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The Heidelblog has been in publication since 2007. It is devoted to recovering the Reformed confession and to helping others discover Reformed theology, piety, and practice. Meet all the HB contributors»

Only Son Or Only Begotten Son?

The translation of the Greek word μονογενής in the New Testament is a subject of debate. The term appears nine times, with four occurrences referring to ordinary “only children,” and the other five occurrences in Christological contexts, all in the Johannine literature. These Christological . . . Continue reading →

God’s Love Is Not Reckless

Wafting over the airwaves of the local Christian radio station came the predictable chord progressions of every modern worship song known to humanity. I had turned on the radio to quell the boys’ incessant bickering currently testing my patience, and after a . . . Continue reading →

John Owen Contra The Limbus Patrum (4)

Want of a due apprehension of the truth herein hath caused many, especially those of the Church of Rome, to follow after vain imaginations about the state of the souls of the faithful, departed under the Old Testament. Generally, they shut them . . . Continue reading →

John Owen Contra The Limbus Patrum (3)

Those of the church of Rome do hence fancy a limbus, a subterraneous receptacle of souls, wherein they say the spirits of believers under the old testament were detained until after the resurrection of Christ, so as that they without us were . . . Continue reading →

John Owen Contra The Limbus Patrum (2)

It is generally supposed by expositors that it is heaven itself which is hereby intended. Hence some of the ancients, the schoolmen, and sundry expositors of the Roman church, have concluded that no believers under the old testament, none of the ancient . . . Continue reading →

Bavinck On The Limbus Patrum

Moreover, all have their own task and place. Roman Catholics assume that after death Old Testament believers waited in the limbo of the fathers and were not released until Christ freed them at his descent into hell; and they also believe that . . . Continue reading →

Vos On The Limbus Patrum

What is the limbus patrum of Roman Catholics? The limbus patrum (limbo of the fathers) is the place where the believing fathers of the Old Testament had to stay in a state of expectation before the coming of the Messiah. After His death on the cross, . . . Continue reading →

Calvin Contra The Limbus Patrum

Others interpret it differently: that Christ descended to the souls of the patriarchs who had died under the law, to announce redemption as accomplished and to free them from the prison where they were confined. To back up this interpretation, they wrongly adduce . . . Continue reading →

Berkhof On The Limbus Patrum

The Limbus Patrum. The Latin word limbus (fringe) was used in the Middle Ages to denote two places on the fringe or outskirts of hell, namely, the Limbus Patrum and the Limbus Infantum. The former is the place where, according to the teachings of Rome, the souls . . . Continue reading →

The Irish Articles Condemn The Limbus Patrum

102. The doctrine of the Church of Rome, concerning limbus patrum [The limbus of the fathers], limbus puerorum [the limbus of infants], purgatory, prayer for the dead, pardons, adoration of images and relics, and also invocation of saints, is vainly invented, without all warrant of Holy Scripture, yea, and . . . Continue reading →