In Book IV of Paradise Lost, John Milton introduces “our first father” and “our general mother,” ancestors of the human race: “Adam, the goodliest man of men since born / His sons, the fairest of her daughters Eve” (Milton 2000, 86, 83). Together . . . Continue reading →
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Paul Wooley And Meredith Kline On The Spiritual Mission Of The Visible Church
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 →
The Red Scarf Girl And The Natural Rights Of Parents
In her celebrated book “Red Scarf Girl,” author Ji-li Jiang recounts growing up during the Cultural Revolution in China. She and millions of others had to choose between obeying the country’s communist government or obeying her parents. “’Now, you have to choose . . . Continue reading →
NW Georgia Overtures PCA GA to Create Committee to Revise Directory For Worship For Authoritative Use
Whereas even prior to the establishment of constitutional documents in American Presbyterianism, American Presbyterians utilized the Westminster Form of Government and Directory for Public Worship, as adopted by the Synod of Philadelphia in 1729, thereby affirming the historic practice of ordering worship according . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: U S District Court Rules In Favor Of Church In Zoning Dispute
In November 2023, Defendant Santa Ana City Council adopted a resolution denying the application of Plaintiff Anchor Stone Christian Church for permission to use its property, located at 2398 Daimler Street, Santa Ana, California (the “Property”), for religious assembly. Following the denial . . . Continue reading →
Machen Opposed Fosdick’s Christian Nationalism
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 →
Christians Love Their Enemies
One of the distinctives of Christianity is the call to behave otherworldly. Revenge is a human instinct and something most people would say is a natural right. Christ tells Christians to turn the other cheek and let God take care of vengeance . . . Continue reading →
Was Calvin A Nestorian?
Nestorius, the fifth-century patriarch of Constantinople, has haunted Calvin’s Christology for centuries. A startling variety of theologians have accused him of Nestorianism, teaching that there are two Christs, two persons: one divine, the other human. Ironically, the first to charge Calvin with . . . Continue reading →
Vermigli: Children Of Believers Are Not Worse Off
Those who claim that Hebrew infants should be circumcised, but that ours should not be baptized, make God more gracious to Jews than to Christians. Peter Martyr Vermigli |Commentary on Romans 4:11 (HT: Adam Parker) RESOURCES Subscribe To The Heidelblog! Download the . . . Continue reading →
It Was Christ All Along
The final layer is that Christ is the substance of the covenant of grace since He was always its Mediator…. Moreover, the New Testament explicitly designates Christ as the Savior who was active in the Old Testament. Harrison Perkins | Reformed Covenant . . . Continue reading →
Ursinus: We Baptize Infants Because They Belong To The Covenant Of Grace
First, all that belong to the covenant and church of God are to be baptized. But the children of christians, as well as adults, belong to the covenant and church of God. Therefore they are to be baptized as well as adults. . . . Continue reading →
The French Reformed Church: We Baptize Children Because God Receives Them
We hold, also, that although we are baptized only once, yet the gain that it symbolizes to us reaches over our whole lives and to our death, so that we have a lasting witness that Jesus Christ will always be our justification . . . Continue reading →
Dort: We Are Bound To The Scriptures As Confessed By The Churches Not To Private Opinions
Finally, this Synod exhorts all their brethren in the gospel of Christ to conduct themselves piously and religiously in handling this doctrine, both in the universities and churches; to direct it, as well in discourse as in writing, to the glory of . . . Continue reading →
Christ’s Resurrection Is Non-Negotiable
Without Christ’s resurrection, Christian hope disappears. Among many indispensable articles of our faith, Christ’s resurrection crowns the list. Part of the reason for its critical role is because we worship the risen Christ, who is God the Son in power with all . . . Continue reading →
Why Do You Seek The Living Among The Dead?
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the . . . Continue reading →
Chrysostom: The Church Has Always Connected Baptism And Circumcision
Nothing of ourselves. For remission of sins and adoption and unspeakable glory are given to us by Him. For he exhorts them no longer from the things to come only, but even from those now present. For consider. He said, that we . . . Continue reading →
Two PCA Pastors Arrested In Separate Cases
Two teaching elders from the Presbyterian Church in America are facing criminal charges in separate cases. The first case involves a pastor in Florida who was the driver in a fatal car crash. The second case involves a pastor in Mississippi who . . . Continue reading →
O. Palmer Robertson Against Intinction
Dipping the bread into the wine as a method of distributing and receiving the elements of the Lord’s supper is a matter that has recently come into discussion among some churches. This procedure, commonly called “intinction,” has significance in the life of . . . Continue reading →
J. K. Rowling’s Heroic Resistance To The Trans Movement Is A Model
I’m not a Harry Potter fan. But please don’t cancel me or stop reading. The reason I’m not an HP fan has little to do with overblown concerns about magic and spirits. Neither do I dislike the HP canon. It’s just too . . . Continue reading →
Goodwin: Children And Gentiles Are Included In The External Administration Of The Covenant Of Grace
The children of believing parents, at least their next and immediate seed, even of us Gentiles now under the Gospel, are included by God within the covenant of Grace, as well as Abraham’s or David’s seed within that covenant of theirs. Thomas . . . Continue reading →