As you read this the churches, the theology, piety, and practice represented by confessionally Reformed and Presbyterian Churches is almost statistically invisible. Of the 60 million evangelicals in North America only a tiny fraction actually identify with the confessional Reformed and Presbyterian churches . . . Continue reading →
Jonathan Merritt has an interesting two-part post chronicling reaction to the struggles of The Village Church, a large (twice the size of at least two NAPARC denominations) multi-site Acts 29 congregation in Texas, with a church discipline case. In this case a woman discovered . . . Continue reading →
79. Why then does Christ call the bread His body, and the cup His blood, or the New Testament in His blood, and St. Paul, the communion of the body and the blood of Christ? Christ speaks thus not without great cause, . . . Continue reading →
The Emory Law Journal has a symposium on the constitution and polygamous marriage. Some articles are on whether the government may criminalize adults entering into polygamous religious marriages, even when the parties aren’t claiming any legal rights stemming from such a marriage. . . . Continue reading →
Like Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) before him, Rauschenbusch’s Pietism had not equipped him to address the challenges before him. Like Schleiermacher, Rauschenbusch turned to the liberals for answers. He synthesized his Pietist theology with Albrecht Ritschl’s theology of the Kingdom of God. The Social Gospel movement wanted to bring about the Kingdom of God on earth. Their optimistic eschatology (doctrine of last things) told them that they could do it. They were inspired by the Modern idea of the universal brotherhood of humanity and the universal fatherhood of God. As many others before them had done the Social Gospel movement harassed the Christian faith to their social agenda. Continue reading →
…There is indeed a war on the private mind, as Kevin Williamson explained in a recent National Review column. Unfortunately, too many Americans have been sleeping through most of its propaganda battles, and for a very long time. When it comes to . . . Continue reading →
The key term here is substance. In the older Christian appropriation (and modification) of Aristotle the term substance refers to that which makes a thing what it is, that without with it is not (sine qua non). It’s easier to understand substance if we contrast it with accidents. You are probably reading this post on a computer or a mobile device. Your device may be silver, black, or white or some other color. Its color is accidental to its essence. Accident here does not refer to an unintentional collision but to a feature of something that is not essential to it. So, in an electronic device, the color does not make it what it is. Its circuits, chips, and screens make it what it is. They are essential to it. They are of the substance of the device. According to the Romanist doctrine of the supper, the substance of the bread is transformed into the substance of the body of Christ, even though the accidents remain unchanged. Continue reading →
We certainly admit that so long as we dwell as strangers in the world there is such a thing as implicit faith; not only because many things are as yet hidden from us, but because surrounded by many clouds of errors we . . . Continue reading →
It was the first time I got to see how daily pastoral ministry really was. It was, in a word, intense. It was also biblical. Don was constantly referring back to Scripture or quoting Scripture and reading it or studying it. It was very impressive. I had heard that Scripture was essential but in Don I saw right away that the Bible is at the center of pastoral ministry. Continue reading →
This is part 2 of our two-part interview with Stella Morabito about an essay she published in The Federalist on the how LGBT movement is seeking to restrict free speech in the United States. Here is part 1. This is not a theoretical issue. Consider this scenario: . . . Continue reading →
One of the great tragedies of the debates about the nature of the sacraments is that they force us to look at the sacraments instead of looking at him whom they signify, Christ, and that which they promise: the gospel. Thus far we’ve spent a good bit of time doing what it is necessary to come to a clear understanding of what sacraments are, how they are that (sacraments) and not the thing signified but true and real signs and seals of the covenant of grace. The Supper is a real, mysterious, Holy Spiritual communion in the true body and blood of Christ Continue reading →
In retrospect, Kipnis might as well have been a 13th-century monk taunting the Inquisition. She was duly accused of violating Title IX by writing an essay questioning the excesses of Title IX. The university’s investigation of her was about what you would . . . Continue reading →
“There was a point in time where [the Bureau of Labor and Industries] was unsure on whether or not we should pursue the case right now or wait, just because of marriage equality in Oregon becoming a thing, and we were looking . . . Continue reading →
Recently I had the pleasure of talking with Mike Abendroth, Senior Pastor of Bethlehem Bible Church (West Boylston, MA) and the host of No Compromise Radio. We talked about the importance of the biblical doctrine of the imputation to the believer of . . . Continue reading →
…I have intentionally adjusted my teaching materials as the political winds have shifted. (I also make sure all my remotely offensive or challenging opinions, such as this article, are expressed either anonymously or pseudonymously). Most of my colleagues who still have jobs . . . Continue reading →
75. How is it signified and sealed to you in the Holy Supper, that you do partake of the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross and all His benefits? Thus: that Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of . . . Continue reading →
Dr. Money became the co-founder of one of the first university-based gender clinics in the United States at Johns Hopkins University, where gender reassignment surgery was performed. After the clinic had been in operation for several years, Dr. Paul McHugh, the director . . . Continue reading →
For some bible readers the Scriptures seem to be bits of unrelated material. For those who memorize Scripture from flash cards, a good thing to be sure, Scripture can seem disconnected. Others read Scripture as if it were entirely united around God’s . . . Continue reading →