A major correction has been issued by the American Journal of Psychiatry. The authors and editors of an October 2019 study, titled “Reduction in mental health treatment utilization among transgender individuals after gender-affirming surgeries: a total population study,” have retracted its primary . . . Continue reading →
September 2020 Archive
Pourquoi Je ne Traverserai Pas le Tibre Avec Mark Galli
L’expression «traverser le Tibre» [swimming the Tiber] est une métaphore pour désigner la conversion du Protestantisme au Catholicisme Romain. Je n’ai pas été en mesure de déterminer ses origines, mais le Dictionary of Christianese online fait remonter l’expression à 1963, ce qui, . . . Continue reading →
Christian, Pray For Your Romans 13 Ministers
The Contested Legacy Of Singing God’s Inspired Songs In The Reformed Churches In South Africa
The scope of this article is focused on an investigation of song in worship in the period leading up to and including the 150-year history of the RCSA. It focuses on the period from the dissenting ‘Doppers’ to the adoption of the . . . Continue reading →
Payne: The PCA Is At A Crossroads
…Many of us are deeply concerned about the influence of Revoice doctrine upon our churches and surprised by the sympathy it has received from some in our ranks. Perhaps of even more concern is the growing ascendancy of critical theory and elements . . . Continue reading →
What Islamism And Wokeism Have In Common
It never occurred to me that free speech would come under threat in my newly adopted country. Even when I first encountered what has come to be known as “cancel culture”—in 2014 I was invited to receive an honorary degree at Brandeis . . . Continue reading →
Why I Will Not Follow Mark Galli Across The Tiber
The phrase “swimming the Tiber” is a metaphor for converting from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism. I have not been able to determine its origins but the online Dictionary of Christianese traces the expression to 1963, which, if true, would mean that it . . . Continue reading →
Justification And Sanctification: The Twofold Grace Of Salvation
It’s not uncommon to hear some people appeal to James 2:24 in order to argue that God saves people by faith plus works. In particular, some argue against the doctrine of justification by faith alone by appealing to this verse. They tend . . . Continue reading →
Before The Barbarians
This was exciting to those of us who began graduate school before political correctness set in. It made interpretation into a high-stakes game. You had to be wary to do it well, to focus acutely on the phenomena in front of you . . . Continue reading →
How Virtue Ethics Helps Address Final Salvation Through Works
Christian ethical theory has seen various changes over the centuries, but I believe that one of the reasons why some think that we need to teach the idea of final rewards in order to make obedience important owes to the dominance of . . . Continue reading →
New Resource Page: Political Correctness
Political correctness (PC) is a movement whose roots are in Marxist-Leninism and the Communist Revolution in Russia of 1917. According to this dogma, speech is said to be “politically correct” when it conforms to the dictates of the party. In its original . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Meet Brad Bitner
Forty years ago this fall semester, Westminster Seminary California welcomed its first incoming class of students. Our founding faculty members began to retire about 20 years ago. Now some of our second generation faculty have retired or been called to serve the . . . Continue reading →
Stella Morabito: The Significance Of Mobs
What’s the real purpose of the BLM harassment of people dining outdoors in Washington, DC, trying to force them to raise their fist in “solidarity” with the Marxist BLM trope? They do it in the same manner of the old childhood bully . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 158: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (5): The Revelation
These episodes were meant to be an introduction to Christian eschatology so that we can consider 1 and 2 Peter but it has turned into a mini-series of its own and in this episode we’re looking that the Revelation given to the . . . Continue reading →
What Is God’s Will For You In The Ninth Commandment?
Q. 112. What is God’s will for you in the ninth commandment? A.That I never give false testimony against anyone, twist no one’s words, not gossip or slander, nor join condemning anyone rashly or without a hearing. Rather, I should avoid, under penalty . . . Continue reading →
QAnon, Evangelical Gnosticsm, Manichaeism, And The Kingdom Of The Cults
In the early 2nd century one of the gravest threats faced by the early Christians was a movement that we know as Gnosticism. It thrived by radically revising Christianity. According to the Gnostics, the material world is evil, the Creator God of the . . . Continue reading →
Singing The Psalms Was A Powerful Weapon In The English Reformation
[T]he metrical psalms were the ‘secret weapon of the English Reformation,’ ‘perhaps the most powerful of the persuasive weapons in the armoury of English Protestantism,’ ‘a potent weapon’ against Catholicism….Psalm-singing was never universally welcomed (Queen Elizabeth seems snobbishly to have disapproved of . . . Continue reading →
In His Covenant Faithfulness He Remembered Us In Our Low Estate
It is Yahweh who remembered us in our low estate, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever; and snatched us from our foes, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever; he who gives food to all flesh, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. Give . . . Continue reading →
This Is Not Reformed Theology
Particular Baptist Covenant Theology was essentially the idea that the Covenant of Grace is synonymous with the New Covenant and was only revealed in the previous biblical covenants (Abrahamic, Davidic, etc.) but that the Biblical Covenants were not the Covenant of Grace . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Justification Is The Foundation Of The House
A man breaks down the windows of his house. The house stands. He breaks down the roof or the walls. The house yet stands, though deformed. He pulls up the foundation— the house itself falls and ceases to be a house. Now . . . Continue reading →