American Presbyterianism

Heidelcast 67: Recovering Mother Kirk

by on April 5, 2014 | 4 Comments
Heidelcast

Before there was Recovering the Reformed Confession, there was Recovering Mother Kirk a seminal book for all Reformed confessionalists who are looking for a way between revivalism and fundamentalism or between QIRC and QIRE. Darryl Hart published Recovering Mother Kirk just over . . . Continue reading →

D. G. Hart On Americanism

by on March 12, 2014 | 13 Comments

This is from a conference co-hosted by Providence Reformed Church (URC) and Grace Reformed Presbyterian Church (OPC) in DesMoines. You can see all the talks here. (HT: Presbyterian Blues)

David Hall: Whither The PCA At 40: Anyone For A Janus Birthday In December?

by on December 3, 2013 | 1 Comment

This week a young denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, (PCA) will celebrate its 40th birthday. Reaching 40 years, without more schism than already witnessed, is a nice achievement for an American evangelical denomination as it reaches its generational benchmark. Here’s an . . . Continue reading →

Abounding Grace Radio: How To Choose A Church (1)

With Chris Gordon

by on July 15, 2013 | 2 Comments

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?

by on July 12, 2013 | 4 Comments

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)

by on July 9, 2013 | 46 Comments

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

by on July 7, 2013 | 1 Comment

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 →

The Leithart Verdict Is In: The News is Not Good for Orthodoxy

by on April 3, 2013 | 68 Comments

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

by on February 27, 2013 | 3 Comments

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

by on February 25, 2013 | 19 Comments

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?

by on February 21, 2011 | 1 Comment

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 →

Is the Reformed Faith a Second Blessing?

by on August 24, 2010 | 98 Comments

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

by on July 18, 2010 | 1 Comment

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.