The period of time around the Great Synod of Dort, the 400th anniversary of which we are celebrating in 2018–19, was an important time in the history of Reformed theology. During the Reformation, though the magisterial Protestants faced significant internal challenges, the . . . Continue reading →
January 2018 Archive
John Murray: Justification Is Still The Article Of The Standing Or Falling Of The Church
This is what is meant when we insist that justification is forensic. It has to do with a judgment given, declared, pronounced; it is judicial or juridical or forensic. The main point of such terms is to distinguish between the kind of . . . Continue reading →
Recovering The Importance Of The Public Reading Of Scripture
Bible reading has become a largely private practice—something we do in our own personal “quiet time.” A few verses, or perhaps as much as a chapter, are often read before the sermon on Sunday morning. But when was the last time you . . . Continue reading →
Why It Is Reasonable Not To Send Your Children To Public School
The world has changed quite a bit since I entered Dundee Elementary in 1965–66. No-fault divorce did not yet exist. Two-parent families were the norm. Abortion had not yet been legalized. The late-modern drug culture had not yet exploded. WWII had been . . . Continue reading →
What Happened To Divine Immutability?
The biblical doctrine of God’s immutability says that God is always what he is. He is never any more or any less than he is. He is not becoming. He is not changing. He is utterly reliable. He is utterly perfect. He . . . Continue reading →
Principles Of Spiritual Self-Defense
My first interaction with the theology of Norman Shepherd probably came in seminary. He was dismissed from his position as a professor in a Reformed and Presbyterian seminary, where he taught the course on the doctrine of salvation (soteriology) in 1981. I . . . Continue reading →
Why This Reformed Christian Will Not Be Charismatic In 2018
Tim Challies has published a list of predictions for the “New Calvinist Movement” for 2018. It has understandably provoked discussion. He writes, In 2018 we will begin to see wider practice of the sign gifts among those who hold to Reformed theology . . . Continue reading →
Should Laity Attend Elders’ Meetings?
As I ran errands yesterday I listened to a recent Presbycast episode from which I learned that there are NAPARC congregations in which laity (non-ordained members of the congregation) regularly attend elders meetings and participate in the decision making process. In Presbyterian . . . Continue reading →
Trinitarian Orthodoxy Accounts For The Fullness Of The Biblical Revelation
When the fullness of God’s self-revelation in Scripture is not taken into account, heresy is the result. Those who emphasize the oneness of God to the neglect of what Scripture teaches regarding the deity of the three persons fall into errors such . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: What’s Up Down Under?
For Americans, where the Reformed theology, piety, and practice is a fraction of the number of Christians, it is easy to overlook the presence of the Reformed faith in other parts of the world. There are Reformed Christians and churches across the . . . Continue reading →
Human Being At 20 Weeks
This Person Is Endowed By His Creator With Certain Unalienable Rights
The Difference Between Capital Punishment And Abortion
Since Roe v. Wade (and Doe v Bolton) in 1973 those who believe that the constitutional protections to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” extend to humans in utero (in the womb) have been called “pro-life.” Since 1973 it has been . . . Continue reading →
How Old Must A Child Be To Come To The Lord’s Table?
How old must a child be to come to the Lord’s Table? We know from the nature of the two sacraments (covenant signs and seals) instituted by our Lord that infant communion (paedocommunion) is an error. It confuses the sign of renewal . . . Continue reading →
Are Denominations A Scandal?
Comes the question, Has the splintering of the Protestant church into thousands of denominations become a hindrance to our witness to the world? What can we do? This is an important question that we may not dismiss. Our Lord warned the visible . . . Continue reading →
Housing Project Update January 17, 2018
Dathenus: Would You Make Christ Another Moses Again?
“Would you make Christ another Moses again? Is Christ your accuser or your Redeemer, Deliverer, Advocate, and Mediator? Has He only partly forgiven your sins or has He totally and completely forgiven them? Is He a complete or only a half Savior?” . . . Continue reading →
A Court, Clay, and the Cross: Examining the Problem of Evil
The physician returns to the examination room with a clipboard, tired eyes, and a noticeable weight on his shoulders. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” he begins. “The results came back and the news is not good.” You think to yourself, “How can a child . . . Continue reading →
On Dying And Passing Away
Though it is true that the figure “to pass away” is used in Scripture for death the expression “to die is used more than 10 times more frequently. In the ESV the verb “to die” is used 583 times. Americans have reversed the ratio. We are much more likely now to use the figure “to pass away” than to use the unequivocal, plain expression “she died.” Continue reading →
Church Discipline Is Not Mean
Rightly done, even if imperfectly, church discipline is an act of love that seeks the restoration of a brother or sister for that person’s well being. It is, after all, “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31). He is a “consuming fire” (Heb 12:29). Continue reading →
Anti-Scholasticism, Revival(ism), Pietism, Or The Reformed Theology, Piety, And Practice?
Or Why I Wrote Recovering The Reformed Confession
In recent weeks there has been a remarkable confluence of articles that, in their own way, are right on time. Let us start chronologically. In November John Frame reviewed James Dolezal’s excellent book, All That Is In God. In the course of . . . Continue reading →