“Of all things that human beings do,” Mortimer Adler once observed, “conversing with one another is the most characteristically human.” Unfortunately, in our day, we no longer have many opportunities for meaningful conversations. Virtual conversations abound—we watch talking heads on television or . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
How We Can Make Reformed Churches More Welcoming
Hospitality is vital to the life of the church. How we treat someone, whether they’re a visitor or longtime member, may affect their involvement within a church. It may also impact their decision to continue attending a church. Most of us have . . . Continue reading →
From Science To Sophistry
One way to observe the death of scientific rationality is to watch the triumph of sophistry over empirical science. We see this everywhere these days and a recent article in Scientific American is a particularly egregious example of outright sophistry. This article asserts that “human sex . . . Continue reading →
How Bright Students And Professors Are Being Destroyed By “Anti-Racism”
On the sunny first day of seminar, I sat at the end of a pair of picnic tables with nervous, excited 17-year-olds. Twelve high-school students had been chosen by the Telluride Association through a rigorous application process—the acceptance rate is reportedly around . . . Continue reading →
Beza: No Good Works Can Save You
Therefore, this is our thesis: No good works of the regenerate, even which are most excellent before others from themselves or in themselves, can endure the judgment of God, because they are imperfect, impure, and mixed with vice, and therefore they have . . . Continue reading →
Baptism of the Holy Spirit
The baptism of the Holy Spirit has been a subject of debate and much discussion among Christians over the years. What exactly does it mean to be baptized in the Spirit? Is it a distinct event that occurs after conversion, as some . . . Continue reading →
The Mystery of Sanctification
The intricacy of LEGO products has changed immensely since I was a child. I remember the basics of rectangle and square blocks, thin flat pieces that work as a ceiling or something, and the occasional exciting hinge piece to mount a door. . . . Continue reading →
Meet A Wise Guide To Fairy Tales That Can Help Illuminate The Meaning Of Life
One of great literature’s living guides includes Vigen Guroian, a now-retired professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia. Earlier this year, Oxford University Press released his second edition of “Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s . . . Continue reading →
PCA Officers And Their Pronouns
Dozens of congregations of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) communicate to the church and to the world that ordination is not essential to the holding of church office or to bearing the titles thereof. The two-office polity of the PCA is . . . Continue reading →
DeSantis Signs Law Restricting Pronouns In Schools
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Wednesday that will prohibit a school from requiring students and teachers to use preferred pronouns and adds guidelines for books that citizens wish to challenge in schools. “We’re not doing the pronoun olympics in . . . Continue reading →
The Dispute of Tirano and the Trial of Calvin’s Orthodoxy
In the eventful sixteenth century, few people took notice of a court trial in a small town on the Italian side of the Alps. And yet, the stakes were high. It all started on May 1, 1595, when Simone Cabasso, parish priest . . . Continue reading →
When the Lord’s Supper Divides the Church
The Lord’s Supper is a sign and seal of our mystical union with Jesus Christ. It is also a means by which Jesus unites the different members of his church into one body. Our “coming together” (1 Cor. 11:17) at the Table . . . Continue reading →
Registered Sex Offender Continued to Minister to Chi Alpha Students
Over the past 30 years, well over a hundred men involved in Texas chapters of the campus ministry Chi Alpha have seen Daniel Savala naked. At Savala’s house in Houston, he invited them to strip down and talk about spiritual issues in . . . Continue reading →
The Feds’ Solution To Loneliness
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently released an advisory titled “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.” It warns that social isolation is a major public health problem. The 81-page document presents six government-directed “pillars” of action to address the health hazards of social isolation. . . . Continue reading →
Turretin On The Fundamental Articles of Faith
But [the Reformed] all agree in these fundamental articles: the doctrines concerning the sacred Scriptures as inspired, being the only and perfect rule of faith; concerning the unity of God and the Trinity; concerning Christ, the death, concerning the law and its . . . Continue reading →
U. S. Dept Of Education Guidance On Prayer In Public Schools
Students may pray when not engaged in school activities or instruction, subject to the same rules designed to prevent material disruption of the educational program that are applied to other privately initiated expressive activities. Students also may read from religious materials; say . . . Continue reading →
The “Already And Not Yet”
Scholars who are overly saturated with the eschatological Kingdom of God as ‘already and not yet’—that is, already inaugurated, but not yet consummated—as well as with the Pauline soteriological concept of union with Christ, falsely put the doctrine of justification into the . . . Continue reading →
A Pastor Is Not A Bully And A Bully Is Not A Pastor
To the surprise of many, effective leadership goes hand in hand with loving gentleness. This isn’t a popular trait in our world today. You’ll find plenty of books in the self-help section on how to be more bold, assertive, or proactive. But . . . Continue reading →
The Simplicity of Biblical Polity
A “senior pastor” is one elder among many (as Peter, Paul, and the unnamed elders were at the Jerusalem Council, Acts 15:23) and has no extraordinary authority.* Unfortunately, some—usually large—presbyterian churches become de facto staff-led rather than elder-led. The senior pastor becomes . . . Continue reading →
Behind The Scenes Of Your Local Public School
We are being manipulated and intimidated by a divisive “woke” ideology that is creating a culture of contempt and disrespect. SMSD is fostering a toxic environment and requiring employees to attend Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) training and workshops centered around Critical . . . Continue reading →