It is trite, but just in case you have not heard the story: During the Vietnam War, a Marine Corps colonel is reported to have said, “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.”1 An analogy to this approach . . . Continue reading →
Regular readers of this space are aware that there is something of a confessional renaissance within the Christian Reformed Church in North America. For example, in 2023, Synod rejected decisively an appeal by a prominent progressive CRC congregation against Synod’s decision upholding . . . Continue reading →
In 1882 the Lutheran minister Joseph A. Seiss (1823–1904) published the provocative volume, The Gospel in the Stars, Or, Prímeval Astronomy (Philadelphia: E. Claxton & company, 1882). Evidently, it found an audience, and it has been reprinted as recently as the early 1970s and . . . Continue reading →
In reaction to Rick Phillips’ critique of a response by a Federal Visionist to his (then) presbytery, one of the proponents of the Federal Vision made the following argument: Surely, we all know there’s a difference between how we use terms in . . . Continue reading →
It is no longer revolutionary (no pun intended) to hold that the earth revolves around the sun, but it was not always so. The observation of Nicholas Copernicus (1473–1543), that the universe is heliocentric (sun-centered) and not geocentric (earth-centered) was met with . . . Continue reading →
The “Black Rubric” was so-called because it was set in black print in the 1661–1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. It was first inserted into the Second Edwardian Prayer Book in 1552. It was intended to explain that when communicants . . . Continue reading →
Thanks to Darryl Hart for pointing us to this challenging essay by Dale Coulter, who self identifies as a “Classical Pentecostal” in the holiness tradition.1 He writes on the official blog of the Regent University School of Divinity. He favors the Edwardsean . . . Continue reading →
Quem pode se juntar à igreja de Cristo e sob quais condições? Esta é uma pergunta que, às vezes, agitou a igreja. No período moderno, a maioria das igrejas, incluindo as igrejas confessionais presbiterianas e reformadas (P&R), tende a adotar uma posição . . . Continue reading →
The Christian church has always had a confession or a creed. There are creeds in Scripture itself, e.g., Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear O Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.” This was recited in the synagogue as a confession of faith and it . . . Continue reading →
I can understand why evangelicals and others who do not have a covenantal theology would exile their children during public worship, but I do not understand why so many ostensibly Reformed congregations have adopted the practice of dismissing their covenant children from . . . Continue reading →
One of the earliest and most rhetorically powerful charges made by the proponents of the eighteenth-century (colonial) revivals was that their critics were either unregenerate or impious. Religious experience is usually defined by proponents of revival as being composed of certain religious . . . Continue reading →
One of the many criticisms John Frame makes of Recovering the Reformed Confession is that it advocates a closed, isolationist, elitist view of the Reformed faith in order to exclude others unnecessarily and wrongly.1 Jerry Owen, a commentator on Frame’s review, asks, . . . Continue reading →
As igrejas reformadas têm alguns slogans maravilhosos que são repletos de verdades importantes. Às vezes, no entanto, esses slogans podem ser mal interpretados, mal comunicados e mal compreendidos. Com a possível exceção de Sola Scriptura (a Escritura somente), nenhum desses slogans foi mais frequentemente deturpado com maior prejuízo do que ecclesia . . . Continue reading →
James K. A. Smith tem uma interessante postagem na Christianity Today: Teaching a Calvinist to Dance.[1] Neste texto ele diz que anseia por um “tipo de espiritualidade reformada ‘pentecostalizada’”. Ele continua a vincular a sua busca com a de Edwards. Isso pode . . . Continue reading →
Paul Helm blogs monthly and substantively. A certain entry concerns the question of God’s so-called “middle knowledge” (media scientia). He writes, I’ve heard it said that many Calvinist writers currently favor some form of the doctrine of middle knowledge. I’ve also heard . . . Continue reading →
Perhaps nothing so scandalizes the contemporary (i.e., modern) church as the attempt by the visible church to obey the teaching of Jesus and the teaching of the Apostles concerning the Lord’s Table. I say this for three reasons: 1) recently I have . . . Continue reading →
For many the eighteenth century is regarded as the “century of mission,” or perhaps the century of the so-called First Great Awakening.1 But if fidelity to the Reformed Confession is a mark of the health of the church, there are many ways in . . . Continue reading →
In recent decades, there has been a renewed appreciation for and embrace of a “Calvinistic” (i.e. Biblical) soteriology in which God is recognized as sovereign in all the affairs of men and even in salvation. Dr. T. David Gordon suggests this phenomenon . . . Continue reading →
Wisdom says, “keep the heart with all vigilance, because from it flow the springs of life.” Paul agrees. To safeguard love as the proper aim of the ministry, we must also consider its source in a “pure heart.” The fountainhead impacts everything . . . Continue reading →
They wanted to see a gospel centered PCA congregation planted in their town, Jonesboro, Arkansas. It was harder than they thought it would be. In this instance, it was especially hard. Tucked within the thousands of pages of the 2023 General Assembly . . . Continue reading →