June is the usual month for the convening of Presbyterian assemblies, but the jewel in the crown of Presbyterian reforms, replacing bishops with lengthy committee meetings, seems less impressive today than it did in 1560 when the Scots held their first General . . . Continue reading →
American History
John Witherspoon: Presbyterian Pastor
John Witherspoon is most famous for being the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. The most crucial part of that sentence is the recognition that Witherspoon was, from the age of 20 until his death at the age of 71, . . . Continue reading →
Samuel Davies (1723–61): Defender Of Religious Dissent Under The Established Pre-Revolutionary Church In America
Davies’ willingness to submit to the prevailing church-state arrangement should not be mistaken for passivity. He fought doggedly for the rights of non-conformists, arguing that the 1689 Act of Toleration, which protected dissenters in England, applied in the colonies. If dissenters like . . . Continue reading →
Swaim: The American Founders Were Not Utopians
Spend the rest of this semiquincentennial year reading the Federalist Papers and mark how often the authors—Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison—base their contentions on the reality that fallen man can be counted on to conflate his own narrow interests with . . . Continue reading →
Eighteenth Century Virginia Presbyterians Were Politically American
In The Case for Christian Nationalism, widely considered the strongest argument for this position, Stephen Wolfe contends that the “classical Protestant position is that the civil magistrate can punish external religion—e.g., heretical teaching, false rites, blasphemy, and Sabbath-breaking—because such actions can cause . . . Continue reading →
On Independence From The Established Church
In preparing for its 250th anniversary, I reread the Declaration of Independence. What it says and does not say is fascinating. In between hot dogs, slices of apple pie, and before dusk falls and the fireworks commence in earnest, every American ought . . . Continue reading →
Hart On American Presbyterianism After Disestablishment
Early indications of the difference that a constitutional republic made for Presbyterianism came when in 1789 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America revised the Westminster confession and catechisms’ clauses on the civil magistrate. The original version’s conception of the . . . Continue reading →
Bombers And Spies: Avoiding “Nuclear Combat! Toe To Toe With The Russkies!”
In my sixth decade, Cold War spy novels captured me, and I believe I know why. As a child, I was about all things related to war and the military. I say all things, but really my interests were limited to the American . . . Continue reading →
With Presbycast On Whether Revivalism Can Be Reformed
At the end of March Brad Isbell, Wilson Van Hooser and I discussed whether Revivalism can be Reformed. As usual, great fun was had by all. Here’s the video: Here’s the audio-only episode in the Presbycast Libsyn feed. Subscribe to the Presbycast . . . Continue reading →
Hart On Machen’s Most Important Book
Most Christians who know about J. Gresham Machen, associate him with his most popular book, Christianity and Liberalism (1923). Even in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and extending outward to communions in NAPARC, Reformed Christians know Machen mostly through the book he wrote at the . . . Continue reading →
Hart On The Prejudice Of American Historians
Recognizing the remarkable accomplishments of historical figures who were also flawed seems to be a bridge too far for a certain sector of Americans. Perhaps holding on to slavery as the most important aspect of American history appeals to those inclined to . . . Continue reading →
Thanksgiving, George Washington, Constitutions and Presbyterians
Over four-hundred years after the Pilgrims celebrated God’s preservation of their lives through a difficult winter and his gracious gift of an abundant harvest in the spring of 1621, the United States will once again have its annual holiday of Thanksgiving on . . . Continue reading →
From The Reading Revolution To The Counter-Reading Revolution
It was one of the most important revolutions in modern history—and yet no blood was spilled, no bombs were thrown, and no monarch was beheaded. What happened was this: In the middle of the 18th century, huge numbers of ordinary people began . . . Continue reading →
Video: Bob Godfrey On The Life And Significance Of “Sister”
Rev. Chris Gordon and Dr. W. Robert Godfrey delve into the fascinating and complex life of Aimee Semple McPherson, a pivotal figure in the development of both evangelicalism and Pentecostalism. They explore her groundbreaking role as a female preacher, her innovative methods . . . Continue reading →
Real History Versus Tucker History
According to Tucker Carlson, Darryl Cooper is “the most important popular historian working in the United States today.” I had never heard of Cooper until this week and was none the wiser when I went to look for his books. There are . . . Continue reading →
The Rise Of The New Fourth Reich And The Fall Of The New Perspective?
I was raised in an era that is evidently receding. Not that very long ago, it was quite politically incorrect to mistreat Jewish holocaust descendants. Now, a Jewish student is practically persecuted on many elite campuses. Indeed, that general disavowal of anti-Semitism, . . . Continue reading →
A Better March Madness
From Scott Howard-Cooper’s introduction to Kingdom on Fire,1 a memoir about the turbulent 1960s through the intersected lives of UCLA legends, Coach John Wooden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bill Walton, we learn of some of the zany madness underneath some earlier student protests compared to . . . Continue reading →
Thirty Million
. . . By the estimation of leading religious demographers, over thirty million Christians perished under atheist regimes in the twentieth century. Tell this to friends who might insouciantly associate “secularism” with deliverance from religious violence. Tell this, too, to American history . . . Continue reading →
The Mystery of Lincoln’s Religion
If Abraham Lincoln still matters to Americans in the 21st century—and he does—a major reason is that there’s much at stake politically in how we remember him. This is as true of Lincoln’s religious beliefs as for any other part of his . . . Continue reading →
We’ve Been Dating It All Wrong: Richard Denton And The Arrival of American Presbyterianism
Pre-1700’s Presbyterianism in America is shrouded in mystique. Some would say it did not really exist since there was no formal Presbytery established until 1706. Too often it is made to appear that Presbyterianism suddenly dropped into the colonies out of nowhere, . . . Continue reading →