The grace and mercy of our good God and heavenly Father, and the love of His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, be with you, my dearly beloved. Catherine Ramon, my dear and beloved wife and sister in our Lord Jesus Christ: your . . . Continue reading →
Academic Stuff
Where Was Our Church Before Luther And Zwingli? (6)
XIII. Third, as to place, the question can be understood in two ways. It may be understood definitely concerning the certain and constant seat of the church (such as Rome is) and in that continued series of bishops or pastors which the . . . Continue reading →
Where Was Our Church Before Luther And Zwingli? (4)
VIII. Fifth, the injustice of the demand appears also clearly in this—that they treacherously corrupt the writings of the fathers and endeavor to destroy whatever of candor remains and extinguish all memory of antiquity as far as they are able (most base . . . Continue reading →
Arminius’ Claims About The Belgic Confession And Heidelberg Catechism On Predestination
V. This Doctrine Of Predestination Is Not In Harmony With The Confessions Of The Reformed Churches With a minimum of contention or even trivial objection, it may be appropriately doubted whether this doctrine agrees with either the Belgic confession or the Heidelberg . . . Continue reading →
The Arminius Paradigm
For some time the Federal Visionists have been arguing that no one should criticize the Federal Vision until the church courts ruled on it. This is a strange argument since, on that basis Luther couldn’t have replied to Erasmus (the Augsburg wouldn’t . . . Continue reading →
When Philosophers Rebel Against Dystopia
Philosophers at San Jose St are speaking out about the problems associated with Distance Ed. Here are some excerpts from their open letter, published May 2, 2013, in The Chronicle of Higher Education (HT: Chris Chelpka). They are reacting to a move . . . Continue reading →
New In Print: Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy
Willem van Asselt, Irena Backus, John Witte Jr, Carl Trueman and others (including John Fesko and myself) are among those contributing to A Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy by Brill. If you’re interested in the academic study of the history of Reformed theology . . . Continue reading →
Free: Petrus van Mastricht on Preaching
Petrus van Mastricht (1630–1706) wrote one of the most important, most mature theological works the period of high orthodoxy (which has nothing to do with the new pot laws in Colorado and Washington State), the Theoretico-Practica Theologia. Todd Rester, who translated and . . . Continue reading →
The “Calvin As Tyrant Meme”
For a fellow who has been dead since 1564 and for a movement that, socially considered, is little more than a demographic blip (about 500,000 people in North America) Calvin and Calvinism continue to receive a remarkable amount of attention in the . . . Continue reading →
Where Was Our Church Before Zwingli And Luther?
I. Although from what has been said in the preceding question concerning the obscurity of the church, it is easy to answer the proposed question (for if the church can sometimes be so obscured and concealed as to the nowhere conspicuous on . . . Continue reading →
Reason Is Not The Principium But Instrument Of Faith
The question is not whether reason is the instrument by which or the medium through which we can be drawn to faith. For we acknowledge that reason can be both: the former indeed always and everywhere; the later with regard to presupposed . . . Continue reading →
Good Thing They Didn’t Say This Under Moses
“And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that Yahweh has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that . . . Continue reading →
ITEOTWAWKI (It’s The End Of The World As We Know It)
And I Don't Feel Fine
An eighth grader Union Grove elementary (Milwaukee, WI) brought home a politically-charged homework assignment recently. It was a crossword puzzle with obviously prejudiced characterization of a particular political position. When the assignment was publicized via social media the teacher, school, and school . . . Continue reading →
What Do Profs Do?
Darry Sragow is in the news and not in a good way. Watch the video of what Mediaite calls his his “greatest hits” below. What most of the media coverage has missed so far, is that he’s more than a political science prof, he’s . . . Continue reading →
Mosheim On Romanist Missions In The Early 17th Century
4. From these colleges and societies issues those swarms of missionaries who travelled over the whole world so far as it is yet discovered, and from among the most ferocious nations gathered congregations which were, if not in reality, yet in name . . . Continue reading →
How Christians Are And Aren’t Distinguished From The Rest Of Humanity
For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of humanity by country, language, or custom. 2 For nowhere do they live in cities of their own, nor do they speak some unusual dialect, nor do they practice an eccentric way of life…4For . . . Continue reading →
Luther On Papacy, Priesthood, And The Crucifixion
We should learn here that no one should place his trust in men, even if he is in an estate ordained by God. But if we are not to believe nor put our trust in Annas and Caiaphas, how are we to . . . Continue reading →
Online Classes: Just Because They’re Hip and Convenient Doesn’t Mean They Educate
One of the primary purposes for the HB is to but there are limits to what can be done online. The limits of online education/distance ed is has been a frequent topic here and here on the HB. The maxim is this: . . . Continue reading →
Augustine On Signs And Things Signified
2. All instruction is either about things or about signs; but things are learnt by means of signs. I now use the word “thing” in a strict sense, to signify that which is never employed as a sign of anything else: for . . . Continue reading →
Augustine On The Authority Of Scripture Over Bishops
You are wont, indeed, to bring up against us the letters of Cyprian, his opinion, his Council; why do ye claim the authority of Cyprian for your schism, and reject his example when it makes for the peace of the Church? But . . . Continue reading →