Schism is a serious sin. Presbyterian history gives us no warrant to treat the visible church as a purely voluntary association from which Christians may withdraw whenever they are disappointed, inconvenienced, or persuaded that they could construct something better. This is why . . . Continue reading →
John Calvin is frequently recruited into the current debates about schism, usually by isolating one side of his ecclesiology. Calvin’s severe warnings against abandoning the visible church are quoted as though he regarded nearly every institutional separation as schismatic. Alternatively, his denunciations . . . Continue reading →
The Protestant Reformation undeniably divided the visible church in Western Europe. Congregations ceased communion with Rome, rejected papal jurisdiction (the pope), reconstituted worship according to Scripture and the early church,1 and established new ecclesiastical governments. In that descriptive sense, the Reformation involved . . . Continue reading →
Church division has troubled Christians from the earliest generations of the church. The New Testament repeatedly warns against factions, quarrels, false teachers, and those who disturb the unity of Christ’s body. Those warnings did not become less urgent after the death of . . . Continue reading →
In a previous article, we considered the argument against schism in the Old Testament. Redeemed Zoomer’s (RZ) argument does not rest on the Old Testament alone. He also maintains that Jesus and the apostles remained within the temple and synagogue system until . . . Continue reading →
Continuing our discussion on the recent debates over schism, we now turn to what the Old Testament has to say. Redeemed Zoomer’s (RZ) case against Protestant separation rests heavily on the Old Testament. In a debate with Douglas Wilson hosted by Reformation . . . Continue reading →
I always appreciate clarity and directness. These are not missing in the discussions of schism with Richard Ackerman, the Redeemed Zoomer. He has stated his position in the strongest possible terms in an X (formerly Twitter) post on July 20, 2026: “No . . . Continue reading →
There is no denying that the visible church in our day is a mess. Some people hold a view of what has been called “Christless Christianity,” a watered-down, self-help version of the faith that uses Christian language but replaces the atoning, redemptive . . . Continue reading →
On the internet, I am a nobody. I do not think of myself as anything more than a local pastor who is trying to be faithful in the discharge of his duty. I like to write, so I do that as well. . . . Continue reading →
Joshua 6 is one of those passages that many Christians have known since childhood. It is vivid, memorable, and almost ready-made for Sunday school lessons, children’s songs, and vacation Bible school crafts. Israel marches around Jericho for seven days. On the seventh . . . Continue reading →
J. Gresham Machen was born in Baltimore on this day in 1881, into a prosperous and cultivated Presbyterian family. After studying at Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University, and Princeton Theological Seminary, he continued his education in Germany before returning to Princeton Seminary . . . Continue reading →
There have been many and varied books written on manhood and masculinity generally, and on Christian masculinity specifically. Many have come at the subject from different angles with different ends in mind. In the era post-COVID, this subject has arisen repeatedly. Many . . . Continue reading →
This year, at assemblies and synods across the country, we are hearing a similar concern: There is a shortage of pastors. Churches need men. Presbyteries need men. Mission works need men. Pulpits are opening, congregations are waiting, and the question keeps coming . . . Continue reading →
One of the many blessings of being a pastor or elder in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church is that you almost always know where the General Synod is going to be held, because since 1949, all but three of the ARP’s General . . . Continue reading →
The 92nd General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church met at Geneva College from June 3–9, 2026. Geneva College, founded in 1848 and governed by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America—a sister NAPARC church—is a private Christian liberal arts college located . . . Continue reading →
The line in the Apostles’ Creed “He descended into hell” often suffers one of two fates. It is either misunderstood in a dramatic, almost mythological way, as though Christ literally entered the place of the damned after his death in order to . . . Continue reading →
Give no more to the Law than it has coming, and say to it: “Law, you want to ascend into the realm of conscience and rule there. You want to denounce its sin and take away the joy of my heart, which . . . Continue reading →
Therefore the afflicted conscience has no remedy against despair and eternal death except to take hold of the promise of grace offered in Christ, that is, this righteousness of faith, this passive or Christian righteousness, which says with confidence: “I do not . . . Continue reading →
Biblicism is a tough drug to kick, as recent years in evangelical circles have demonstrated. Arguments have proliferated about traditional understandings of God, his attributes, how to formulate the Trinity, how the unchanging God—as at least classical theists assert—relates to the changing . . . Continue reading →
Sex is a recurring issue of interest. I imagine readers are already engaged more fully in this article just because of the topic it flags. We understand why the world retains interest: As the axiom goes, “sex sells.” This axiom’s lamentable counterpart . . . Continue reading →