I think Obama was historically ignorant and politically ill-advised to bring the Crusades into the discussion, for reasons we have discussed in this space (in short, because the historical phenomenon is far too complex to be shoehorned into a neat, politically useful . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Owen: Faith Is The Instrument And Spring Of Sanctification
3. Faith is the instrumental cause of our sanctification; so that where it is not, no holiness can be wrought in us. “God purifieth our hearts by faith,” Acts 15:9, and not otherwise; and where the heart is not purified, there is . . . Continue reading →
Sacraments Versus Selective Piety
An appropriately rich Reformed sacramentalism also renders Ash Wednesday irrelevant. Infant baptism emphasizes better than anything else outside of the preached Word the priority of God’s grace and the helplessness of sinless humanity in the face of God. The Lord’s Supper, both . . . Continue reading →
Faith Is The Open Hand Of A Beggar
Question 36. But how are we justified by faith? Answer: Not because of the worthiness of our faith, as if God justifies us because of it, as the Remonstrants would have it, and [as if] faith is here reckoned as a virtue . . . Continue reading →
The Bait And Switch Of Gay Monogamy
…Michaelson confesses: “there is some truth to the conservative claim that gay marriage is changing, not just expanding, marriage. According to a 2013 study, about half of gay marriages surveyed were not strictly monogamous. This fact is well-known in the gay community—indeed, . . . Continue reading →
A Lonely Citadel Against The 24/7-Culture
If you’re old enough to remember when blue laws were common, Bergen on a Sunday is a nostalgia trip. Kids play road hockey, skateboarders practice kickflips on open swaths of pavement, and you may suddenly notice the cawing of blue jays. The . . . Continue reading →
Inventing Grievances
As Riley-Smith explains, however, the Muslim memory of the Crusades is of very recent vintage. Carole Hillenbrand first uncovered this fact in her groundbreaking book The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives. The truth is that medieval Muslims came to realize that the Crusades were . . . Continue reading →
Heidegger And Turretin Contra Amyraut
Canon IV: Before the creation of the world, God decreed in Christ Jesus our Lord according to his eternal purpose (Eph 3:11), in which, from the mere good pleasure of his own will, without any prevision of the merit of works or . . . Continue reading →
Amyraut As Neo-Ockhamist
Given the above Amyraldian scheme, instead of a divine decree as being unconditional or absolute, (perhaps, in our ideas thought of as a set of such unconditional decrees) Amyraut seems to have preferred to think in terms of an antecedent will of . . . Continue reading →
James, Luther, and Justification In James 2:24
I’m convinced that we don’t really have a conflict here. What James is saying is this: If a person says he has faith, but he gives no outward evidence of that faith through righteous works, his faith will not justify him. Martin . . . Continue reading →
Moses Hid His Face
Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: The Fifth Commandment Applies Narrowly And Broadly
Since, therefore, the name of Father is a sacred one, and is transferred to men by the peculiar goodness of God, the dishonoring of parents redounds to the dishonor of God Himself, nor can any one despise his father without being guilty . . . Continue reading →
Big Fat Nanny State
Okay, we’re living in a big fat nanny state. That’s a euphemism, though. The reality is that central planners have always viewed a child’s first teachers of self-reliance—mothers and fathers—as enemies of the State. The less people learn about basic life skills . . . Continue reading →
God Is Truth And Speaks Only Truth
1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God’s witness to Himself. 2. Holy . . . Continue reading →
Silencing Dissent In The “Liberal” Mainline
This does answer the question, does the PCUSA still have heresy trials? Of course they do. Heresy or apostasy in the PCUSA is now defined as lack or failure of institutional or corporate loyalty, and or actions, speech against the institution. Where . . . Continue reading →
Each One Has A Psalm
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a psalm (ψαλμὸν), an instructiion (διδαχὴν), a revelation (ἀποκάλυψιν), a foreign language (γλῶσσαν), or an interpretation (ἑρμηνείαν). Let all things be done for building up….. —1 Corinthians 14:26
Sola Scriptura ≠ Nuda Scriptura
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 →
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 →