I join JUSTICE ALITO’s dissent. As JUSTICE ALITO explains, the Court’s decision today is irreconcilable with strict scrutiny, rests on pernicious assumptions about race, and departs from many of our precedents. I write separately to reaffirm that “a State’s use of race . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Truly Audacious Proposals
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 →
Calvin’s Letter To Five Missionaries About To Be Martyred For The Gospel
MY VERY DEAR BRETHREN,1—Hitherto I have put off writing to you, fearing that if the letter fell into bad hands, it might give fresh occasion to the enemy to afflict you. And besides, I had been informed how that God wrought so . . . Continue reading →
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 →
How To Avoid Biblicism
The basic question at stake is, “What makes a doctrine biblical?” That question is of course important to Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants alike, but it is particularly important for us Protestants, affirming as we do sola scriptura. What I would like to . . . 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 →
Presbyterian Power Grab?
If you’ve disliked recent presidential Executive Orders or if you’re starting to think that this year’s Commissioner’s Handbook resembles the paper stack now euphemistically called ‘The Affordable Care Act’—“don’t read it, just vote with our leaders”—you may be on to something. Try . . . 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 →
How Reformed Orthodoxy Was Lost
J. A. Turretin’s struggle against the Consensus, in which he achieved victory in 1705, was, therefore, part of an effort for an inclusive Protestant fellowship. He did not press the issues raised in earlier discussions—predestination, imputation of original sin, the presence of . . . 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 →
Your Tax Dollars Are Still Being Used To Abort Legally Innocent Humans
Whether you’re a painter, pastor, lawyer, or laborer (pro-life or pro-abortion), you work for Planned Parenthood. A portion of every paycheck goes to the world’s leading abortion business through the federal and state taxes allocated by your elected representatives and the unelected . . . Continue reading →
It’s About Control
The transgender movement has never been about “gender.” It’s all about sex. Sex is the real target. “Gender” is merely the politicized linguistic vehicle that facilitates a legal ban on sex distinctions. There aren’t a whole lot of dots to connect to . . . Continue reading →
Vos: Whoever Has Historical Sense Can See The Covenant Of Works In The Earlier Reformed Writers
This overview is sufficient to show how the older writings can manifest the covenant doctrine in Reformed theology. But, one might perhaps say, that only applies to the covenant of grace. These historical data cannot prove that the covenant of works belonged . . . Continue reading →