Man is endowed with reason, and the human reason cannot rest satisfied with a mere collection of separate truths, but wants to see them in their mutual relationship, in order that it may have a clearer understanding of them… There seems to . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Bavinck: We Learn Spiritual Realities Through The Material World
Fully adequate [exhaustive] knowledge is something of which we possess very little. Everywhere and in every area of life we finally run into mystery. The inner being of things, the thing as such, escapes our perception. We observe phenomena and from them . . . Continue reading →
Vos On Divine Simplicity
What is God’s simplicity? That attribute of God whereby He is free of all composition and distinction. God is free: a) Of logical composition; in Him there is no distinction between genus and species. b) Of natural composition; in Him there is . . . Continue reading →
Allen: Systematic Theology Helps Us To Keep Our Eyes On God
Scholastic and systematic theology has been much maligned in recent decades, often for putting God in a box and distorting the dramatic character of more occasional or narratival modes of thought. Yet the best historical studies of scholastic theology in its medieval . . . Continue reading →
Kapic: God Knows Himself Fully
Archetypal knowledge of God is that knowledge by which God perfectly knows himself. Neither finitude nor sin limits him. He knows all things. Most centrally, God fully knows himself. Ectypal knowledge is that understanding we have of God by means of his . . . Continue reading →
Distinguo!
Among the Reformed, distinctions were a vital tool for proper theology. Johannes Maccovius (1588–1644), Reformed scholastic theologian and delegate to the Synod of Dordt (1618–19), wrote an entire work dedicated to distinctions: A Hundredfold Most General Distinctions. Maccovius stood on the shoulders . . . Continue reading →
Fighting For Religious Liberty Takes Its Toll
A high school football coach in Washington state has resigned following his recent return to coaching after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled his on-field prayers were protected by the Constitution. Joe Kennedy, former assistant football coach at Bremerton High School in Seattle, . . . Continue reading →
Why Christian Nationalists Can’t Read
The reality facing us today is that we live in a deeply complex moment, and in particular a moment where many people feel a deep sense of rootlessness, isolation, and alienation. The false certainties of the Christian nationalists offer a certain veneer . . . Continue reading →
Machen On The Importance Of “In Order To”
Christianity will indeed accomplish many useful things in this world, but if it is accepted in order to accomplish those useful things it is not Christianity. Christianity will combat Bolshevism; but if it is accepted in order to combat Bolshevism, it is . . . Continue reading →
For To Us A Child Is Born
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond . . . Continue reading →
Advent As War
The Western world is on a fast track to outright paganism. And yet, for now at least, a semblance of the advent story has been left in tact. We still have a baby in a manger, a guiding star, amazed shepherds and . . . Continue reading →
Warfield On “Love” And “World” In John 3:16
Strange as it may sound, it is true, that many—perhaps the majority—of those who feed their souls on this great declaration, seem to have trained themselves to think, when it falls upon their ears, in the first instance at least, not so . . . Continue reading →
Who Was The Real Santa Claus?
Who was the real Santa Claus? We can’t say for sure. Separating fact from fiction is an impossible task in this case. Indeed, it’s likely that the stories we have about Nicholas of Myra contain much more fiction than fact. So, what . . . Continue reading →
Johnson On Unity And Diversity In Scripture
The purposes of Scripture are not unrelated to each other; they are complementary reflections of God’s manifold wisdom. The diversity and unity of Scripture disclose the marvelously diverse and unified plan of God for the whole history of the cosmos. Paul speaks . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Our Righteousness Before God Is Imputed
The righteousness Paul is speaking about here is external and comes from Christ living in us. It’s not internal, and it doesn’t come from ourselves. So if we are concerned about Christian righteousness, we must completely set aside the self. If I . . . Continue reading →
Help With The “Nones”
People who once identified with a Christian religious tradition but now identify with none are the fastest growing group in America today. Sociologist Stephen Bullivant labels these individuals “nonverts” and argues in his book of the same title that these individuals have . . . Continue reading →
What She Needed Was Not More Law
Back in 2018, I was suffering through a time of intense mental depression and anxiety set off by my physical experience of chronic pain and fatigue. The longer I was trapped in that condition, the more overtly spiritual it became, so that . . . Continue reading →
The Reformed Covenant Theology South Africa Needs
Faithful God is a book the Reformed community in South Africa—and beyond—doesn’t know it needs. Asking someone who identifies as Reformed what that means, their answer will usually include the doctrines of grace as summarised in the five solas. However, throughout Faithful God, Antonio Coppola helps . . . Continue reading →
Luther On The Pedagogical Use Of The Law
But the true use of the Law is this, that I know that by the Law I am being brought to an acknowledgement of sin and am being humbled, so that I may come to Christ and be justified by faith. But . . . Continue reading →
Hodge On Two-Stage Justification
Hodge draws attention to the two-stage justification of the Roman Catholic Church and rejects it. The first justification, according to Roman Catholic theology, is gratuitous and is given for Christ’s sake and consists of the infusion of habitual grace. This divine process . . . Continue reading →