That this Author saith, God commanded those that transgressed his holy Law with an high hand, and presumptuously to be killed, lest they should live and profane his holy things; I defend not: But sure Erastus erreth, who will have all such . . . Continue reading →
February 2020 Archive
Samuel Rutherford Contra Theonomy On General Equity
Judicial laws may be judicial and Mosaical, and so not obligatory to us, according to the degree and quality of punishment, such as in Deuteronomy 13, the destroying the city, and devoting all therein to a curse; we may not do the . . . Continue reading →
Time Traveling Through The City Church Website
The internet is both a marvel and a curse. One marvel is that through it, we can, if we will, time travel. This occurred to me after listening to an episode of the Presbycast in which someone mentioned City Church of San . . . Continue reading →
Turretin: What We Mean When Call Mary Theotokos, The Mother Of God
XI. Mary is rightly called the Mother of God (theotokos) in the concrete and specifically because she brought forth him who is also God, but not in the abstract and reduplicatively as God. Although this is not expressly stated in the Scriptures, . . . Continue reading →
The Debate We Are Having Is About Infanticide
Prozac Nation Was A Warning About The Emptiness of Post-Christian America
…you can grow up with everything and still have nothing. Matt Purple, “Elizabeth Wurtzel, Trad,” The American Conservative February 26, 2020. Warning: Language.
The Apostle Paul Was Not A Patriarchalist: A Note On Ephesians 5:22
5:22 αἱ γυναῖκες τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ (hai gynaikes tois idiois andrasin hōs tō kyriō), “Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord.” The elision of the verb ὑποτάσσω (hypotassō) links this verse closely with the general . . . Continue reading →
What Should We Think When An Evangelistic Crusade Comes To Town?
A correspondent wrote to ask for help thinking through how to respond to the arrival of a large evangelistic event in his town. This is my reply slightly revised for the HB. Continue reading →
Beza Is Still Right
Heidelcast 141: Calls On Baptism, Covenant Theology, Repentance, Justification, Sanctification, Taco Bell, And More!
This is the promised call-in show. We had some great calls and we do have a winner. Listen to the episode to find out if your question was selected. The winner will receive, free from the Heidelcast, a copy of On Being . . . Continue reading →
Negotiating With Polyamory: A Snapshot Of Evangelicalism In 2020
H. Richard Niebuhr (1894–1962) is the slightly less famous younger brother of Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971). The latter was a favorite of two presidents, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. The former is most famous for his 1951 book, Christ and Culture, though his early work, The Social Sources of Denominationalism (1929) and The Kingdom of God in America (1937) remain influential. In the latter he perfectly characterized liberal Christianity as that in which “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.” In Christ and Culture he offered a taxonomy of Christian approaches Continue reading →
Why The Mission Needs The Marks
Doubtless the one of the most significant movements within evangelicalism at the moment is the “emergent” or “emerging churches” movement. The adjectives “emerging” and “emergent” designate different wings of the movement. Generally, the “emergent” wing is more radical and the “emerging” wing a little less radical. Just as frequently, however, in the contemporary rhetoric from both wings of the movement no distinction is made and this essay will speak of the “emerging movement” (hereafter, EM). Like their older evangelical brothers and sisters, the EM also rejects (at least elements of) fundamentalism and revivalism. In their place, they are constructing a cross-traditional, eclectic synthesis. Continue reading →
Chris Discovers And Embraces The Reformed Confession
The following essay is written by Chris Smith, (B.A. History, Thomas Edison University; MDiv, Westminster Seminary California). He is a candidate for the Master of Arts in Historical Theology at WSC. He’s a native of Nebraska (Go Big Red!) and hopes to . . . Continue reading →
Against Revising Church Order Art. 39 (Or Why We Should Not Sing Fewer Psalms) (Updated)
We sometimes talk about “the worship wars” as if they are a new thing. They are not. There are examples of ecclesiastical arguments over what should be sung in church dating to the ancient church. In one case a regional synod in Spain issued a ruling against the singing of hymns (non-canonical songs) that some churches had begun singing. Continue reading →
Explaining the Nine Points of Synod Schereville
In 2007 the Synod the United Reformed Churches in North America adopted a statement of pastoral advice concerning the self-described “Federal Vision” theology. One of the main matters of business at Synod Schereville was to address an overture brought by Classis Michigan regarding the Federal Vision theology. As part of dealing with that overture Synod took two actions. First it re-affirmed and strengthened the language first adopted at Synod Calgary regarding justification by faith alone (sola fide). Continue reading →
Talking With Unbelievers: Conversation Not Conversion
“Reformed evangelism.” I used to think this was an oxymoron, that Arminians ask people to choose, and that Calvinists let the Arminians do the work of the evangelists. I thought that the Calvinists would teach converts the doctrines of the faith once . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 140: I Am That I Am (12): The Attributes Of God
The foundational truth for this series is the categorical distinction, the Creator/creature distinction. We can and must apprehend God as he reveals himself to us. He is knowable. We can say true things about him, but we can never know God in . . . Continue reading →
Understanding The Boomers: The 1920s Gave Us The 1960s
There is no law beyond do what thou wilt; every man and woman is a star; the word of sin is restriction.” For some, these three short epigrams heralded the end of Christianity and the dawn of a new age. They certainly . . . Continue reading →
Former Member Of PCA SJC Leaves PCA
…Over the past several years, I have been distressed at the downfall of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and the rise of heresy within the body through the Federal Vision teaching and immorality through the same-sex attraction movement. I have raised . . . Continue reading →
When The Slippery Slope Is Right Before Us: Obergefell Leads To Polygamy?
Draper shared her story Monday with members of the Utah Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, which voted unanimously to endorse a bill that would effectively decriminalize polygamy among consenting adults. She testified alongside the bill’s sponsor, Spanish Fork Republican . . . Continue reading →