This episode (#274) begins the 13th season of Office Hours. This semester Westminster Seminary California began its 41st year and the original primary purpose is still the primary purpose: to prepare men for pastoral ministry. It is the seminary’s conviction that it . . . Continue reading →
Episode 8 of the Christianity Today podcast, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,” illustrates the degree to which the restless, feather-swallowing (according to Luther) anti-canonical spirit has influenced modern evangelical theology, piety, and practice. The Reformation principle (if not always its practice) . . . Continue reading →
Christianity offers the best news in the world. The gospel declares that through faith in Jesus Christ, we receive the forgiveness of our sins. With this assurance of God’s love, comes the promise that we receive a citizenship in heaven, a home . . . Continue reading →
The largest NAPARC denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is in the throes of an identity crisis. Founded by Southern Presbyterians and emerging out of the old PCUS (the Southern version of the Presbyterian mainline) it has always been more more broadly . . . Continue reading →
The Lord is raising up a veritable army of holy women holding men accountable for abuse in the home, church, and society. Women such as Rachel Denhollander, Jennifer Greenberg, Diane Langberg, Naghmeh Panahi, and Julie Roys are telling their stories and/or those . . . Continue reading →
Two Kenyan pastors, both ministering in Three Forms of Unity churches, have just completed this new translation of the Heidelberg Catechism into Swahili. Our federation of churches has 10 congregations in it, mostly from some of the poorest and most neglected tribes. . . . Continue reading →
I am not going to quote this article on the Heidelblog because some of the language in it is not fit for a family publication.
I am catching up Christianity Today’s podcast series, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. The August 30, 2021 episode, “Questioning the Origin Myth: A Rise and Fall Short Story,” centered around what, in Reformed theology, piety, and practice, we call the internal call to ministry. In our understanding of Scripture and its outworking in the life of the church there are two aspects to the call to ministry, the internal and the external. Continue reading →
Obviously we all have an interest in Covid, the vaccine, and treatments. It is beyond difficult for most of us to sort through the welter of information, to determine what is genuine and what is propaganda. Continue reading
The question before the Civil War, and even today for Americans as we consider our past and deal with contemporary racial issues is, “What does the Bible teach about American slavery?” Long before the Civil War, Reformed Presbyterians answered that both the custom of Christendom and the Bible condemned American Negro slavery as fundamentally wrong and immoral. It was based on manstealing, a sin against the eighth commandment and a capital crime under Mosaic Law. It rested on a racial line of separation that denied the Bible’s teaching that God made all men of “one blood.” Continue reading →
Of course, we are all apt to exaggerate the importance of our own times. But I venture to think that the present position of the Church… is more critical and perilous than it has been at any period during the last two . . . Continue reading →
We the physicians of the world, united and loyal to the Hippocratic Oath, recognizing the profession of medicine as we know it is at a crossroad, are compelled to declare the following; WHEREAS, it is our utmost responsibility and duty to uphold . . . Continue reading →
By May, at the risk of violating state truancy laws, Wrobel had stopped fighting and let her kids log on (or not) whenever they felt like it. It was, she said, “the darkest hour before dawn.” That September, she started homeschooling. She . . . Continue reading →
We are taking a break from the series, What Must A Christian Believe to take some calls and answer some questions. The first question comes from Deborah in Chicago who asks about the trend among evangelicals to talk about “Christian Platonism.” What is . . . Continue reading →
Polycarp (Πολύκαρπος), whose name might be translated as fruitful was the leading pastor (ἐπίσκοπος) of Smyrna (today, Izmir, Turkey) on the Agean coast of Asia Minor. We do not know a great deal about his life. He was friends with Ignatius, the pastor of Antioch, who was (presumably) martyred about AD 115. Continue reading →
In our ancient church course we have been working through the basic ideas and foundational figures in the Gnostic movement of the second century AD.
On a hot, drowsy August Saturday, a copy of the New York Times Magazine devoted entirely to something called The 1619 Project landed on my doorstep, and immediately grabbed my attention. It took me little time to comprehend the project’s purpose, or . . . Continue reading →
A meditation on truthfulness from Galatians 4:16, Ephesians 4:15; John 18:38; and 1 John 2:21–24. Continue reading →
Joe writes, “Is missing church a sin? Like if my child has a game, if I’m on vacation, or have to work?” Over the years many people have asked me some version of this question. It is an important question, one faced by the New Testament church and by the church in the twenty-first century. Continue reading →
Whom will Christians see in Heaven? Will it be God or Jesus? Both answers have been given throughout the history of the Church and they are still to be heard today. But will it be the one and not the other? Or . . . Continue reading →