“Hospice philosophy seeks neither to shorten someone’s life nor to prolong it, but to treat and recognize the dignity of each person,” Cochrane told National Review. “The goal of the physician should be to heal, not to harm.” When California’s End of Life . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
When A Conservative Presbyterian Runs For Office
There’s all sorts of interesting stuff going on here. Note that Scotland has gone, in the space of just over 40 years, from a country where male homosexual acts were illegal to one where failure to believe personally in same-sex marriage – . . . Continue reading →
Strong Meat from the Stacks: Augustine on Rightly Ordered Love
And thus beauty, which is indeed God’s handiwork, but only a temporal, carnal, and lower kind of good, is not fitly loved in preference to God, the eternal, spiritual, and unchangeable good. When the miser prefers his gold to justice, it is . . . Continue reading →
The Jigsaw Puzzle: Faith Alone And Faith’s Activity
Some people love jigsaw puzzles – they’ll work on them for hours and hours. When you’re doing a puzzle, you need some clues to figure out how the pieces fit together. You’ve got the picture on the box, its colours and shapes. . . . Continue reading →
Can We Remove Biases When Interpreting Scripture?
…It is not certain that there is any one particular method that holds true for all HRM proponents. What does appear to be common among HRM proponents, however, is the initially plausible-sounding cry “Put aside all lenses and biases and interpret the . . . Continue reading →
“Empathigination” And The PCA
The annual-assembling PCA, turning 50 and preparing to celebrate (or conflagrate?) in Memphis this June, is big, broad, and still orthodox in an evangelical sort of way. If this born-in-Birmingham denomination were a house, a cable TV remodeling show host might say . . . Continue reading →
Transgender Clinic Worker Blows Whistle On Patient Intake Practices
Until 2015 or so, a very small number of these boys comprised the population of pediatric gender dysphoria cases. Then, across the Western world, there began to be a dramatic increase in a new population: Teenage girls, many with no previous history . . . Continue reading →
If You Decide To Plant A Church, Remember…
1. Church planting should be done by seeking God’s face, for it is His eternal plan, work, and glory. Psalm 67 begins, “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way . . . Continue reading →
Why You Cannot Earn Grace
To understand the importance of the statement “faith alone,” we need to remember why the Reformers sought to recover the doctrine of God’s grace. They wanted to emphasize the fact that we are made right with God not through any merit of . . . Continue reading →
Strong Meat from the Stacks: Sayers On Pope Nicholas In The Eighth Circle Of Hell
The paradox which Pope displays in balanced antitheses, is displayed by Dante in violently juxtaposed images. “Judge not” says the gospel, “that ye be not judged.” Nevertheless, “till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise, pass . . . Continue reading →
Undergrads Abandon Free Speech
The college student disillusionment with free speech is growing at an alarming pace,” said Buckley Program Founder and Executive Director Lauren Noble. “More students are intimidated from speaking freely and more students are willing to intimidate others from speaking freely than at . . . Continue reading →
Waltke Lays The Axe To The Root Of Dispensationalism
On the other hand, dispensationalists commit a fundamental hermeneutical blunder when they simplistically base their views, on an ill-defined notion of “the normal, plain” meaning of Scripture, and even worse, against its own fundamental principle, disallow the analogy-of-faith principle that could correct . . . Continue reading →
Waltke On The “Fundamental Error” Of Dispensational Eschatology
With regard to eschatology, dispensationalists commit the fundamental error of leaving the Reformed principle that unclear texts must be interpreted in the light of clear ones, and, instead, they interpret the clear texts of the New Testament epistles in light of the . . . Continue reading →
Dane Ortland’s Church Investigated For “Retaliation Charge”––How Can Churches Do Better?
A 2021 firing of a female staff member from a Chicago-area church led by pastor and author Dane Ortlund was determined to have “substantial evidence” of retaliation, according to an investigation into alleged discrimination by the state of Illinois. The former director . . . Continue reading →
Turning Church Visitors Into Church Members
Then, however, seemingly out of nowhere, the new member is gone. The pastor is never consulted, but he is told by another member that the visitor was unhappy with something in the church, usually the friendliness of the people, and they are . . . Continue reading →
Yes, Your New Testament Bible Was Originally Written In Greek
The Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM) has not only been around a while, but it has gained steam. There are many blogs, video conferences, and even now a seminary to train pastors in the HRM. Why has this movement gained so much headway? . . . Continue reading →
Australian Couple Awarded Damages For Religious Discrimination
A Western Australian tribunal has found a Christian couple were discriminated against when their application to foster a child was rejected over their view that homosexuality is a sin. Byron and Keira Hordyk applied to become short-term foster carers in 2017 through . . . Continue reading →
Theonomy Is Evolving
Back in the 1990s, theonomy and Christian Reconstruction were hot topics in the Canadian Reformed Churches, particularly in northern Alberta. Theonomy is the view that contemporary governments are obligated to uphold the Mosaic civil laws. Christian Reconstruction includes theonomy as one of . . . Continue reading →
I Feel The Need, The Need For Creeds
So deep is my appreciation for this creed that I commend its vocal and consistent corporate confession not only in the classroom, but in the weekly worship assembly of the local church. I did not always give this commendation, however, on account . . . Continue reading →
Dating The Book Of Revelation
It should be noted that not all of those who advocate a pre-A.D. 70 date for the writing of Revelation would fall into the contemporary “partial preterist” camp, often associated with postmillennialism. Ken Gentry, the author of a significant book arguing for . . . Continue reading →