As a Presbyterian minister, I have attended many Presbytery meetings where candidates for licensure or ordination are asked various questions touching on the Bible, theology, church government, and their commitment to the church’s confessional teaching. Inevitably, one question that is almost always . . . Continue reading →
One of the oldest and most repeated religious questions goes like this: “Why does God allow evil to happen?” Or it may sound like this: “Why is there evil in the world?” These types of questions fall under the subject of theodicy. . . . Continue reading →
Robert Rollock (1555–98) did not live very long but he was a hard-working Scotsman who left his mark on Reformed theology and especially in biblical commentary and the development of Reformed covenant theology. In his introduction to Rollock’s commentary on Ephesians, Casey . . . Continue reading →
Up to chapter four, Gordon has focused on the form of preaching. But at this point he turns to questions of content. He says, “In addition to the cultural matters that have concerned me throughout, I also believe that preaching today fails . . . Continue reading →
I am a fan of T. David Gordon. He writes well. He speaks plainly. He does not mince words. With some writers, it is quite possible for five people to read them and come away with five different conclusions about what the . . . Continue reading →
Recently, I have been removing a large stump from my back yard. The task has required more than one tool at different phases of the process. At times, I need a chainsaw to get deep cuts on certain sections. Other times, I . . . Continue reading →
Books on New Testament theology are often stale and lack depth of real theological analysis. I have regularly felt that when biblical studies attempt to do theology, the fruit is either obvious or seriously off track. Against this backdrop, Matthew Harmon’s exploration . . . Continue reading →
The church has had pastors since our very beginning. Although that observation may seem obvious, we may yet overlook the important point that the pastoral craft is very ancient. We likely often envision the pastoral role only in terms of our modern . . . Continue reading →
Whenever someone introduces himself to me as a worship pastor, my standard response is, “Me too.” Inevitably, my reply prompts inquiry about how I lead worship. So, I explain that I call the church to worship, I pray a lot, I read . . . Continue reading →
Myles Coverdale (1488–1569) was a champion of the Word of God in sixteenth-century Europe, especially in England. He translated the Word, preached it, embraced new insights into its meaning vis-à-vis justification by faith alone, rejection of Christ’s physical presence in the Lord’s . . . Continue reading →
Girolamo Zanchi (1516–90) is certainly not a household name in Christian circles. He was very well known among seventeenth-century Reformed Christians, however. For just one example, Puritan Thomas Goodwin wrote that Zanchi was “the best of Protestant Writers.”1 So why are many Reformed . . . Continue reading →
Leadership comes with the territory of pastoral ministry. The trouble is that we do not always embrace it as a reality. It can be hard to see how the obviously distinct aspects of the pastoral call fit alongside normal assumptions about leadership . . . Continue reading →
Can we learn anything from the disputes between two seventeenth-century theologians in England, John Owen and Richard Baxter? In this book, Tim Cooper makes the case that we can. And if we can, there are few better-qualified guides than Dr. Cooper. Extensively . . . Continue reading →
The twenty-first century is not the first to witness English-speaking theologians in the Reformed tradition expressing dissatisfaction with the Reformation’s doctrine of justification through faith alone on the ground of Christ’s righteousness and sacrifice alone. Continue reading →
Eschatology is one of those perennially discussed (and often debated) topics in Christian theology that, in my estimation, can often miss the main point by getting caught in the details. Usually, the first question it prompts is about what someone’s view of . . . Continue reading →
Burgess used the similarities between the old and new covenants to refute Antinomian errors, but perhaps the most surprising facet of his broad distinction was that the gospel contains “commands.” The command for repentance, in a sense, belongs to the gospel, not . . . Continue reading →
Among the sins you and I both have wrestled with is the sin of unjust anger. When faced with injury or injustice—whether real or perceived, whether against our person, someone else, or some group of people—we have been moved to respond in . . . Continue reading →
After his suspension on June 25, 1629, by the High Commission for the charge of “doctrinal heterodoxy,” Robert Towne (1592–1663) desperately sought to meet with those “godly opponents” who had been criticizing his preaching, perhaps to explain himself.1 He found a few . . . Continue reading →
As advocates of the Presuppositional approach to apologetics remind us ad infinitum, no one is neutral epistemologically. That is true enough. We must not, however, draw the fallacious inference that no one is objective. That does not follow. In Histories and Fallacies . . . Continue reading →
After a conference address that expounded the doctrine of justification by faith and showed its contemporary importance, the following comments were overheard during a coffee break. Continue reading →