This series is a transcription of an article published originally in Dutch by the Christian Reformed theologian Foppe Ten Hoor (1855–1934), who was a minister in the Christian Reformed Church and professor of Systematic Theology, from 1900–24, at what became Calvin Theological . . . Continue reading →
This series is a transcription of an article published originally in Dutch by the Christian Reformed theologian Foppe Ten Hoor (1855–1934), who was a minister in the Christian Reformed Church and professor of Systematic Theology, from 1900–24, at what became Calvin Theological . . . Continue reading →
When, Dean Kelley published Why Conservative Churches Are Growing (New York: Harper & Row, 1972), the Protestant mainline was already in crisis. They were shrinking, and, as Kelley’s title suggests, the “conservative” churches were growing. This book was published the year before . . . Continue reading →
Understandably, for many American Christians, the fight or flight instinct has kicked in. They are made to pay taxes to support institutions—for example, public schools—that demonstrably work against their interests and seek to subvert the authority of parents in the family by . . . Continue reading →
An old friend wrote recently to ask whether it is appropriate for a confessional Presbyterian and Reformed (P&R) pastor or congregation to participate in an ecumenical service. In Part One of this series, we discussed our terms. Now we continue the question: should . . . Continue reading →
An old friend wrote recently to ask whether it is appropriate for a confessional Presbyterian and Reformed (P&R) pastor or congregation to participate in an ecumenical service. This is an interesting and challenging question. Let us start by defining our terms. What . . . Continue reading →
One hundred years ago this month, in February of 1923, J. Gresham Machen published Christianity and Liberalism. Dedicated to his mother, J. Gresham would, with the charm of a gentleman and the power of a knight, dismantle the liberal theology that slowly infected . . . Continue reading →
While our Constitution does not require the candidate’s affirmation of every statement and/or proposition of doctrine in our Confession of Faith and Catechisms, it is the right and responsibility of the Presbytery to determine if the candidate is out of accord with . . . Continue reading →
Is Pentecost Repeatable? The short answer is yes and no (see Part One for context with Asbury Revival). Luke records a “second Pentecost” among the Gentiles in Acts 10:34–38. In Caesarea, Peter had a vision (Acts 10:9–16) showing him that the Old . . . Continue reading →
The revival that broke out in the chapel of Asbury University on February 8, 2023 is spreading. Campus Reform, a publication devoted to reporting on the state of civil liberties on American college campuses, reports that there are “seven student-led revivals across . . . Continue reading →
Like all evangelical entrepreneurs, Warren didn’t simply leave everything up to God—he had a business plan. When Warren was a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, he studied the writings of church-growth advocates such as Donald A. McGavran . . . Continue reading →
From 1987–93, I was co-pastor and then solo pastor of a small congregation in Kansas City, MO. We were surrounded by Baptist, Pentecostal, and Roman Catholic congregations. I was there during the so-called Kansas City Prophets movement. The excitement of revival and . . . Continue reading →
The nature, origins, and status of revivals and revivalism is a contested issue among scholars and popular writers on these topics. It is a question even whether revivals and revivalism are properly distinguished and if so how? There are narratives about revivals . . . Continue reading →
A spontaneous marathon revival among students and faculty at Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, resulted in a week-long shut-down of classes and reached out to other colleges and communities from coast to coast this month. Students, faculty, townspeople, and visitors wept, and . . . Continue reading →
Last year, Hohn Cho concluded Grace Community Church had made a mistake. The elders had publicly disciplined a woman for refusing to take back her husband. As it turned out, the woman’s fears proved true, and her husband went to prison for child . . . Continue reading →
There are a number of ways to look at the current divisions that are emerging in traditional Protestant and evangelical circles in the United States. The old fault line between those who affirm and those who deny the reality of the supernatural—the . . . Continue reading →
It happens often—a friend or listener sends a message with the question: “Do you know of a good confessional Presbyterian or Reformed church near X?” All too often, after searching online, consulting denominational websites, even asking other friends, the answer is no. . . . Continue reading →
Michael Kruger has written a gem of a book, addressing one of the most prominent issues troubling the church today. Increasingly, we are faced with stories about pastors who misuse their position of authority to achieve their own selfish ends to the . . . Continue reading →
THE POINT HERE IS NOT SO much the problems of recent Catholic and evangelical statements (though we do dissent from those affirmations). Rather our concern is with the understanding of religious traditions and their truth claims that undergirds not simply such statements . . . Continue reading →
American evangelical religion, whether one traces it to Edwards, Whitefield, and Wesley or to the nineteenth-century revivalists (e.g., Charles Finney), has always been oriented around personalities. Reasonably, American evangelical Christians nurtured in the personality-oriented tradition assume that pattern as the norm when . . . Continue reading →