despair, as a non-Christian view of the world. There is an alternative way of reading Ecclesiastes, however. Consider that it is included in God’s Word and thus we regard it . . . Continue reading →
A Lonely Citadel Against The 24/7-Culture
If you’re old enough to remember when blue laws were common, Bergen on a Sunday is a nostalgia trip. Kids play road hockey, skateboarders practice kickflips on open swaths of pavement, and you may suddenly notice the cawing of blue jays. The . . . Continue reading →
The Echo Zoe Interview On The Federal Vision
The Federal Vision is still an issue. That should not surprise anyone. Some version of this error has been with us at least since the mid-16th century, when the Protestant doctrine of justification was severely threatened. It became a serious issue in . . . Continue reading →