Augustine’s Retractations, Perfectionism, And Fakespectations (1)

For a long time I have been thinking about and planning to do something which I, with God’s assistance, I am now undertaking because I do not think it should be postponed: with a kind of judicial severity I am reviewing my . . . Continue reading →

New: Peter Martyr Vermigli For Children

In our age of screens (phones, tablets, computers, watches etc) it is counter-intuitive but nonetheless true to say that books are more important than they have been for a long time. They are more important precisely because our culture is drifting away . . . Continue reading →

Preaching As For The Free

One of the privileges of editing the Classic Reformed Theology series for Reformation Heritage Books is that I get to work closely with significant Reformed texts and shepherd them through the process from translation (e.g., from Latin to English) to publication. Currently . . . Continue reading →

Roger Nicole: An Open Letter to Dr. William Estep

My dear colleague, Your recent article in The Baptist Standard of Texas has come to my attention. I am grieved that you should have such a low opinion of Calvin and of Calvinistic Baptists. Although you hold that “most of the ardent . . . Continue reading →

Where Was Your Church Before Luther?

Josiah writes to the HB: Often when we think of the reformation we think back to 1517 when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis on the church door in Wittenberg Germany but we describe it in such a way that it’s almost . . . Continue reading →

Does The Westminster Confession Contradict Calvin On Assurance And Faith?

For much of the 20th century it was a datum, a given, for many students of Calvin and the Reformed tradition that many of the English Reformed (especially the Westminster Assembly) abandoned Calvin and the Reformation doctrine of the faith and assurance. . . . Continue reading →

Jesus, The Ninth Commandment, And Objective Truth

The 2016–17 academic year has begun. It’s time for introductory and orientation lectures. Yesterday I was talking with the Ancient Church (patristics) class about the what history is or what historians do and why history is important. Americans, in particular, it seems . . . Continue reading →

Muller: What I Haven’t Learned From Karl Barth

By Richard A. Muller Reformed Journal 37 (1987): 16–18. During the past year numerous celebrations were held, testimonials given, and articles written—all for the sake of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karl Barth and recognizing his contribution to theology . . . Continue reading →

Now Available: New Dictionary Of Theology—Historical And Systematic (2nd Edition)

The New Dictionary of Theology—Historical and Systematic, 2nd edition, ed. Martin Davie et al is just out from InterVarsity Press. The first edition of this reference work was originally published in 1988 and was edited by Sinclair Ferguson and David Wright. It . . . Continue reading →

How Reformed Orthodoxy Was Lost

J. A. Turretin’s struggle against the Consensus, in which he achieved victory in 1705, was, therefore, part of an effort for an inclusive Protestant fellowship. He did not press the issues raised in earlier discussions—predestination, imputation of original sin, the presence of . . . Continue reading →

In Praise Of (Renaissance) Humanism

In article 10 he defined the literal sense just as most traditional evangelical and Reformed interpreters would: the sense intended by the author. This is an important correction to the late-modern subjectivist move to elevate the reader and his subjective experience of the text over authorial intent. Thomas represents a broad classical and Christian consensus about how to regard authors and texts. Augustine had argued that reading a text according to the author’s intent was an act of charity, a way to love one’s neighbor as one’s self. Continue reading →