Richard Muller’s lost lecture on Jonathan Edwards’ doctrine of free choice. Continue reading →
Richard Muller—Jonathan Edwards And The Absence Of Free Choice: A Parting Of Ways In The Reformed Tradition
Lost Audio Recovered
History of Reformed Theology
Redemption Is “Mission Accomplished”
Redemption was accomplished not attempted. Continue reading →
1689 Vs. The Westminster Confession (2): Nature, Grace, and Revelation
Since I first indicated that I intended to do this series, I have been challenged repeatedly by Baptist correspondents to justify the legitimacy and necessity of the series. Some have insisted, nay, demanded that I abandon the project as worthless. More than . . . Continue reading →
1689 Vs. The Westminster Confession: Narrowing The Lens On Particular Baptist History
The discussion of the differences between Baptist and Reformed theology is a sensitive but important question. Thus, I think I should explain why I am writing this series. In my experience, some Baptists, especially those who identify with the Particular Baptist tradition, . . . Continue reading →
Read Thomas And See For Yourself
I was led to think that Thomas had been more or less mugged by Aristotle, indeed, I was given to think that Thomas was the source of much that ailed Christianity. In one tour de force, Van Til jumps from Aristotle, to . . . Continue reading →
Catholicity, Confusion, And A Correction
In the mid-1970s, the original cast of Saturday Night Live featured a regular character as part of the Update sketch. The character’s name was Emily Litella. She was played by the late Gilda Radner. It used to be that local newscasts would . . . Continue reading →
Imprisoned And Faithful: A Letter From Marie Durand
[Marie Durand] would be born in 1711 in Bouchet-de-Pranles into a community with a hoary past of linguistic, cultural, political, and religious autonomy. She was born into a church whose beliefs and practices were deeply rooted in the sixteenth-century Reformation and the . . . Continue reading →
Thomas and Rome on Predestination
To many Romanists, Thomas Aquinas stands out as the epitome of their tradition. His thinking was the basis for Trent, Vatican I and II. His teaching is extolled as the loftiest and most important Roman “Catholic” theology. In contrast, the average evangelical . . . Continue reading →
“Who Are You Calling Dull?”: The Aesthetic Prowess of Protestant Reformers
The earlier Protestant tradition that produced a Milton, Bach, or Rembrandt, and later a C. S. Lewis or Makoto Fujimura was neither anti-intellectual nor aesthetically dull. Luther, a Renaissance-trained polymath, was the first individual since Jerome to translate the entire Bible into . . . Continue reading →
“Edwards Injects Into Faith” In The Act Of Justification The Virtues Of The Christian Life
Edwards is very clear that faith does not justify a believer as a virtue or as forming any part of the righteousness which is the basis or ground of God’s judicial verdict. In this, he clearly stands with the Reformed tradition over . . . Continue reading →
Mathison: When Reformed Theology Is Adapted To Enlightenment Presuppositions It Withers And Dies
In other words, if we want to know why there are so many Reformed theological giants in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and comparatively few afterwards, a large part of it has to do with the later theologians adopting various forms of . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 223: From Every Tribe, Tongue, And Nation (1)—Introduction To The Canons Of Dort
In this episode Dr Clark begins a new series on the Canons of Dort (1619). When people outside of the Reformed churches think about Reformed theology, they often think of the so-called “Five Points,” or TULIP. As it turns out, there is . . . Continue reading →
Coming In December, 2022: Beza, Polanus, And Turretin On Justification
From its inception, the goal of the Classic Reformed Theology Series from Reformation Heritage Books (sponsor of the Heidelcast) has been to present, in English, primary source texts in Reformed theology. This new volume is the sixth in the series, which began . . . Continue reading →
Westminster’s Youngest Divine: George Gillespie
Patrick Hamilton (1504–28) was a preacher of the gospel. He studied Reformation theology in Germany and went home again to Scotland, in 1527, to preach that gospel knowing that he would die for it, and in 1528 he did. He was lured . . . Continue reading →
Muller: Rethinking The Relation Between Kuyper, Bavinck, And Scholasticism
One writer notes that “Kuyper reflected critically on what he perceived as an increasing emphasis on natural theology through the early centuries of the Reformed tradition,” while another indicates that Kuyper’s views on common grace opened up a place for natural theology. . . . Continue reading →
New In Print: Geerhardus Vos, Natural Theology
For Christians who came of age during the heyday of Barthianism, the very words “natural theology” can send shudders down the spine. Barth himself went to war against natural law, natural revelation, and natural theology of all kinds. Modern Evangelicals have resonated . . . Continue reading →
Jerome Bolsec (2): Calvin’s Appeal For Help
To encourage that united front and confound Bolsec’s claim for support, the magistrates of Geneva sent a letter to the ministers of Switzerland, late in October, 1551, telling them of Bolsec’s actions and teaching: “He made an attempt, eight months ago, in . . . Continue reading →
Jerome Bolsec (1): The Primary Source Of Most Of Calvin’s Bad Press
The facts of the controversy are rather simple. Jerome Bolsec who was a Carmelite monk and doctor of theology in Paris, was drawn to the Reformation and so forced to leave France. By early 1551 he had settled in the canton of . . . Continue reading →
We Subscribe
The Reformation was above all a doctrinal reform in the life of the church. Throughout the Middle Ages, calls for reform had primarily been concerned with the moral life of the church. The Reformation certainly resulted in profound moral and spiritual renewal . . . Continue reading →
Inerrancy: A Historic Christian Doctrine
Now we come to the second concern of this article. Is the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture a fundamentalist doctrine? Clearly the doctrine of inerrancy was a doctrine held and taught in the church long before the rise of fundamentalism. Luther . . . Continue reading →