(Now these heretics) have themselves been sent forth by Satan, for the purpose of slandering before the Gentiles the divine name of the Church. (And the devil’s object is,) that men hearing, now after one fashion and now after another, the doctrines . . . Continue reading →
Academic Stuff
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 →
Students Do Better To Take Notes By Hand
When people type their notes, they have this tendency to try to take verbatim notes and write down as much of the lecture as they can,” [Pam] Mueller tells NPR’s Rachel Martin. “The students who were taking longhand notes in our studies . . . Continue reading →
Perkins On “Faith” In Hebrews 11
“Now Faith.” Faith in the word of God is specially of three sorts: historical, miraculous, [and] justifying or saving faith. First, historical faith is not only a knowledge of the word, but an assent of the heart to the truth of it. . . . Continue reading →
Machen’s Senate Testimony Against The Proposed Department Of Education (1926)
The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 o’clock am, Senator Lawrence C. Phipps presiding. Name of those present: Senators Phipps (chairman), Ferris, Copeland, and Brookhart, of the Senate Committee, and Messrs. Reed of New York, Robison, Holaday Lowrey Black of New . . . Continue reading →
Whence “The Right Side Of History”?
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 →
Confessional Protestantism Is Evangelical But Distinct From Evangelicalism
Both Bob and I wrote the book as catholic Christians—those who hold to the creeds of the ancient church—and as evangelical Christians—those who believe in justification by grace through faith and identify with ecclesiastical bodies which subscribe to Reformation confessions. To use . . . 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 →
The Great Disappointment (October 22, 1844): A Reminder Of The Foolishness Of Ignoring Mark 13:32
William Miller (1782–1849), a lay Bible student (later a Baptist preacher), predicted that Christ would return to earth some time between 21 March 1843 and 21 March 1844. One of Miller’s followers postponed the date to 22 October 1844. When Christ did . . . Continue reading →
Polycarp Versus The Progressives
In 1973, Charles Merritt Nielsen imagined what might have happened had Polycarp (69–155 AD), the senior pastor of the Christian congregation in Smyrna (today Izmir, Turkey), adopted the rhetoric of the theological progressives, who look for approval from the broader, unbelieving world: . . . 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 →
Ad Diognetum On Harmony Of All The Parts Of Scripture
11:6 Furthermore, the reverence of the law is sung, and the grace of the prophets is recognized, and the faith of the gospels is established, and the tradition of the apostles is preserved, and the joy of the church exults. Ad Diognetum . . . Continue reading →
Turretin: Who Are The Church Fathers, When Did They Live, and What Authority Do They Have?
Are the writings of the fathers the rule of truth in doctrines of faith and in the interpretation of the Scriptures? We deny against the papists I. Although from the preceding question we are already satisfied that the fathers cannot sit as . . . Continue reading →
Teaching The Old Fashioned Way
And that is why I love teaching the old way, the way that is driven by a metaphysical conviction about the world and about truth. For me, this kind of teaching is an act of rebellion in this present age—an attempt in . . . 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 →
Gregory I Against An Earthly Universal Bishop
Consider, I pray thee, that in this rash presumption the peace of the whole Church is disturbed, and that it is in contradiction to the grace that is poured out on all in common; in which grace doubtless thou thyself wilt have . . . 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 →