About Harrison Perkins

Harrison Perkins (PhD, Queen’s University Belfast; MDiv, Westminster Seminary California) is pastor of Oakland Hills Community Church (OPC), a member of the of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, a Senior Research Fellow at the Craig Center for the Study of the Westminster Standards, associate online instructor in church history at Westminster Theological Seminary, a visiting lecturer in systematic theology at Edinburgh Theological Seminary, and author of Reformed Covenant Theology: A Systematic Introduction. Meet all the Heidelberg contributors»

The Cradle Of Christian Truth: Apostles’ Creed (Part 11)—The third day he rose again from the dead

The Trojan Horse is the classic example of a bait and switch. Legend says that, for ten years, the Greeks waged war on the city of Troy. This war went so long because Troy was so well fortified. One morning, the Trojans . . . Continue reading →

The Cradle Of Christian Truth: Apostles’ Creed (Part 10)—He Descended into Hell

If I were speaking to an audience and asked them what the word reed means, from the sound of the word, the majority response would likely be something like “processing written words.” When I explain that the word in my notes is . . . Continue reading →

The Cradle Of Christian Truth: Apostles’ Creed (Part 9)—Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Crucified, Died, and Was Buried

One of the common questions that Christians face in conversations with unbelievers is, “How could a loving God send anyone to hell?” Although we certainly have to keep a clear focus on God’s love and how his mercy is truly available to . . . Continue reading →

Review: Beholding the Triune God: The Inseparable Work of Father, Son, and Spirit By Matthew Y. Emerson and Brandon D. Smith

The recent resurgence of classical Trinitarianism has borne tremendous fruit in bringing the reality of who God is to bear in the church’s ministry and proclamation. Even in confessionally Reformed circles where subscription vows have at least maintained a background fidelity to . . . Continue reading →

The Cradle Of Christian Truth: Apostles’ Creed (Part 8)—Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary

One of the flavors of the day in movies and television seems to be the reboot. You take an old story and retell it in a new way. Or you take an old character and reset the storyline, setting aside the previous . . . Continue reading →

Review: Proclaiming the Triune God: The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Life of the Church By Matthew Barrett, Ronni Kurtz, Samuel G. Parkison, and Joseph Lanier

The Trinity is the heartbeat of the Christian faith, as Herman Bavinck reminds us.1 If this doctrine is indeed about pumping blood through our spiritual veins, then it must not be blockaded only into the academy halls and books inaccessible to ordinary . . . Continue reading →

The Cradle Of Christian Truth: Apostles’ Creed (Part 7)—His only begotten Son, our Lord

The American posture is dominated by pragmatism—meaning that our biggest question for whether or not we should learn something is, “Does it work?” We need ideas to do something for us to think they are at all worthy of our attention. A . . . Continue reading →

Bates’s Recycled Errors

The gospel is central to Christianity. Protestants and Roman Catholics have been reflecting on and debating the gospel’s content for centuries. However, Matthew Bates argues that most of Western Christianity to date—Protestant and Roman Catholic—has completely misunderstood the gospel. In Beyond the Salvation . . . Continue reading →

The Cradle Of Christian Truth: Apostles’ Creed (Part 6)—I Believe In Jesus Christ

“What’s in a name?” A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. So, we might easily assume that what we name something is unimportant. And yet, there seems to be some sort of natural affinity in most ears for the . . . Continue reading →

The Cradle Of Christian Truth: The Apostles’ Creed (Part 4)—God . . . Almighty

One question meant to trap Christians in an unsolvable philosophical problem is, “If God is all powerful, can he make a rock so heavy that even he can’t pick it up?” Or as my philosophy professor from college, who was an atheist, . . . Continue reading →

Review Roundup: Covenant Theology (Part 1)

Antonio Coppola’s Faithful God: An Introduction to Covenant Theology Faithful God is a pastoral treatment of covenant theology meant to equip ordinary Christians to see the categories of law and gospel and to understand how Christ is at the center of redemptive history. Continue reading →

The Cradle Of Christian Truth: The Apostles’ Creed (Part 3)—God the Father

An old allegory tries to describe religion with the story of four blind men feeling an elephant. The blind man feeling the trunk thinks he is touching a long, thick creature. The one touching the elephant’s leg says he is touching a . . . Continue reading →

The Cradle Of Christian Truth: The Apostles’ Creed (Part 2)—I Believe

As we start this series, the whole first line, “I believe in God the Father Almighty,” is too much to tackle in one go. As a way of introduction to the whole idea of studying the Creed, then, this article focuses on . . . Continue reading →

The Cradle Of Christian Truth: The Apostles’ Creed (Part 1)—Introduction

For good or for ill, I have a taste for shows about comic book heroes and science-fiction stories. The nature of the stories, character development, and plotlines necessarily invites the question: “What is this about?” What seems like relatively normal story development . . . Continue reading →

Review: The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary By Christopher Ash—Part 2: Commentary Volumes

Christopher Ash has published a slew of material on the Psalms in his career.1 That trajectory has culminated in his massive four-volume commentary on the whole Psalter. This work is a tremendous contribution, not in the cliché sense, but in every way . . . Continue reading →