Roman And Protestant Integralists Together

Or Why An Established Religion Is A Really Bad Idea

Integralism and Protestant theocracy are twin movements of which our readers should be aware. The first is a Romanist movement. The second is a movement among a small but visible band Protestants who seek a similar outcome. Roman Integralism Romanist “integralists” like . . . Continue reading →

Created for Union: John Williamson Nevin And The Supper

On June 9, 1886, a funeral was held in a church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The deceased, John Williamson Nevin (1803–86), was a pastor, professor, and theologian in the German Reformed Church. Friends and family were in attendance as well as several theologians and professors of differing fame and reputation. None of this was unusual for a theologian’s funeral in nineteenth-century America. There was, however, at least one irregularity: A. A. Hodge (1823–16) gave one of the eulogies.1 Hodge’s late father, Charles Hodge (1797–1878), and Nevin were involved in one of the most prominent sacramental controversies in nineteenth-century America, yet the younger Hodge eulogized the very man who contested with his father decades before. Even now, the controversy and the theologies that gave rise to it live on long after the death of the major figures. Continue reading →

On Leaving The Mainline: Some Friendly Advice To The Alliance Of Reformed Churches

Kathryn Post, writing for the Religion News Service (HT: Christianity Today), writes, “On New Year’s Day, 43 congregations of the Reformed Church in America (RCA) split from the national denomination, one of the oldest Protestant bodies in the United States, in part over theological differences regarding same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBT clergy.” This move, she says, “follows the RCA General Synod’s October decision to adopt measures for ‘grace-filled separation’ with departing churches and to appoint a team to develop a restructuring plan for those that remain.”  These 43 congregations (so far) have formed The Alliance of Reformed Churches. Continue reading →

Good News For The Reformed Churches: Small Is In Again

Walnut Creek RCUS Kansas City

“According to the recently released Faith Communities Today study, half of the congregations in the United States have 65 people or fewer, while two-thirds of congregations have fewer than 100.” Continue reading →

Christ The Only Way, Doctrinal Confusion, And A Twofold Kingdom

A few years ago President Trump nominated Russell Vought to a post in his administration. Opponents of the nominee found an article written by Vought in which he criticized a Wheaton College professor for advocating a pluralist approach to salvation. During his confirmation hearing the ACLU bizarrely attacked Vought for denying religious liberty. The ACLU conflated Vought’s religious views with his policy views (perhaps because that is what the ACLU now does). Sen. Sanders of Vermont grilled Vought over his public, Christian conviction that faith in Jesus is the only way of salvation. Either Sanders was being cynical or he is incredibly ill-informed about a basic tenet of orthodox Christianity. Continue reading →

From “Insofar As” To “Good Faith:” The Slope To The Mainline

Introduction There is what PCA RE Brad Isbell calls a “quiet crisis” in the PCA. PCA TE Jon Payne says “the future doesn’t look good for the PCA.” The presenting issue just now is so-called “Side B” or “Gay Christianity.” On this . . . Continue reading →

Ufilas Or ESS?

…Allow me to share a few quotes. As you read, I want you to ask yourself where, in the history of the church these quotes are found? “Nobody denies that the Father is somehow greater than the Son, not because of another . . . Continue reading →

Suicide By Theocracy

If American evangelicalism dies, suicide will be the cause of death listed on the official Coroner’s report. American evangelicalism will likely not die due to external persecution. Historically, persecution tends to strengthen the church. If it dies, it will die because it . . . Continue reading →

New Resource Page: On Covid And Religious Liberty

The Covid crisis has been one of the greater challenges faced by the church in the West in recent years. In the USA and elsewhere it has divided congregations and probed weaknesses in our theology, piety, and practice. It has raised questions . . . Continue reading →

New In Print: Survival And Resistance In Evangelical America: Christian Reconstruction In The Pacific Northwest

The publisher’s blurb says: Over the last thirty years, conservative evangelicals have been moving to the Northwest of the United States, where they hope to resist the impact of secular modernity and to survive the breakdown of society that they anticipate. These . . . Continue reading →

The Myth Of The Bell Rope

Events described by the author of the Savage manuscript, in other words, provide an opportunity to reimagine Edwards as an active promoter of the most radical dimensions of the evangelical new birth experience—a figure who, during the early months of the Awakening, . . . Continue reading →