The Church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism even to infants. The apostles, to whom were committed the secrets of the divine sacraments, knew there are in everyone innate strains of [original] sin, which must be washed away through . . . Continue reading →
Historical Theology
Cyprian Appealed To Colossians 2:11-12 In His Explanation Of Infant Baptism
For in respect of the observance of the eighth day in the Jewish circumcision of the flesh, a sacrament was given beforehand in shadow and in usage; but when Christ came, it was fulfilled in truth. For because the eighth day, that . . . Continue reading →
What The Reformed Can Learn From A 1532 Synod: God Should Be Preached Only As He Is Known In Christ
How disgraceful it is for a servant of Christ not to know the command of His Lord, and to pursue some other, useless preoccupation, and fail to take an interest in the things which concern His Lord, who is our everlasting blessedness! . . . Continue reading →
The Reformed Churches Confess Luther’s Translation Of Romans 3:28: Allein
In his 1521 translation of the Greek New Testament into German, the so-called September Testament, which he completed in about 11 weeks (seminary students take note, that is two weeks shy of one semester) Luther’s most controversial decision may have been to . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 148: With Harrison Perkins On Archbishop Ussher And The Covenant Of Works
We are interrupting the Heidelcast series on the Doctrine of God, I AM that I AM to talk with the Rev Dr Harrison Perkins, (PhD, Queen’s University Belfast) about his new book on Archbishop James Ussher (1581–1656). He was primate of the . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck Distinguished Law And Gospel
Luther Contra The Anabaptists: The Ground Of Baptism Is The Divine Command And Promise
Beginning in 1528 and 1529, Luther developed his primary defense of infant baptism. Without repudiating his earlier position on infant faith, Luther appealed instead to infant baptism as grounded on God’s gracious promised attached to the sign and God’s command to baptism . . . Continue reading →
Ursinus: Christ Was The Author And Mediator Of The Old Covenant
IV. IN WHAT DO THE OLD AND THE NEW COVENANT AGREE, AND IN WHAT DO THEY DIFFER? Since there is but one covenant, and the Scriptures speak of it as though it were two, we must consider in what particulars the old . . . Continue reading →
Brakel: The Substance Of The Covenant Of Grace Is Identical In The Old And New Testaments
The Covenant of Grace Identical in both Old and New Testaments Question #1: When was this covenant of grace initiated? Answer: Due to a misunderstanding concerning the nature of the covenant of grace, the Socinians and Arminians, who are in this respect . . . Continue reading →
Video: Bob Godfrey Puts The Corona Virus Into Historical Perspective
Ligonier has released a video featuring Bob Godfrey putting the Corona virus pandemic into historical perspective. Watch it here. How to subscribe to Heidelmedia
The Necessity Of Good Works: Ursinus’ Exposition Of Heidelberg 64
Although the Protestant movement gained political legitimacy with the Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555, Luther’s reformation had not yet been won. Rome still sought to regain the Palatinate and, by the middle of the 16th century, controversies had already divided the . . . Continue reading →
Was Sola Scriptura A Reformation Slogan And Doctrine?
Introduction: What Sola Scriptura Is and Is Not Recently, in a couple of places (online and in print) I have run across the claims, which, in different ways question the Reformation bona fides of the slogan and doctrine, sola scriptura. In one place an . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours With Michael McClymond Against Universalism
Since the arrival of the capital M Modern world, beginning in the mid-17th century, one of the persistent points of friction between orthodox Christianity and Modernity has been the Christian doctrine that Jesus is the only way to heaven and eternal life. . . . Continue reading →
Caspar Olevian And The Substance Of The Covenant Now $10.00
Caspar Olevianus (1536–87) was an influential figure in the development of Reformed (as distinct from other versions of) covenant theology. He was a student of John Calvin (1509–64) and Theodore Beza (1519–1605). Like them, he was a Roman Catholic humanist scholar who . . . Continue reading →
Schaff’s Creeds of Christendom: A Most Valuable, Free, Electronic Resource
There are other collections of ecumenical creeds. There are other collections of the Reformed confessions (e.g., Reformed Confessions in the 16th and 17th Centuries). There are other surveys (e.g. Pelikan and Hotchkiss, Credo) but there is still nothing that does just what Philip . . . Continue reading →
There Is Another Way: A Response To Francis Chan
“Again, I’m not making like any grand statements. I’m just saying that some of this stuff I didn’t know. I didn’t know that for the first 1500 years of church history, everyone saw it as the literal body and blood of Christ. . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: God Finds In Our Good Works More To Damn Than To Save
Q: How is he accepted righteous before God? A: By the righteousness of Christ imputed to him [2 Col 5:21]. Q: What profit comes by being thus justified? A: Hereby and by no other means in the world, the believer shall be . . . Continue reading →
John Owen Was Not A Baptist (Part 2)
Obs. I. Believers under the new testament have lost nothing, no privilege that was enjoyed by them under the old. Many things they have gained, and those of unspeakable excellency, but they have lost nothing at all. Whatever they had of privilege . . . Continue reading →
Is The Doctrine Of Penal Substitutionary Atonement A Late, Western Doctrine?
Recently on Twitter, Tim Keller wrote, The gospel is neither religion nor irreligion it is something else altogether. Religion makes law and moral obedience a means of salvation, while irreligion makes the individual a law to self. The gospel is that Jesus . . . Continue reading →
Conspiracy Theories Are Bunk
Henry Ford (1863–1947), founder of the Ford Motor Company, famously said, “History is bunk.” That may be sometimes true. Historians do make mistakes. This is why all histories must be read with a critical eye. Not all theories of history are equally . . . Continue reading →