The passages are these:— He was thirty years old when he came up to be baptized. Then, when he had the mature age of a teacher, he came to Jerusalem, so that all would reasonably accept him as a teacher. For he . . . Continue reading →
Academic Stuff
Can Baptists Be Catholic? (Part 1)
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 →
Ursinus’ Arguments That “This Is My Body” Is A Promise Of Grace Translated With An Introduction
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 →
Looking For Peter’s Successor
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 →
Sola Scriptura Fell Out Of The Sky? A Response To Trent Horn
The popular Roman Catholic apologist Trent Horn recently published a video criticizing the Protestant principle of sola scriptura on historical grounds, and arguing that sola scriptura was a novel idea invented by the Protestant Reformers with no basis in the writings of . . . Continue reading →
New Insight Into Olevianus And Ursinus On The Imputation Of Active Obedience
The publication of this new research, completed only in the last month, may surprise some readers, disappoint others, and delight still others but it is important research that changes what we know about the origins and development of the controversy over the . . . Continue reading →
The New Inquisition: Illiberalism In The Modern Academy
Most college students are taught that, in the pre-Enlightenment world, religious zealots persecuted enlightened astronomers for daring to challenge deeply held but ignorant religious beliefs on the basis of early modern science. Whether that story is true as told is immaterial. That . . . Continue reading →
Why Christians Call Mary Theotokos (Part 2)
The great Cappadocian theologian Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329–c. 90) had addressed the same concerns expressed by the Nestorians decades before proclaiming: If anyone does not believe that holy Mary is Theotokos, he is severed from the Godhead. If any one should . . . Continue reading →
Why Christians Call Mary Theotokos (Part 1)
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Deity and also perfect in humanity; truly God and truly man, of a rational soul . . . Continue reading →
Why Does The Council Of Chalcedon Matter?
Dr. R. Scott Clark explains why the Council of Chalcedon matters for our theology today. Continue reading →
Confessional Protestantism Is Not Populist
I recently watched a panel discussion hosted by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) which discussed the book, The Democratization of American Christianity, along with its author, historian Nathan O. Hatch.1 The members of the panel included Rusty Reno from First Things Magazine, . . . Continue reading →
The Black Rubric And The Creator-Creature Distinction
The “Black Rubric” was so-called because it was set in black print in the 1661–1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. It was first inserted into the Second Edwardian Prayer Book in 1552. It was intended to explain that when communicants . . . Continue reading →
When Old Testament Scholars Do Historical Theology
It comes out about as accurate as Historical Theologians doing serious Old Testament work. I say this because I recently asked whence folk (Federal Visionists among them) get the idea that Martin Bucer’s soteriology marked a substantial break from Martin Luther’s. I . . . Continue reading →
Things Not To Say About Jesus At Christmas (Or Any Other Time)—Part 2
A Third Error Previously I wrote that there are two classes of Christological errors. That is not strictly true. There are three: those that deny the humanity, those that deny the deity, and those that deny the union of the two natures . . . Continue reading →
Things Not To Say About Jesus At Christmas (Or Any Other Time)—Part 1
Like the celebrants of Festivus, Reformed folk have historically had a lot of problems with both the ecclesiastical calendar, including advent, and Christmas. It is not because we do not heartily affirm the incarnation of our Lord—we do!—but because neither the Scriptures . . . Continue reading →
And Now For The Rest Of The Story
Christianity Today Online has published a piece touting the virtues of online seminary education.1 I expected there to be, somewhere in the story, someone to present the other side opposing online seminary education, but I did not see it. Perhaps I missed it? . . . Continue reading →
Tertullian On The Trinity
In the course of time, then, the Father forsooth was born, and the Father suffered,—God Himself, the Lord Almighty, whom in their preaching they declare to be Jesus Christ. We, however, as we indeed always have done (and more especially since we . . . Continue reading →
Tertullian And The Athanasian Creed
Bear always in mind that this is the rule of faith which I profess; by it I testify that the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit are inseparable from each other, and so will you know in what sense this is . . . Continue reading →
Tertullian On The Natural Knowledge Of God
For indeed, as the Creator of all things, He was from the beginning discovered equally with them, they having been themselves manifested that He might become known as God. For although Moses, some long while afterwards, seems to have been the first . . . Continue reading →
Augustine On The Hermeneutics Of Love
While Augustine argues that ‘there are two things on which all interpretation of Scripture depends: the mode of ascertaining the proper meaning and the mode of making known the meaning when it is ascertained,’ it should be evident that the first step . . . Continue reading →