Sovereign Grace Church aún no ha aterrizado en un hogar denominacional. Estamos estudiando, investigando y orando. Al buen estilo reformado, estamos tratando de movernos lenta y deliberadamente, haciendo todo decentemente y en orden. Este paso no ha sido fácil para nosotros; hemos . . . Continue reading →
Una pregunta que me han hecho muchas veces durante el último año es: «¿Cuál fue el momento en que se te encendió el foco sobre convertirte en una persona reformada y confesional?» Desafortunadamente, no estoy seguro de saber la respuesta. Al reflexionar . . . Continue reading →
En mi camino hacia el descubrimiento de la confesión reformada, se desarrollaron múltiples cambios en mi vida. Así que quiero tomar un momento para retroceder cronológicamente en mi historia. Cuando comencé el esfuerzo de plantar iglesias, me reuní con un hombre llamado . . . Continue reading →
No sabía qué significaba mi transición a la teología pactual y calvinista para el ministerio pastoral, pero sabía que significaba algo. Estaba buscando plantadores de iglesias similares a mí, que evitaran el modelo de ministerio programático y «sensible al buscador». Llegué a . . . Continue reading →
Hacia el final de mi cargo en una megaiglesia evangélica, conocí a un joven estudiante universitario reformado holandés llamado Jason (ahora sirve como pastor conmigo); nos sentábamos y discutíamos sobre el dispensacionalismo y la teología pactual. Recuerdo claramente que quería rescatarlo de . . . Continue reading →
Escuché por primera vez la terminología de los «cinco puntos del calvinismo» a mediados de la década de 1990 de un pastor de jóvenes en nuestra megaiglesia evangélica. Él estaba convencido de que el calvinismo es verdadero y bíblico. Una noche, mi . . . Continue reading →
Con frecuencia, surgen las preguntas “¿En qué debe creer un cristiano para ser salvo?” o: “¿Cuáles son los elementos esenciales para ser salvo?” Casi siempre, la respuesta evangélica general es: “No necesitas mucho.” Los evangélicos tienden al minimalismo en la doctrina (en . . . Continue reading →
This is episode 8 in the series, What Must A Christian Believe? In this episode we are considering the third article of the Apostles’ Creed: “And I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, our Lord.” With this article . . . Continue reading →
We start this episode by thinking a bit about an audio clip in the intro. If you are one of those who skips the intro 😮 please go back and listen for context. See also the show notes below for more. I . . . Continue reading →
Even as we were recording this episode last night a new round of controversy (on social media) arose over the orthodoxy of the doctrine of the so-called “eternal subordination of the Son” or the “eternal functional subordination of the Son” AKA “eternal . . . Continue reading →
The Heidelcast is back and better than ever, well, as mediocre as ever anyway. As I’m recording this it’s late July and I’m trying to finish the commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism. Something had to give way so I put the Heidelcast . . . Continue reading →
This is episode 1 in the series, “What Must A Christian Believe?” I chose this title for two reasons: 1) Since I began pastoral ministry in 1987 it is one of the questions I have received most often; 2) it is Question . . . Continue reading →
The word ecumenical means universal and the ecumenical creeds are the church’s articulation of the universal (or, in that same sense) catholic faith taught in Holy Scripture and confessed by the church since the time of the apostles. The apostolic church itself . . . Continue reading →
There are other collections of ecumenical creeds. There are other collections of the Reformed confessions (e.g., Reformed Confessions in the 16th and 17th Centuries). There are other surveys (e.g. Pelikan and Hotchkiss, Credo) but there is still nothing that does just what Philip . . . Continue reading →
A wise traveler makes preparations for a trip (Matt. 10:8–10). Any traveler who attempts a difficult journey without a map risks not arriving or worse. The Christian life is a journey to the heavenly city (Heb. 11:8–15). A map is a record . . . Continue reading →
Comes the question, Has the splintering of the Protestant church into thousands of denominations become a hindrance to our witness to the world? What can we do? This is an important question that we may not dismiss. Our Lord warned the visible . . . Continue reading →
Thanks to Gary Johnson for forwarding to me a recent essay by Roger Olson, who is Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology of Ethics at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University. In that essay, “Against Creedalism: Why I Am A . . . Continue reading →
Augustine of Hippo used to say that what was concealed in the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament and that is certainly true in case of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. As we have discussed so far in the . . . Continue reading →
Traditionally, at this place in theology, we should address the divine attributes in relation to the divine being/essence. Otto Weber (1902–66) challenged this approach by arguing that because Scripture reveals God first of all as Triune and his attributes in the light . . . Continue reading →
The Symbolum Quicunque [Athanasian Creed] is a remarkably clear and precise summary of the doctrinal decisions of the first four œcumenical Councils (from A.D. 325 to A.D. 451), and the Augustinian speculations on the Trinity and the Incarnation. Its brief sentences are . . . Continue reading →