The law of the Lord our God that was handed down to His people through Moses is partly ethical, partly sacrificial, and partly political.3 The ethical portion shows in what way each person must be disposed of both toward God most of . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Calvin: God’s Twofold Government Contra Over-Realized Eschatology
First, before we enter into the matter itself, we must keep in mind that distinction which we previously laid down so that we do not (as commonly happens) unwisely mingle these two, which have a completely different nature. For certain men, when . . . Continue reading →
When A Society Turns To Skepticism
No amount of force, or gun-control legislation, is going to fix a society where there is no longer a sense that we have law rooted in truth, which every citizen, in every station of life, respects and takes seriously. —Star Parker
Biblical, Ecumenical Christian Doctrines Are Not Adiaphora
Rachel Miller writes: “I hope that those who have read and recommend Dr. Grudem’s Systematic Theology will go back and reconsider what is being taught.” Continue reading →
Barth V. The Barthians On The Central Dogma Reading Of Calvin
Unlike many older Calvin scholars, then, I would not try to understand Calvin terms of a single thesis in the Institutes such as the glory of God, predestination, providence, or meditating on the future life, then using this as a master principle . . . Continue reading →
Maybe It Comes Down To Method?
We understand that some strands of Baptist and evangelical life have not typically learned the habit of creedal thinking but have tended to emphasize independent Biblicism and personal exegesis. Perhaps that lies at the root of much of this dispute. But this . . . Continue reading →
Function And Subsistence Are Distinct Categories
Both the unity of the divine essence and the distinction of the persons within that essence are matters of ontology, of the divine being. Some, like Wollebius, define the divine persons as “the essence of God, with a certain manner of subsisting” . . . Continue reading →
Bakersfield School Board Member Resigns:What It Means
As I considered the many requests I became increasingly dogged by the concern that staying on the board would be giving Christian parents false hope. Why? I do not believe this battle can be won at the school board level. It is . . . Continue reading →
Iowa Civil Rights Commission Asserts Authority To Determine Christian Faith And Practice
An Existential Threat To Religious Liberty
DOES THIS LAW APPLY TO CHURCHES? Sometimes. Iowa law provides that these protections do not apply to religious institutions with respect to any religion-based qualifications when such qualifications are related to a bona fide religious purpose. Where qualifications are not related to . . . Continue reading →
Marshall: Meditate Before You Rush Into Law Keeping
This is an advertisement very needful; because many are apt to skip over the lesson concerning the means (that will fill up this whole treatise) as superfluous and useless. When once they know the nature and excellency of the duties of the . . . Continue reading →
The Wilsonian Legacy: Too Big To Jail
This is the Wilsonian legacy, finally achieved after a century of waiting: the Big Man (or Woman), unanswerable to the law, approved by the population without regard to equality under the law. We now elect our dictators. And they are unanswerable to . . . Continue reading →
What Heresy Is, Who Gets To Say, And Why?
Part of the problem has been that in using the word ‘heresy’ (which I didn’t but do now) we have been talking past each other. Heresy is not a word to be used carelessly and hurled indiscriminately at anyone who dares to . . . Continue reading →
The American Declaration Of Independence
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume . . . Continue reading →
The Practical Danger Of “Continuing Prophecy”
When I first met my husband-to-be, it was like a dream come true. We met on a missions trip. He was kind, considerate, actively serving in the church, spiritually mature, and handsome, too. Our friendship grew quickly and within months we were . . . Continue reading →
Open Discussion Leads To Peace. Squelching Dissent Does Not
By the way, I accept it as fair that if a person advocates positions in writing, his ideas may be criticized and disagreed with vigorously—I won’t squeal about spirited and rational public discourse. Indeed, more of that may lead to more peace . . . Continue reading →
Justice Thomas Contra The Majority On Making Up Law As We Go Along
I remain fundamentally opposed to the Court’s abortion jurisprudence. …It is tempting to identify the Court’s invention of a constitutional right to abortion in Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113, as the tipping point that transformed third-party standing doctrine and the . . . Continue reading →
Justice Thomas Contra Racial Preference
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 →
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 →