Obj. 4. Christ is not the lawgiver. Therefore his ministers should not teach and enforce the law. Ans. Christ is not the lawgiver, as it respects the principal office of the mediator; but he was and is lawgiver: 1. In as far . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Second Council Of Orange On Prayer And Seeking God
CANON 3. If anyone says that the grace of God can be conferred as a result of human prayer, but that it is not grace itself which makes us pray to God, he contradicts the prophet Isaiah, or the Apostle who says . . . Continue reading →
Ursinus Against The Antinomians, Libertines, And Similar Fanatics Who Deny That The Decalogue Is For Teaching in the Christian Church (Objection 3)
Obj. 3. We ought not to desire that which God does not desire to give us in this life, and which we cannot obtain. But God does not desire to give us perfect obedience to the law in this life. Therefore it . . . Continue reading →
Hodge On Nourishing New Life In Christ
It is natural that those who have experienced the agitations which frequently attend upon conversion, and have felt the peace which flows from a hope of acceptance with God, to imagine that the conflict is over, the victory won, and the work . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof: Objections To Postmillennialism
Objections to Postmillennialism. There are some very serious objections to the Postmillennial theory. a. The fundamental idea of the doctrine, that the whole world will gradually be won for Christ, that the life of all nations will in course of time be . . . Continue reading →
Ursinus Against The Antinomians, Libertines, And Similar Fanatics Who Deny That The Decalogue Is For Teaching in the Christian Church (Objection 2)
Obj. 2. He who commands impossibilities, commands things which are not profitable. God commands impossibilities in his law. Therefore he commands things which are useless, and so by consequence the law itself is of no use. Ans. This argument is nearly the . . . Continue reading →
Bauckham On Eschatological Expectation
The ideas of the 12th-century abbot Joachim inspired a new form of eschatological expectation which in the later Middle Ages and the 16th century was the major alternative to the Augustinian view. Before the end of history there would be an age . . . Continue reading →
The Sturdy Legs Of Worship
Why will unscriptural, man-centered, culturally conditioned, over-contextualized worship undermine confessional orthodoxy? Because worship by its very form (which ought to be according to spirit—uppercase and lowercase— and truth) communicates certain things about the nature of God and man, thus theology proper and . . . Continue reading →
Ursinus Against The Antinomians, Libertines, And Similar Fanatics Who Deny That The Decalogue Is For Teaching In The Christian Church (Objection 1)
Obj. 1. That which cannot be kept, is taught to no purpose. The law cannot be kept. Therefore it is to no purpose that it is taught in the church of Christ. Ans. There is here a fallacy in urging that as . . . Continue reading →
Beza On Law And Gospel
We divide this Word into two principal parts or kinds: the one is called the ‘Law,’ the other the ‘Gospel.’ For all the rest can be gathered under the one or other of these two headings…Ignorance of this distinction between Law and . . . Continue reading →
OPC Response To Kentucky Flooding
Volunteers have come from all over the country. They have worked at the church building to remove ceiling tiles, as well as much of the drywall and trim. The doors have been sandbagged to keep potential future floods at bay. The two . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof On The Millennium
At the time of the Reformation the doctrine of the millennium was rejected by the Protestant Churches, but revived in some of the sects, such as that of the more fanatical Anabaptists, and that of the Fifth Monarchy Men. Luther scornfully rejected . . . Continue reading →
Second Council Of Orange On Death Through Sin
CANON 2. If anyone asserts that Adam’s sin affected him alone and not his descendants also, or at least if he declares that it is only the death of the body which is the punishment for sin, and not also that sin, . . . Continue reading →
Reinventing Pronouns Aids The Deconstruction Of Language
There is far more to pronoun usage than someone’s personal preference in how he or she wishes to have others refer to him or her. The woke tyranny affects all pronoun usage because it de-constructs our entire language. A pronoun must have . . . Continue reading →
The Sublimely Ordinary Drama Of Regular Lord’s Day Worship
The ethos of liturgical seasons and their attendant dramatic worship peculiarities — imposition of ashes, the stripping of the altar after Communion on Maunday Thursday, etc. — is centered more on a theater of the nostalgic than the sublimely ordinary drama of . . . Continue reading →
Machen: A Word To MDiv Students On Standing For Christ
You will have a battle, too, when you go forth as ministers into the church. The church is now in a period of deadly conflict. The redemptive religion known as Christianity is contending, in our own Presbyterian Church and in all the . . . Continue reading →
A Defense Of Aquinas’ Writing On “The Light Of Natural Knowledge”
The problem is most apparent in Oliphint’s highly selective use of Aquinas’ commentary on John 1:9, which leaves out the portions that undermine his argument. Aquinas indicates that human beings are enlightened by “the light of natural knowledge,” which insofar as it . . . Continue reading →
Should Pastors Leave The Culture Or Take It Captive?
The Benedict Option versus Redeemer Presbyterian Church (NYC) is a wrestling match this writer would pay to see. Which side has the greater strength either of argument or piety than the other? To leave the mainstream culture because it is hostile to . . . Continue reading →
Second Council Of Orange Contra Pelagianism
CANON 1. If anyone denies that it is the whole man, that is, both body and soul, that was “changed for the worse” through the offense of Adam’s sin, but believes that the freedom of the soul remains unimpaired and that only . . . Continue reading →
Aquinas On The Source Of Truth
Aquinas did not view truths of reason and truths of revelation as incompatible or in need of synthesis. Underlying theological project of Aquinas’ two Summas is the assumption that what is true is true whatever its immediate source, given that all truth . . . Continue reading →