In the modern period, particularly in the twentieth century, many Reformed folk became uneasy with the traditional Reformed language concerning natural law. As one who began to enter the Reformed world circa 1980, I mostly found Reformed people to be hostile to . . . Continue reading →
Last Friday, KFI (AM 640 Los Angeles) afternoon talker John Kobylt made the argument that one reason Prop 8 was overturned is that proponents of Prop 8 could not show that homosexual marriage actually creates any adverse effects or bad outcomes. I . . . Continue reading →
In the 1960s it was common to hear American civil rights leaders appeal to natural justice and natural law in defense of the extension of civil rights to oppressed peoples, namely African Americans. Those arguments were compelling to Americans because they are . . . Continue reading →
Machen wrote a letter to a notable politician on April 20, 1933. Just as he saw what was coming with fascism in the 1930s in Europe, so Machen saw the encroaching menace of the National Football League, which held its first championship . . . Continue reading →
Therefore the Law or the old covenant contains only physical promises, to which some such condition as this is always attached: “If you will hear My voice” (Ps. 95:7); “If you will keep My covenant” (Ex. 19:5); “If you walk in My . . . Continue reading →
For the Law did not have promises added to it about Christ and His blessings, about deliverance from the curse of the Law, sin, and death, and about the free gift of the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and eternal life. But the . . . Continue reading →
Now it should be noted that the Holy Spirit insults the people of the Law and of works here by calling them “sons of the slave woman.” It is as though He were to say: “Why do you boast about the righteousness . . . Continue reading →
Therefore we are pronounced righteous, not on the basis of the Law or of works or of our own righteousness but on the basis of pure grace. Paul insisted on the promise so vigorously and stressed it so often because he saw . . . Continue reading →
If then a man cannot distinguish aright between the law and the gospel, he cannot rightly understand as much as a single article of divine truth. If he does not have spiritual and just apprehensions of the holy law, he cannot have . . . Continue reading →
The law and the gospel are the principal parts of divine revelation, or rather they are the center, sum, and substance of all the other parts of it. Every passage of sacred Scripture is either law or gospel or is capable of . . . Continue reading →
The law, then, as a covenant of works, does, in the most authoritative manner, demand from every descendant of Adam who is under it perfect holiness of nature, perfect righteousness of life, and complete satisfaction for sin. And none of the race . . . Continue reading →
The natural law of God, or the law of nature, is that necessary and unchangeable rule of duty which is founded in the infinitely holy and righteous nature of God, to obey which all men, as the reasonable creatures of God, are . . . Continue reading →
…how far forth the law is abrogated? Answer. The law is threefold: moral, ceremonial, judicial. Moral is the law of God concerning manners or duties to God and man. Now the moral law is abrogated in respect of the church and them . . . Continue reading →
En la época moderna, especialmente en el siglo XX, muchos reformados se sintieron incómodos con el lenguaje reformado tradicional relativo a la «ley natural». Como alguien que empezó a entrar en el mundo reformado alrededor de 1980, la mayoría de los reformados . . . Continue reading →
One of our readers named K wrote me to ask, “If God’s Word forbids women from teaching and exercising authority, why shouldn’t the state follow the same principle?” This is a good and interesting question. It is made even more complicated by . . . Continue reading →
The Christian natural law tradition offers Christians meaningful and coherent moral guidance apart from instrumental calculations of political power and success. That is, the tradition is moral, not consequentialist or ad hoc. Moreover, rooted in a creational theology, it provides important pathways for a . . . Continue reading →
Recently it has been argued (on a podcast co-hosted by Mary Katherine Ham and in an op-ed by David French) that parents have the right, if they will, to subject their children to sex re-assignment surgery. French objects to the alleged interference . . . Continue reading →
In 2008, another blogger (Russ Reeves) made some thoughtful comments on my essay, “Christ is Lord of All But…” This post was made in response to his comments. I agree with him that it may be that we agree more than it . . . Continue reading →
All the Episodes of the Heidelcast Subscribe to the Heidelcast! On Twitter @Heidelcast How To Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button below Subscribe in Apple Podcast Subscribe directly via RSS New Way To Call The Heidelphone: Voice Memo On Your Phone The . . . Continue reading →
An examination of the contemporary literature, and the writings of the divines themselves, reveals that the Westminster divines universally held to a concept of natural law, as did other theologians of the seventeenth century who were influential on the divines’ thinking. As . . . Continue reading →