What if I told you to trust the feds to help you deal with your feelings of loneliness and social isolation? I hope you’d laugh in my face. These are the same folks who demanded you self-isolate, hide your face, and stay . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Jesus Versus The Movers & Shakers
For well over a decade now, I have heard Christians approvingly employ phraseology about social and ecclesiastical constructs—phrases such as “a seat at the table” and “power structures.” I have a friend who—when he was first coming into the denomination in which . . . Continue reading →
On The Death of Infants and the Promise of the Covenant of Grace
Despite the widely accepted American dogma of an “age of accountability”–that unspecified moment when children supposedly become responsible for their sins, and for any possible rejection of Christ–there is no such doctrine taught anywhere in Scripture. Sadly, this unsupported dogma holds out . . . Continue reading →
Dennis Johnson On Scripture As A Tapestry
Without ignoring the obvious fact that the Bible contains many stories, spanning thousands of years, with many participants, …the individual stories [are] threads woven into the pattern of a single tapestry: the Big Story of the Creator-King whose inscrutable wisdom, justice, and . . . Continue reading →
When Christians Forget Nature And Grace
As our son grew older, my husband and I grappled with the issue of discipline. Despite our best efforts, he did not seem to change his behavior in response to our instruction. When we explained to him, “If you eat this, you . . . Continue reading →
Beza: Sanctification Flows From Christ Whom We Apprehend By Faith
But although sanctification flows forth from the same Christ seized by faith, and leads us to the same place, namely the attainment of eternal life, it would nevertheless be mere madness to add something to the most perfect righteousness of Christ to . . . Continue reading →
Beza: Justification Through Faith Alone Is Shared By All The Lutherans And All The Reformed
If there is any head of Christian doctrine about which it is absolutely necessary to agree to obtain eternal life, it is that in which it is taught not only concerning the righteousness which is required of us before the judgment-seat of . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Christ The Physician
We, on the other hand, teach and comfort an afflicted sinner this way: “Brother, it is impossible for you to become so righteous in this life that your body is as clear and spotless as the sun. You still have spots and . . . Continue reading →
Polanus: The Righteousness Imputed To The Believer Is Real Righteousness
The righteousness of Jesus Christ by which we are justified before God is the most perfect obedience to the whole divine law, consisting of most exact conformity of the whole human nature of Christ and of all His actions and sufferings, internal . . . Continue reading →
Witsius Sharply Distinguished Between The Covenants of Works and Grace
For here I observe, that men of learning in other respects have stumbled, who, when explaining the nature of those Sacraments, too incautiously blend things belonging to a quite different covenant. Nothing is here to be brought in which does not belong . . . Continue reading →
The First Thing A Christian Must Know
You do not have to hang around Reformed teachers and pastors very long before hearing about “guilt, grace, and gratitude.” We like it because it is a handy summary for the structure of the Christian religion. And it is a way to . . . Continue reading →
Wise Pastors Learn From The Past
Ministers must first of all be men of the Word–poring over it and praying over it until God opens the treasury of His inspired divine counsel. Pastors then must be men who diligently search the annals of church history–giving careful consideration to . . . Continue reading →
Textual Criticism Does Not Challenge The Authenticity of Scripture
It is important for now however to note that the Reformed orthodox did not see variant readings as impacting the purity of Scripture. Indeed, the Bible commentary that was so associated with the Westminster Assembly that it became known as the Westminster Annotations (1645-57) . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: City Sues Church Over Homeless Ministry
Locals in Gastonia, N.C., lined up at a city council meeting to make impassioned pleas on behalf of a faith-based homeless ministry, which has been hit with $60,000 in fines and a lawsuit from the city. “We are here today because there . . . Continue reading →
C. S. Lewis: Man’s Power Over Nature (Part 3)
Yet the conditioners will act. When I said just now that all motives fail them, I should have said all motives, except one. All motives that claim any validity other than that of their felt emotional weight at a given moment, have . . . Continue reading →
On The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism
Hummel’s treatment of dispensationalism’s role in the politicization and formation of a distinct and commercially successful American evangelical subculture, along with its impact upon American culture and politics in general is a familiar but well-told story. Hummel contends that the rise of . . . Continue reading →
C. S. Lewis: Man’s Power Over Nature (Part 2)
. . . The latter point is not always sufficiently emphasized, because those who write on social matters have not yet learned to imitate the physicists by always including Time among the dimensions. In order to understand fully what man’s power over . . . Continue reading →
Discovering the Benefits of Memorizing Scripture: The Book of Romans
“C’mon, Mom. Let’s do it.” When a daughter suggests memorizing a chapter of the Bible together, what can you say? So we memorized the eighth chapter of Romans this past spring. And I have to say, it was exhilarating! My spirit soared . . . Continue reading →
C. S. Lewis: Man’s Power Over Nature (Part 1)
In what sense is Man the possessor of increasing power over Nature? Let us consider three typical examples: the aeroplane, the wireless, and the contraceptive. In a civilized community, in peacetime, anyone who can pay for them may use these things. But . . . Continue reading →
Owen: Law and Gospel
The law is connatural to him; his domestic, his old acquaintance came into the world with him, and hath grown up with him from his infancy. It was implanted in his heart by nature, is his own reason; he can never shake . . . Continue reading →