Piety. It is a short but it is a very important word in the Reformed tradition. It is Latin word, pietas, which, in classical usage referred to one’s duty toward the gods and toward one’s parents. In traditional Christian usage it has . . . Continue reading →
Gijsbertus Voetius (1589–1676) is perhaps the linchpin of Dutch Reformed theology in the 17th century. To shift metaphors, he is the Grand Central Station of Reformed orthodoxy in the Netherlands. In one way or another all the various trains seem to run . . . Continue reading →
The earliest post-apostolic Christians (some of whom are denominated the Apostolic Fathers) knew of an apostolic tradition but they did not know about a secret and unwritten apostolic tradition on the authority of which the church could justify virtually anything it wanted. . . . Continue reading →
The first time I heard the expression, “Pies, Docs, and Kuyps” was during a seminary lecture by Derke Bergsma. He was relating what had already become a fairly standard sociological taxonomy in the Reformed world. There are three kinds of Reformed folk: . . . Continue reading →
IV. (2) Before the fall, he had the power to love God and obey him in all things; for love supposes faith, a part of obedience. For he who is commanded by law to love God and obey him is also commanded . . . Continue reading →
In confessional Protestant circles we use some short hand Latin phrases that we might not all understand, even though we use them frequently. Sola gratia is one of those. These expressions go back to the very beginning of the Reformation. Andreas Bodenstein . . . Continue reading →
Evangelical Christians are often charged to follow the Apostles by going forth to “turn the world upside down” for Christ. This is a powerful injunction because it captures a great truth: that the gospel message is unexpectedly and delightfully powerful. Continue reading →
IX. Although natural liberty agrees in essentials with the liberty of man constituted in other states, still it differs greatly in accidentals. For the liberty of glory in blessedness is not to be able to sin (non posse peccare). The liberty of . . . Continue reading →
I think I first heard about weblogs—hence “blogging”— sometime in the mid-1990s, while I was teaching at Wheaton College. It was a revolutionary new form of communication wherein a few people were writing the same sorts of personal things that they once . . . Continue reading →
IV. (2) Before the fall, he had the power to love God and obey him in all things; for love supposes faith, a part of obedience. For he who is commanded by law to love God and obey him is also commanded . . . Continue reading →
A belated Happy New Year from the Heidelblog! Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of you who read the HB in 2016 and to the thousands of you who listened to the Heidelcast. The HB lives to serve. I am deeply grateful . . . Continue reading →
This idea of history having a ‘side’, which is liberal, enlightened and so on, harks back to the enlightenment of the 18th century, to the emergence of what David Hume called ‘these enlightened ages’, in sharp contrast to the side of the . . . Continue reading →
In an age like ours, of course, where fuzzy boundaries, vagueness, doubt, and caution are supreme virtues, Machen’s thesis is likely to appear both arrogant and overstated. But, as Machen himself says in the opening paragraphs, “In the sphere of religion, as . . . Continue reading →
What is the duty of Christian men at such at time? What is the duty, in particular, of Christian officers in the Church? In the first place, they should encourage those who are engaging in the intellectual and spiritual struggle. They should . . . Continue reading →
Here I beseech the godly, if they know the true rule of righteousness is to be sought from Scripture alone, religiously and earnestly to ponder with me how Scripture may, without quibbling, be duly brought into agreement with itself. John Calvin, Institutes . . . Continue reading →
Second Question Did Adam have the power to believe in Christ? I. This question lies between us and the Arminians who, to defend their hypothesis concerning the necessity of a certain universal sufficient grace, have introduced this opinion—that Adam never had the . . . Continue reading →
IX. Although natural liberty agrees in essentials with the liberty of man constituted in other states, still it differs greatly in accidentals. For the liberty of glory in blessedness is not to be able to sin (non posse peccare). The liberty of . . . Continue reading →
God’s people have been reading and studying His Word for a very long time but much of that work is lost to most of us because it remains untranslated from Latin (0r Greek). The Reformed tradition begins with a profound commitment to . . . Continue reading →
VII. However, although he was free from the slavery of sin (because created just and upright) still he was not free from mutability (because whatever his holiness and righteousness, he was mutable, from which in consequence he could fall). Adam was placed . . . Continue reading →