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 →
…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 →
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 →
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 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 →
As Riley-Smith explains, however, the Muslim memory of the Crusades is of very recent vintage. Carole Hillenbrand first uncovered this fact in her groundbreaking book The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives. The truth is that medieval Muslims came to realize that the Crusades were . . . Continue reading →
In this episode we consider the fifth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you.” In Heidelberg Catechism 104 we interpret this commandment to require “that I . . . Continue reading →
The European Enlightenment(s) posed as world-expanding, mind-expanding movements. They promised to free us from the shackles of a benighted, narrow view of the world. Ironically, however, the Enlightenments did just the opposite. Whether through rationalism (what the human intellect cannot comprehend cannot . . . Continue reading →
Canon IV: Before the creation of the world, God decreed in Christ Jesus our Lord according to his eternal purpose (Eph 3:11), in which, from the mere good pleasure of his own will, without any prevision of the merit of works or . . . Continue reading →
Adam writes to ask about the baptism of fifteen-year old children of an adult convert. Should they be baptized before or after catechesis? § Hi Adam, This is a great question and a difficult one. I think it is correct to say . . . Continue reading →
Given the above Amyraldian scheme, instead of a divine decree as being unconditional or absolute, (perhaps, in our ideas thought of as a set of such unconditional decrees) Amyraut seems to have preferred to think in terms of an antecedent will of . . . Continue reading →
I’m convinced that we don’t really have a conflict here. What James is saying is this: If a person says he has faith, but he gives no outward evidence of that faith through righteous works, his faith will not justify him. Martin . . . Continue reading →
Two NAPARC congregations in Cincinnati are hosting a conference on the history of the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions in America. Good Shepherd OPC and Westside Reformed Church (URCNA) have invited Rev. Dr. Alan Strange and Dr. Darryl G. Hart to address this . . . Continue reading →
The danger of the cult of personality has ever been with us. Paul warned the Corinthian church: I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among . . . Continue reading →
Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, . . . Continue reading →
There are few things more difficult than forgiving when one has been wronged. First, when a wrong has been done, quite apart from its effect for us (and its affect in us), justice itself has been violated. Second, to be wronged is . . . Continue reading →
Since, therefore, the name of Father is a sacred one, and is transferred to men by the peculiar goodness of God, the dishonoring of parents redounds to the dishonor of God Himself, nor can any one despise his father without being guilty . . . Continue reading →
James writes to ask about when children should make profession of faith and receive communion. He has observed young children being admitted to the table and wonders whether that is proper, whether children are really professing faith or merely parroting what they . . . Continue reading →
In Heidelberg Catechism 55 we say: 55. What do you understand by the “communion of saints”? First, that believers, one and all, as members of the Lord Jesus Christ, are partakers with Him in all His treasures and gifts; secondly, that each one must feel . . . Continue reading →
Okay, we’re living in a big fat nanny state. That’s a euphemism, though. The reality is that central planners have always viewed a child’s first teachers of self-reliance—mothers and fathers—as enemies of the State. The less people learn about basic life skills . . . Continue reading →