Preface I have received a number of telephone calls and had a number discussions by text, direct message etc about this topic. Here, in general, is what I am telling those who ask. There are variables. It may be that, in your . . . Continue reading →
2020 Archive
Your Only Comfort In Life And In Death
Introduction The Heidelberg Catechism is justly regarded as one of the finest summaries of the Christian faith ever written. First published in 1563, the catechism is used by more than a million Christians globally. The first question of the catechism is among . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 142: When Pastors Abuse
And What To Do About It
I am interrupting the series on the doctrine of God (again), I Am that I Am, to talk about a recurring problem in the church: abuse of the sheep by the shepherd. Recently Julie Roys featured audio from a public conference by . . . Continue reading →
New Resource Page On The Twofold Kingdom
Arguably the one of the greatest challenges that the church has faced has been how to relate to the prevailing culture. This was true before Christendom, when Christians were mostly ignored. It was true when we were being actively persecuted and martyred . . . Continue reading →
What The Reformed Can Learn From A 1532 Synod
Introduction In researching the essay on sola scriptura I found myself reading the 44 articles of the Synod of Bern, which was held January 9–14, 1532. In attendance were 230 delegates, including Wolfgang Capito (c. 1478–1541) and William Farel (1489–1565). Two things . . . Continue reading →
Was Sola Scriptura A Reformation Slogan And Doctrine?
Introduction: What Sola Scriptura Is and Is Not Recently, in a couple of places (online and in print) I have run across the claims, which, in different ways question the Reformation bona fides of the slogan and doctrine, sola scriptura. In one place an . . . Continue reading →
How Did We Get To Drag Queen Story Hour?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) is a key source, with his provocative notion that human learning—the “arts and sciences” of his First Discourse—is actually that which corrupts us and hinders us being truly ourselves. Uncultured instincts and feelings are really who we are; civilization . . . Continue reading →
Rosaria Explains Intersectionality In One Paragraph
… How have we arrived at a place where students on elite college campuses perceive objective truth as a threat to personal safety and authentic selfhood? The answer is intersectionality, an analytical tool introduced in humanities and social science departments in U.S. . . . Continue reading →
Sibbes: At Sinai God Renewed The Covenant Of Works
The communion and fellowship of man with God, was first founded on a covenant of works made with Adam in paradise. If he did obey, and did not eat of the forbidden fruit, he should have life both for himself and his . . . Continue reading →
With Presbycast On Gospel, Grace, Antinomianism, FV, Moscow, And More
It is always fun to talk with the Presbycast guys. Tonight we talked about a wide range of issues. We started by discussing Chortles’s discovery of an online copy of the last number of Presbyterian and Reformed News from 2004. That issue . . . Continue reading →
Why You Should Not Trust Wikipedia
In my classroom the quickest way to fail an assignment or possibly even the entire course is to cite Wikipedia as an authoritative source. I have been expressing concern about Wikipedia as a reliable source for information for almost as long as . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours With Michael McClymond Against Universalism
Since the arrival of the capital M Modern world, beginning in the mid-17th century, one of the persistent points of friction between orthodox Christianity and Modernity has been the Christian doctrine that Jesus is the only way to heaven and eternal life. . . . Continue reading →
Samuel Rutherford: “The Whole Bulk Of The Judicial Laws…Is Expired”
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 →
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 →