We do not need to convince the Christian Nationalists that they have a problem with racism. Some of them have recently published a statement on this very issue. They call it The Antioch Declaration. Continue reading →
American Religion
Video: Bob Godfrey On Hope And A Healthy Eschatology
A lecture from W. Robert Godfrey recorded during the Suffering & The Hope of Christ’s Return conference. Continue reading →
Video: Bob Godfrey on the Challenges of Being Reformed in America
Chris Gordon speaks with W. Robert Godfrey about Reformed theology and the challenges of being Reformed in America. Continue reading →
Sauls Leaves PCA, Becomes Egalitarian
You might have heard that one of the Presbyterian Church in America’s most notable ministers got in trouble, was suspended by his presbytery, went through a lengthy discipline process, eventually resigned his church, and two days later was restored as a member . . . Continue reading →
Eddie Bauer On Creeds, Promises, And Covenants
I continue to learn theology at one of our local malls. Last fall I learned about True Religion. More recently I was at Eddie Bauer. Upon putting away the store receipt, I happened to notice a little blurb on the back titled, . . . Continue reading →
Bantering With Keith Foskey About Law, Gospel, Baptists, And More
On this special episode of YourCalvinist Podcast, Keith welcomes Professor R. Scott Clark to discuss a variety of theological topics, including why he does not accept the term “reformed baptist” as a proper historical category. Continue reading →
Review: The Search For Christian America By Mark A. Noll, Nathan O. Hatch, And George M. Marsden
Christians often mimic the tactics of non-Christians in the social and political realms. For example, the “cancel culture” found in legacy media and social media is also found in evangelical media and Christian social media. American politicians and pundits use scare tactics, . . . 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 →
What The Dying Of The PCUSA Means
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 →
Samuel Would Like A Word With Americans Hankering For A King
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 →
Should You Attend An Ecumenical Service? (Part 1)
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 →
Is the PCA Doomed?
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 →
Are Our Revivals Like Pentecost? (Part 2)
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 →
Are Our Revivals Like Pentecost? (Part 1)
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 →
Asbury Is Ending Another Revival
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 →
New Resource Page On Revivals And Revivalism
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 →
Asbury Is Having A Revival (Again)
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 →
A Faithful Elder Stands Up For The Sheep
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 →
“Do You Know Of A Good P&R Church Nearby?”
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 →
One Major Difference Between The Reformed And The Evangelicals
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 →