In 2007 a prominent evangelical (Bible church) pastor suggested that were Calvin alive today he would be premillennial and that true Calvinists should be (pre-trib, Dispensational) premillennialists. Some of us were a little surprised about this breakthrough in Calvin studies coming from . . . Continue reading →
Reformation History
Whence the Reformation Solas?
I get this question with some frequency, usually around Reformation Day. Here is a preliminary answer: The ideas were present from the earliest stage of the Reformation, but the actual phrases developed over time. The earliest phrases were sola gratia (by grace . . . Continue reading →
Regensburg and Regensburg II: Trying to Reconcile Irreconcilable Differences on Justification
Introduction When in 1618 the Reformed theologian J. H. Alsted (1588-1638) declared that the Protestant doctrine of justification is that “article of faith by which the church stands or falls” (articulus stantis et candentis ecclesiae), he was only repeating what all Protestants . . . Continue reading →
Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer: The Oxford Martyrs
(This article was originally published in Reformation and Revival: A Quarterly Journal for Church Leadership 7 (1998): 167-79. It is republished here with only minor corrections. One of the most interesting bits of Oxford history is the story of the Oxford Martyrs . . . Continue reading →