Thanks to Wayne Sparkman for reminding us that, on this day in 1929 a group of pastors and elders met in Philadelphia to plan for a new seminary to succeed Old Princeton in the wake of its reorganization.
Happy Birthday To Westminster Seminary
American Presbyterianism
Carnell’s Ironic Critique Of Machen
The mentality of fundamentalism sometimes crops up where one would least expect it; and there is no better illustration of this than the inimitable New Testament scholar, J. Gresham Machen. Machen was an outspoken critic of the fundamentalist movement. He argued with . . . Continue reading →
Abounding Grace Radio: How To Choose A Church (1)
With Chris Gordon
Chris Gordon is not only a dear friend and my pastor at Escondido URC but he also hosts a daily radio program, Abounding Grace Radio. So, other than preaching twice most Lord’s Days, hosting a daily radio program, counseling, teaching a catechism class, . . . Continue reading →
Do Mainlines Renew?
There several ways to classify American denominations. We could distinguish between “liberal” (those who no longer believe Scripture to be God’s inerrant Word or the historic Christian faith) and “conservative” (those who affirm inerrancy and historic Christianity). As Darryl Hart argues in . . . Continue reading →
When Denoms Disappoint: Setting Priorities (UPDATED)
UPDATE Below 7/9/13 Original Post July 2, 2013 On June 20, 2013 the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, the mainline (liberal) and oldest Dutch Reformed denomination in the US removed the “conscience clause” from its Book of Church Order. . . . Continue reading →
Not The Complaint But The Record
Our dissent finds fault with the framing of the SJC’s Statement of the Issue, “Did the Complainant demonstrate…?” The Complaint was not dependent upon evidentiary sufficiency but on the Record of the Case (ROC). The correct Statement of the Issue would be: . . . Continue reading →
Prayer For Sgt Bergdahl June 30, 2013
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church has called for a day of prayer for Sgt Bowe Bergdahl. He has been a POW since 2009. Yesterday, June 11, 2013, the 80th General Assembly of the OPC, meeting in Moraga, California, called for a day of . . . Continue reading →
The Leithart Verdict Is In: The News is Not Good for Orthodoxy
Peter Leithart is a teaching elder (TE) in the Presbyterian Church in America. Until recently he was a minister, laboring outside the bounds of his presbytery, in a Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) congregation in Moscow, ID. The CREC is the . . . Continue reading →
A New Program for Hired Hands
In the fundamentalist-modernist controversy in the early part of the 20th century, one of the more difficult aspects was the question of whether the “modernists” really believed the faith any longer. The suspicion among conservatives was that in some, perhaps many cases, . . . Continue reading →
Lamenting Decline or Questioning Premises and Methods
It started with John Frame’s “Warrior Children” piece in 2003. In June, 2012 Anthony Bradley wondered about the decline of popular presbyterians. More recently Bill Evans has elaborated on the theme of the decline of conservative presbyterianism. This morning I wake to . . . Continue reading →
Colson Calls for Doctrinal Boot Camp: But Which Doctrine?
In 1994 Chuck Colson attempted to convince evangelicals that the decline of the culture was so precipitous that they needed to set aside the historic Protestant doctrine of justification in favor of an intentionally equivocal statement about how we are accepted by . . . Continue reading →
Midway PCA's Alternative Plan
“We renew our recommendation that Presbyteries vote against adopting the BCO 14 amendments and seek improved formulations. Moreover, it is hoped that any Presbyteries which have not yet voted on the proposals will at least engage in deliberative study of this overture . . . Continue reading →
Is This What They Meant By "Safe Spaces"?
Wes White is calling attention to the theology of PCA Teaching Elder Ron Choong. He describes his blog as a “theological safe space.” This adds background to some of the concerns leading up to the most recent PCA GA and the language . . . Continue reading →
Is the Reformed Faith a Second Blessing?
In response to Jason Stellman’s monday post the question has arisen as to what should be required for membership in a confessional Reformed (e.g., Three Forms) or Presbyterian (Westminster Standards) congregation. The argument has been made that, in American Presbyterian churches, the . . . Continue reading →
Audio Resources: The Presbyterian and Reformed Family Tree
Ever wonder whence the split Ps and broken Rs come? Here’s a great interview with WSC’s Darryl Hart on the Presbyterian and Reformed family tree.
17 Points Adopted by PCA GA
You saw it on the HB on April 30 in draft form. Then, on May 27 David Hall let us know about the action of the NW Georgia Presbytery to adopt a version of the 17 Points. Wes White has the version . . . Continue reading →
The Presbyterian Guardian is Back (Link Corrected)
Well, the back issues are now available online (HT: Josh Martin)
Neither Abyss Nor Eschaton
David Hall analyzes the just past PCA GA. I found it helpful.
Hegel in the PCA?
It seems like a dialectic. It’s almost a minimalist definition of “Reformed” and Darryl has some interesting analysis of it.
EPC Moves Toward the Mainline and the Mainline Moves Toward the Drain
Recovering the Reformed Confession I described the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (along with the CRC) as a part of the “borderline” (as distinct from the mainline and the sideline). At the time, the CRC appeared to be moving toward the mainline (which trajectory . . . Continue reading →