Let us all reflect for a moment on the dramatic significance of Grudem’s claim about eternal generation. What he is saying is that the church catholic has for over 1600 years been affirming theologically and liturgically, as the key ecumenical summary of . . . Continue reading →
Doctrine of God
Note To Evangelicals Revising The Doctrine Of God: The Socinian Vortius Denied Simplicity
Conrad Vorstius also occupies a significant, but nearly entirely negative, place in the development of Reformed orthodox doctrine of the divine attributes. After his successful defense of two of his works, De sancta trinitate (1597), and De personis et officio Christi (1597), . . . Continue reading →
Athanasius On Eternal Generation
As we said above, so now we repeat, that the divine generation must not be compared to the nature of men, nor the Son considered to be part of God, nor the generation to imply any passion whatever; God is not as . . . Continue reading →
The Roof Was Not Strong Enough
My basic point remains: if you argue for EFS and/or reject (or even regard as negotiable) eternal generation, then you stand outside the bounds of the historic Nicene Christian faith as set forth at Constantinople in 381 and held thereafter by the . . . Continue reading →
Clarity On The Trinity
This God taught Israel to say ‘The Lord our God is One.’ There are distinctions of course. The NT writers, and Christ Himself, noted that OT prophets like David and Isaiah, when ‘in the Spirit,’ were party to conversations within the Godhead . . . Continue reading →
Muller: The Reformed Affirmed Eternal Generation Against The Socinians
The orthodox theologians consistently, therefore, offer arguments for the unique personality or personhood of the divine Son and his eternal generation from the Father—whether against the classical heresies and their more recent representatives or, in the high and late orthodox eras, specifically . . . Continue reading →
Thomas Ridgley On The Eternal Generation Of The Son
As to the eternal generation of the Son, it is generally explained in this manner. The Father is called by some, ‘the fountain of the Godhead,’ an expression taken from some of the fathers who defended the Nicene faith. But others, of . . . Continue reading →
Notable Interpretations Of 1 Corinthians 11:3
In light of the current discussions about the ontological and economic Trinity, subordination, and complementarianism, here are some quotations I posted yesterday on Twitter. This is his account of the reason of the thing, and he states it to make the weaker . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof On The Eternal Generation Of The Son
c. The eternal generation of the Son. The personal property of the Son is that He is eternally begotten of the Father (briefly called “filiation”), and shares with the Father in the spiration of the Spirit. The doctrine of the generation of . . . Continue reading →
Trueman: What Is The Status Of Nicene Orthodoxy In Modern Calvinistic Evangelicalism?
…The point at issue is that of the nature of the relations. In his writings, Professor Ware explicitly rejects the Nicene notion of eternal generation while asserting that of eternal functional submission. That is in fact a very radical move to make, . . . Continue reading →
In This Trinity None Is Afore
The church long ago rejected any form of primacy of the Father within the eternal Trinity, though there were some among the fathers who wanted to assert primacy to justify bishops in the church, just as there are some among evangelicals who . . . Continue reading →
How To Be Complementarian Without Becoming A Heretic
Is the Trinity no more than a social program for the world and the church? Is the eternal life of the Trinity hierarchical or egalitarian? Are there three minds, three wills, and three powers within the Godhead? Are the current Trinitarian views . . . Continue reading →
Du Moulin: The Arminians Make God’s Love Mutable
XV. The Arminians do cover themselves against this shower of arguments, with that their distinction of the antecedent and consequent will of God. They say that God does love some men more than other by his consequent will, that is, by that . . . Continue reading →
God Is Immutable.
One of the most disturbing developments in the latter phases of the decline of the neo-evangelical empire, as Carl Henry, Harold Ockenga et al came to be replaced by their baby-boomer successors was the influx at the same time of a Socinian . . . Continue reading →
God’s Love Does Not Change Him Or In Him But It Does Change Us
The effect or manner of God’s love is, that God makes the person happy whom he loves. For he doth amply reward that joy and delight which he takes in the holiness and obedience of the Elect, while he pours plentifully upon . . . Continue reading →
Does God Change?
Introduction In Reformed theology, the doctrine of God is at the headwaters. What we say about God touches every locus of theology. It shapes our theology, piety, and practice. When we say that humans are created in the image of God, we . . . Continue reading →
EchoZoe Interview On The Trinity
Each new year Andy Olson does an episode of EchoZoe on an essential Christian doctrine and the doctrine of the Trinity certainly fits. The Athanasian Creed begins with these words: “Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he . . . Continue reading →
Moses Hid His Face
Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, . . . Continue reading →
Hegel Is One Thing. Christianity Is Another
It became evident (to me at least) that Moltmann’s way of going about things is thoroughly [H]egelianised. He is not an anthropomorphite simply because he is sentimental about God, wanting a God near to him, nor because of jejune bible study. His . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Orthodoxy On Holiness Of The Spirit
The Spirit, further, is called “Holy” because, on the one hand, of “his unsullied purity and glorious majesty”—not, however, as if he were holier than the Father and the Son, for all are holy and “the divine holiness, being infinite, does not . . . Continue reading →