History of Ideas

William Perkins On Justification (2)

by on December 15, 2021

In connection with Trent and Bellarmine’s stance on purgatory and the sacrifice of the Mass was Rome’s doctrine of a second justification. Bellarmine’s Scriptural basis for a second justification was Romans 3—which he saw as the first justification, and James 2—which he saw as the second justification. For Perkins, James 2 was for the justified because of Christ, “outward testimonies of the truth of our faith and profession, proving that the grace of our hearts is not in hypocrisy, but in truth and sincerity.” In other words, James 2 spoke not of justification in the same sense as Paul in Romans, but in a completely different sense, scope, and design, James 2:21 is in the demonstrative for Abraham’s “works did testify that his faith was true and sincere. Continue reading →

William Perkins On Justification

by on December 13, 2021

Perkins objected to Rome’s sacrifice of the Mass. For Perkins, this doctrine was attached to erroneous views of Christology, Christ’s propitiatory suffering unto death, and in turn the doctrine of justification. One of Perkins’s clearest Christological statements is found in his treatise, A Warning Against the Idolatry of the Last Times (1601), where he wrote, “For He in one person is perfect God and perfect man, our only Redeemer all-sufficient in Himself, and therefore perfect king, priest, prophet; without either partner or fellow in the work of man’s salvation.” Continue reading →

Does The Analogy Hold Or How Does Science Work?

by on August 4, 2021 | 9 Comments

I am in the throes of trying to finish the third draft of the commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism (Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude), so I have not been listening to a lot of my podcasts. Mostly these days I hear myself say, . . . Continue reading →

New Resource Page: On Amyraut, Amyraldianism, and Hypothetical Universalism

by on December 9, 2020

One of the more important debates that rocked the French Reformed Church in the 17th century was that concerning the doctrine of Moises Amyraut (1596–1664). He was part of a broader movement to revise Reformed theology among the French in a variety . . . Continue reading →

Doubts About Political Theology And The Church As A Lever Of Cultural Influence

by on November 3, 2020 | 1 Comment
© R. Scott Clark

Tish Harrison Warren, a priest in the ACNA (a denomination in the Anglican tradition), writes in Christianity Today, We have an impoverished and inadequate political theology. It took us generations to get here, and this one election, regardless of the results, will . . . Continue reading →

Justification In The Earliest Christian Fathers: 1 Clement

by on September 28, 2017 | 3 Comments

Perhaps the first post-Apostolic use of the New Testament verb “to justify” (δικαιόω) occurs in 1 Clement, written just after 100 AD to the same Corinthian congregation to whom Paul had written half a century earlier. There is no claim of authorship . . . Continue reading →

Office Hours: Aquinas Among The Protestants

by on September 4, 2017
Office Hours Video

Thomas Aquinas (c.1224–74) was one of the most important Christian teachers in the period and though he was eclipsed in the centuries after, his work returned to prominence in the 16th–19th centuries particularly among Roman theologians, for whom Thomas became the theologian . . . Continue reading →

Theology And The University In Nineteenth-Century Germany

by on August 19, 2017 | 4 Comments

The history of modern German theology is dominated by two figures, Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) and G. F. W. Hegel (1770–1831) but there is more to the story. If Schleiermacher and Hegel formed the skeleton, a series of lesser-known figures and institutions formed . . . Continue reading →

Identity Markers: Why Some Axioms Persist

by on July 15, 2015 | 1 Comment

Peter Berger has been an influential and important sociologist of religion for more than 50 years. He is presently Professor Emeritus of Religion, Sociology and Theology and Director of the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs at Boston University. To review a . . . Continue reading →

Inventing Grievances

by on February 8, 2015 | 1 Comment

As Riley-Smith explains, however, the Muslim memory of the Crusades is of very recent vintage. Carole Hillenbrand first uncovered this fact in her groundbreaking book The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives. The truth is that medieval Muslims came to realize that the Crusades were . . . Continue reading →

Chiliasm And Soul Sleep

by on October 7, 2014 | 14 Comments

Our study began with Irenaeus’ contention that the belief in an immediate removal of the soul to the presence of God and Christ at death was a stumbling block to orthodox acceptance of chiliasm, and with his counter proposal that the chiliastic . . . Continue reading →

A Very Brief History Of Schooling For Christians

by on July 25, 2014 | 3 Comments

When most Americans think of education and schools we think of buildings, teachers, board meetings, lunch lines, playgrounds, classrooms, and athletic teams. We might be tempted to assume that education has always been done this way but it has not always been . . . Continue reading →