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 →
HeidelQuotes
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 →
A Catechism on Human Sexuality
The Western church presently lives in a time of much sexual confusion. Rev. Christopher Gordon has produced a helpful tool to assist Christians in becoming well-grounded in the biblical teaching on human sexuality. The New Reformation Catechism on Human Sexuality uses the time-tested method . . . Continue reading →
PCA Overture To Distinguish Laity From Officers
The Presbyterian Church in America’s (PCA) Book of Church Order (BCO) contains no glossary, but maybe it needs one. This is not to fault the BCO’s early-70’s authors—no previous generation of Presbyterians had trouble figuring out what most of the words meant, . . . Continue reading →
Peter Martyr: None Except Faith
Therefore, in this matter of our justification, although there are many other works of the Holy Spirit in our hearts… Continue reading →
Christians and Social Responsibility
It is true, however, that Luther did not normally conceive of the Christian’s social responsibility as transforming the existing structures of society. While persons can be transformed by the gospel in the kingdom of God, institutions can only be reformed by the . . . Continue reading →
Shedd: Thomas Was Right, Scotus Was Wrong
A controversy respecting the atonement sprang up between Duns Scotus and the followers of Aquinas, which involved fundamental principles in ethics and religion, and divided the Romish Church into two great parties of Thomists and Scotists. Duns Scotus denied the Anselmic doctrine . . . Continue reading →