Five years ago it was a leading premillennialist saying that were Calvin alive today he would, in effect, be John MacArthur. Now, the Secretary-General of the World Council of Reformed Churches, lecturing at Princeton Seminary (HT: Sovereign Grace News), claims that were Calvin . . . Continue reading →
Paul Helm wrote a very interesting critique of Edwards, one with which the HB has some sympathy. Sean Lucas replied by arguing that Helm had read too much into the noun “affections.” Helm has replied to Lucas by arguing that, in Edwards . . . Continue reading →
In the prolegomena (prefatory remarks) to his published lectures on the Heidelberg Catechism, Zacharias Ursinus (1534–83), the primary author of the catechism and the one authorized by Frederick III to explain the catechism wrote: “The doctrine of the church consists of two . . . Continue reading →
According to Hugh T. Kerr, Benjamin B. Warfield Professor of Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary after Warfield’s death: Of [Warfield’s] printed and published work, there are ten large, and I mean large, volumes of posthumously selected and edited articles known as the . . . Continue reading →
The distinction between law and gospel is one of the most fundamental aspects of the Protestant Reformation. It was essential to the Reformation and it was a basic part of both early Reformed theology and Reformed orthodoxy. For a variety of reasons . . . Continue reading →
1. What is the sole and perfect rule of our faith and conduct? It is the Word of God which is now contained in Holy Scripture, that is, in the canonical books of the Old and New Testament. This is the rule to which . . . Continue reading →
Ever wonder whence the split Ps and broken Rs come? Here’s a great interview with WSC’s Darryl Hart on the Presbyterian and Reformed family tree.
Amandus Polanus wrote one of the more significant Reformed theologies of the first half of the 17th century. It’s a remarkable work. Andrew Myers has a nice post introducing Polanus.
Philip Benedict concedes that the Harmony was a more hopeful than a realistic expression of Protestant unity. But he adds that it was “one example of the conviction of many Reformed that the bonds of brotherhood ought to encompass the Lutheran churches . . . Continue reading →
But it happened, briefly and the good news here is that it’s back. Andrea Ferrari is a pastor of the Reformed Congregation in Milan, Italy. He’s also an author who has written (in English!) on one of the more significant Italian Reformed . . . Continue reading →
Thanks to Laurence O’Donnell (Calvin Seminary PhD student in systematics) for the heads up regarding the new Bavinck Institute website. They are featuring Ron Gleason’s to-be-released bio of Bavinck himself and an online journal, The Bavinck Review. Well done!
Here are definitions of the basic terms of the discussion. The definitions are drawn from Richard A. Muller, Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1985). The English term “middle knowledge” is a . . . Continue reading →
This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking piece of research by the Rev Tom Wenger (MA, Historical Theology), a graduate of Westminster Seminary California on the way Calvin is being presented in some contemporary Calvin scholarship. This piece grew out of his 2003 . . . Continue reading →
Update 11 March 2010 Marty gave a fine lecture today and we recorded an episode of Office Hours after classes this afternoon. He highlighted the fundamental role that compromise played in the decline of Reformed theology. How, in two generations, did the . . . Continue reading →
Very interesting stuff at the OLTS
Wes summarizes some recent research on the 17th-century conflict between Reformed orthodoxy and Cartesian rationalism. There’s a chapter on this topic in RRC.
Thanks to Wes for this intro to the missionary (missional?) theology of Johannes Hoornbeek.
Thanks to Brandon for publishing some very interesting and provocative (in the best sense) excerpts from an anti-Pelagian treatise by Augustine in which he accounted for the uniqueness of the Mosaic, national, covenant in a way that sounds quite like the later . . . Continue reading →
Kevin DeYoung has a helpful post clarifying what Calvin actually says about the knowledge of God and ourselves. Calvin wasn’t indifferent. He doesn’t say that we can begin either with ourselves or with God.
Zwingli is the forgotten Reformer. Hated by the Lutherans as a “sacramentarian” moralist and not terribly favored by the mature Reformed Reformation, he’s the ugly step son of the Reformation. Here’s a blog (operated by whom?) which collects Zwingli resources. (HT: Jim West)