Evangelical Christians in North America sometimes misunderstand the Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura to mean that the Bible is the Christian’s only theological resource, that it can and should be denuded of its churchly context (hence nuda Scriptura). Such an understanding is . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
See To It That You Remain In God’s Word Like A Child In The Cradle
See only that you pay heed to God’s Word and remain it, like a child in the cradle. If you let go of it for a moment, then you fall out of it. This is the devil’s sole aim, to tear people . . . Continue reading →
What Do We Know About New Testament Worship?
What do we know they did in their Christian worship services in the Bible? We know they sang the Bible. We know that preached the Bible. We know they prayed the Bible. We know they read the Bible. We know they saw . . . Continue reading →
How To Avoid Rome’s Gnostic Response To Gnosticism
… like Augustine, we do not disparage the value of the witness of the people of God to the canon. We value the ministry of the church in this as in all things. But we deny that the church in its offices . . . Continue reading →
Hegel Is One Thing. Christianity Is Another
It became evident (to me at least) that Moltmann’s way of going about things is thoroughly [H]egelianised. He is not an anthropomorphite simply because he is sentimental about God, wanting a God near to him, nor because of jejune bible study. His . . . Continue reading →
It’s Not Crazy. It’s History.
For many apologists, though, it’s just easier to call the jihadists “crazy.” Here’s Vox’s Ezra Klein, long-time purveyor of progressive orthodoxy, opining on the Paris murders. He fingers “the madness of the perpetrators, who did something horrible and evil that almost no . . . Continue reading →
The Spirit Of Our Age
…Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. —Deut 12:8; Judges 17:6; 21:25; Prov 12:15; 21:2
Of Phobias And Victims
Simply put, victimology is the language and currency of our politics. Fighting for victims is a calling and minting new victims and grievances is a trillion-dollar industry. Heroism, fidelity, courage, duty, temperance: Their stock value may be volatile but the long-term trends . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Orthodoxy On Holiness Of The Spirit
The Spirit, further, is called “Holy” because, on the one hand, of “his unsullied purity and glorious majesty”—not, however, as if he were holier than the Father and the Son, for all are holy and “the divine holiness, being infinite, does not . . . Continue reading →
Freedom Depends On Those Who Will Say What’s True
.. . we can stand in a room full of dear friends, knowing that nine-tenths of them, if the pack demands it, will become our enemies. .. . But there is always the minority who do not and it seems to me . . . Continue reading →
Hodge: Justification At The Center
The Reformed churches have ever considered Christ and justification by faith in his merits, as the great centre of the Christian system. The Oxford Tract writers make the church the main point; the church as an ordinance for conveying life to all . . . Continue reading →
Because They Don’t Want It To Be True
Sigolène Vinson, a freelancer who had decided to come in that morning to take part in the meeting, thought she would be killed when one of the men approached her. Instead, she told French news media, the man said, “I’m not going . . . Continue reading →
Calvin Contra The Anabaptist Prohibition Against Lawful Oaths
The Anabaptists, not content with this moderation in swearing oaths, condemn all oaths without exception, since Christ’s prohibition of them is general. “I say to you, Do not swear at all, … but let what you say be simply, ‘Yes, yes’ or . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck: Our Knowledge Of The Trinity Is Only Grounded In Scripture
Now, over against all those who want to base the doctrine of the Trinity on rational grounds, we must undoubtedly maintain that we owe our knowledge of this doctrine solely to God’s special revelation. Scripture alone is the final ground for the . . . Continue reading →
What Luther Meant And Didn’t Mean About The Holy Spirit Preaching
Luther wrote a little booklet entitled “A Simple Way to Pray” and Keller makes extensive use of it. Near the end of chapter 6, he mentions that Luther taught that one should always be alert and ready to hear the preaching of . . . Continue reading →
O’Rourke: Boomers As Perpetual Teens
“Don’t ever change!” we wrote in each other’s high school yearbooks. “Stay just the way you are!” What strange valedictions to give ourselves on the threshold of life. Imagine if we had obeyed them, and now everyone possessed the resolute solipsism of . . . Continue reading →
Davenant Not As Deviant?
Some of what Davenant writes is clearer than other parts. But it seems that a primary thought is that Christ died for the world in a universal sense, from which flows what are nowadays called the gifts of common grace, and warrant . . . Continue reading →
It is Not Heroic To Be A Celibate Homosexual
Perhaps most important of all from a pastoral perspective, rehabilitating the category of friendship will help us avoid the temptation of privileging the celibacy of one section of the single Christian population over another. The underlying values of Christian hero-worship have often . . . Continue reading →
A Seventh-Century Opinion On Every-Member Ministry
It does not befit a layman to dispute or teach publicly, thus claiming for himself authority to teach, but he should yield to the order appointed by the Lord, and to open his ears to those who have received the grace to . . . Continue reading →
Sometimes Even Charles Hodge Was Not Nice
WE are disposed to think there must be, on an average, at least one misrepresentation for every page in this work. As it requires more words to correct a misstatement than to make it, we should be obliged to write a book . . . Continue reading →