In this episode Dr. Clark talks about how the USA is not Old Testament Israel. Continue reading →
Meanwhile, [Petrus] Dathenus led a rather checkered life. His preaching soon brought him into difficulties, even with William of Orange, the leader of the fight against Spain. The prince wanted to grant Roman Catholics freedom of worship, but Dathenus strenuously opposed such . . . Continue reading →
After reading hundreds of pages of PCN writing, I submit that PCN’s “this world conquest” version of eschatology 1) minimizes or ignores the NT teaching of suffering, 2) downplays the strong NT emphasis on longing for Christ’s end of time return, and . . . Continue reading →
My kingdom is not of this world. By these words he acknowledges that he is a king, but, so far as was necessary to prove his innocence, he clears himself of the calumny; for he declares, that there is no disagreement between . . . Continue reading →
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 →
Kevin DeYoung, moderator of the 52nd General Assembly, has selected the elders to serve on the Ad Interim Study Committee on Christian Nationalism. The committee will consist of three teaching elders, four ruling elders, and two advisory members. The committee members are . . . Continue reading →
This commission is as great as the one in Matthew 28, if not greater, given its glorious setting. We learn: 1. All the success of the spiritual mission will be dependent on the power and activity of the Holy Spirit. 2. The . . . Continue reading →
Whereas, the duties of Christian citizenship are often disputed and prove perennially difficult for both elders and church members to discern; and Whereas, confusion exists about the proper relation between church and state; and Whereas, due to recent movements, publications, popular teachings, . . . Continue reading →
The old mother kirk of American Presbyterianism holds treasures of the mind and heart that few have ever seen. She has lived through a Revolution with England; divided over Black slavery only to be united again; welcomed seceding (Associate and United) Presbyterians . . . Continue reading →
The undersigned dissent from the decisions of the Committee on Foreign Missions to appoint medical specialists as members of the staff of the Eritrean Mission and from its decision to establish a hospital as part of that Mission. Our dissent is necessitated by the following convictions: 1. There is no . . . Continue reading →
Harry Emerson Fosdick’s provocative sermon, “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?,” delivered on May 21, 1922, is as good a date as any to locate the start of the controversy between conservatives and liberals in the Presbyterian Church. It did prompt conservative reactions and . . . Continue reading →
So far in this brief series I have alluded to Aquinas’ discussion of the ordo amoris (order of love). It was by reading Thomas that I was sent back to Augustine but now we come to Aquinas’ own discussion of the order . . . Continue reading →
In some circles, Christian nationalism has become a vehicle for race obsession. It is often tied to rhetoric that seeks to reframe Christianity as a predominately European religion, rejecting its deeply Jewish roots, North African developments, and universal call to all nations. . . . Continue reading →
One of the reasons terminology matters is because the BCO is not just for professional presbyterians. Imagine the confusion of a member (maybe one under discipline or appointed or nominated for some office or role) who opened a PDF of the BCO . . . Continue reading →
Three times in his discussion of the nature of virtue Thomas Aquinas (c. 1224–74) referred to Augustine’s AD 388 treatise against the Manichaeans, On The Morals of the Church (De moribus ecclesiae) regarding the “order of love.”1 Even though it was a . . . Continue reading →
The Christian Nationalists have discovered a new toy: Augustine’s language about the “order of love” or the “order of charity” (ordo caritatis), and some of them are putting it to the service of racism and kinism.1 This calls for some explanation and . . . Continue reading →
No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States (Constitution of the United States, Art. VI). In recent weeks at least three people have contacted me to notify me that Secretary . . . Continue reading →
Next, after a thousand years of repose and silence in the Church, the third was developed (Soteriology) through the labors of Luther and Calvin, proclaiming salvation as by grace through faith, leaving the fourth, Ecclesiology, yet to be developed. Do not the providences . . . Continue reading →
There are at least three types of Christian Nationalists: the highbrow Wolfeans (HW), the folk evangelicals (FE) who have always spoken vaguely of “takin’ this country back,” and the barely Christian, mostly charismatic/megachurch dominionist-NARcrowd (I’ll call them CMDs). The self-consciously protestant HW . . . Continue reading →
How Lawsuits Work I am not a lawyer nor am I practicing law in this space. What follows should not be construed as legal advice but broadly there are two kinds of court cases: civil and criminal. The latter are tried by . . . Continue reading →