When the ancient church began to use the adjective catholic (universal) to describe her theology, piety, and practice, and to distinguish herself from the Gnostic, Marcionite, and Montanist cults of the second century, the best evidence is that they did not read . . . Continue reading →
My Baptist friends tend to talk about the new covenant in ways that do not actually conform to what Scripture says about the new covenant. My Baptist friends tend to make the new covenant more eschatological than it actually is. Continue reading →
As I emerged out of Southern Baptist evangelicalism in 1980–81 John Stott and J. I. Packer were two of the most influential writers in my journey out of Baptist evangelicalism. Hitherto my theological staples had been things on the order of Navigators Bible study materials and Rosalind Rinker’s book on hearing voices from God. I am not entirely sure how I found Stott’s Basic Christianity and Packer’s Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. Back then we had a Christian bookstore downtown, where I mostly bought contemporary Christian records (e.g., Larry Norman and Barry McGuire). Perhaps the manager directed me to them? Those books were a Godsend. They were thoughtful, intelligent, gracious and thoroughly evangelical in the best sense of the word. They were gospel books. They pointed me away from myself and my experience and toward Christ. In the summer of 1981 Packer’s Knowing God was a major influence in my embrace of Reformed theology, piety, and practice. Continue reading →
Whether Baptists can be catholic is a serious question that requires a serious answer. Before we proceed, however, we must define our terms. What is catholicity? Our English word catholic is really a Greek word, katholikos (καθολικός), borrowed by English. What does . . . Continue reading →
There are some who understand the promises of Jeremiah 31 to be realized entirely in the future. There are reasons, however, why this is not the best way to understand Jeremiah 31. First, as we have already seen, each of these benefits was already promised under the covenant of grace to Abraham. Continue reading →
Up to chapter four, Gordon has focused on the form of preaching. But at this point he turns to questions of content. He says, “In addition to the cultural matters that have concerned me throughout, I also believe that preaching today fails . . . Continue reading →
Regular readers of this space will know that evangelical elements of the Anglican tradition have played a significant role in my spiritual development. As a very young Christian the first piece of Christian literature of any substance that I read was John . . . Continue reading →
Having looked at Jeremiah 31 in the last part, we now turn to specific New Testament passages that shape our understanding of the new covenant as essentially a new administration of the Abrahamic covenant. 2 Corinthians 3 The New Testament view of . . . Continue reading →
I am a fan of T. David Gordon. He writes well. He speaks plainly. He does not mince words. With some writers, it is quite possible for five people to read them and come away with five different conclusions about what the . . . Continue reading →
In the first part of this essay I sketched three different approaches to preaching, offered an alternative, and then gave a provisional template for sermons. The principal goal of the essay is to encourage preachers to be faithful to the text, which . . . Continue reading →
The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem just as the Lord warned. Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. . . . Continue reading →
Arguably two of the issues that separate confessional Reformed folk from their Baptist friends are the Sabbath and baptism. For many Baptists (but not all—there are confessional Baptists who agree with the Reformed on the Sabbath) it is a given that the . . . Continue reading →
The contemporary use of the word community has troubled me for some time. I could not put my finger on it until today. It came to me during a drive across the vast wasteland that is Nevada. People routinely speak about the . . . Continue reading →
When Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) was born, the printing press was about fifteen years old. Paul II was Pope. Frederick III was Holy Roman Emperor. What we think of today as the Netherlands was ruled by the House of Burgundy. Luther would not . . . Continue reading →
Apparently a bizarre and unforeseen tornado struck Minneapolis. According to this post by John Piper, it hit an ELCA (mainline) Lutheran Church just as they were about to consider ecclesiastical policy regarding homosexuality. Continue reading →
In the public sphere, for example in online publications and on social media, one sees two extremes regarding women in the church generally: let us call the first the “make me a sammich” crowd. Continue reading →
The Heidelberg Reformation Association presents the first ever translation of a brief work on the Lord’s Supper by Zacharias Ursinus and translated by Dr Lee Irons. Continue reading →
We sit in church week after week and, if we are blessed, twice a week, for corporate worship. One of the most important elements of that holy assembly of the Christ-Confessing covenant people is the preaching of the Word. Yet, were we . . . Continue reading →
Americans love a comeback story. Americans also love magic. Sometimes the two converge, as they did in the Ted Williams story. He was a radio announcer with a great voice, who became a drunk and a drug addict. He was on the . . . Continue reading →
In the last month, we have witnessed the death of one pope and the election of another, and as typically happened, we saw reporters speaking in solemn tones about the unbroken line of succession from Peter to Leo XIV. Also, recent months . . . Continue reading →