Even though I cannot use sporting “chance” as a header for a column, I still learn a lot from sports—always have. Growing up playing competitive sports taught me many lessons that I would not have learned otherwise, and these have helped in . . . Continue reading →
In 2024 when we see the participle gaming, we are likely to think of computers and headsets, but for centuries the word signified gambling. It still does. Several state governments in the USA have “gaming commissions” or the like. One of the . . . Continue reading →
Aristotle said it with style: people who set their heart on, proving to themselves with drawn-out arguments “that some providence is,” actually deserve whips, not words; a reply from an executioner, not a philosopher (nor, I add, a theologian). And what is . . . Continue reading →
This episode might be what some would call a “humdinger” if only because we were able to fit in all six calls and give some answer to each. Daniel called to ask how the church should respond when a lay member adopts . . . Continue reading →
It is not a sin, after all, not to have all the answers. Continue reading →
The Reformed churches confess that the relationship between God and evil is a mystery. We reject any attempt to resolve the mystery. We are not rationalists. We refuse to go beyond what Scripture says. We affirm both that God is sovereign and . . . Continue reading →
Lots of evangelical Christians take it for granted that God and humans are co-equals. I know because I once thought that way. That is a profoundly Modern and Modernist way of thinking. It is not a biblical way of thinking nor is . . . Continue reading →
The Christian doctrine of providence does not deny anyone’s “lived experience.” It explains it.
We are continuing our series on the doctrine of God, I Am That I Am. This is part 15 of the series, which begins with Heidelcast episode 123. This episode is the second part of our discussion of the doctrine of divine . . . Continue reading →
We are continuing our series on the doctrine of God, I Am That I Am. This is part 14 of the series, which begins with Heidelcast episode 123. We could not be addressing a more timely topic: providence. Heidelberg Catechism 27 asks: . . . Continue reading →
Introduction The Heidelberg Catechism is justly regarded as one of the finest summaries of the Christian faith ever written. First published in 1563, the catechism is used by more than a million Christians globally. The first question of the catechism is among . . . Continue reading →
Sunday is the Christian Sabbath, it is a day on which Christians set aside time to pray, to gather for corporate worship, and to think and speak about God. So, in that regard, the remarks this past Sunday by Pete Buttigieg, the . . . Continue reading →
Recently, a well-meaning “New Calvinist” (more on this nomenclature in part 2) posted some very blunt language on Twitter about the relationship between divine sovereignty and various ways in which people suffer in this world. He wrote that if you experienced X . . . Continue reading →
Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Yahweh regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to . . . Continue reading →
We are often tempted to set asking and trusting against each other but, of course, it is a false choice. When a child asks his Dad for breakfast he trusts that his father can provide. It does not occur to him to . . . Continue reading →
Recently I’ve received a few wrong numbers each looking for the same person. I’m reasonably sure that a couple of the calls are from the same person. He doesn’t seem to be convinced that Jaunito is not at this number. I’m not . . . Continue reading →
In part 3 we considered the “as it were” principle when thinking and talking about God and his providence. We talk about chance all the time. “Not a chance” or “He never gave me a chance” and in those cases we’re talking . . . Continue reading →
In part 2 we considered the biblical and confessional Reformed teaching that the triune God is actively present, sustaining and governing all that is. In our account of the doctrine of providence we use an interesting little expression that is freighted with . . . Continue reading →
In the previous post we considered what it means to say “I believe in God the Father almighty. One of the most scurrilous things that some neo-Pentecostalists have alleged against the historic Christian view of God is that we are Deists. Quite . . . Continue reading →
From the moment Adam sought to grasp equality with God (Phil 2), from the moment he mysteriously rebelled against God’s sovereignty and hiddenness (“You shall be as God”), from the moment he ceased to love and adore the triune God, since that . . . Continue reading →