As a young boy I certainly believed in Santa. We made the annual cookie oblation and went to bed under the conditional covenant that he would not come if we did not sleep (or at least stay in bed). Nevertheless, I think . . . Continue reading →
Part of Saturday was spent trading tweets with Matthew Milliner, who teaches Art History at Wheaton College. We had a good, genial conversation from two different confessional traditions. I am not sure, but judging by his arguments, I inferred that Matthew may . . . Continue reading →
It is well known that, at Charlie Kirk’s memorial, his widow, Erika, forgave the man who is charged with his murder. This has reignited a debate that I first became aware of perhaps 15 years ago. There are two sides to this . . . Continue reading →
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 →
I have explained at great length here why those who deny our covenant theology, our hermeneutics, and our doctrine of the sacraments are not Reformed. All the Reformed confessions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries teach paedobaptism and denounce the rejection of . . . 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 →
The question of thinking like a Christian is an important topic and one close to my heart. We discuss this very question each fall in the Historical Theology orientation course. We read and discuss a roundtable discussion published some years ago in . . . Continue reading →
There is a widely held perception today—shared by ethicists, historians of ethics, and theologians—that the Reformation inaugurated a sharp break from earlier forms of eudaimonist virtue ethics prevalent in the medieval period (Rehnman 2012, 473–75, 490; Herms 1982). The assumption that the . . . Continue reading →
Christian ethical theory has seen various changes over the centuries, but I believe that one of the reasons why some think that we need to teach the idea of final rewards in order to make obedience important owes to the dominance of . . . Continue reading →
At the Diet of Worms (April, 1518) Luther famously said, “Popes and councils do err.” Anyone who knows just a little about the history of the church must agree with Luther. Popes and councils have directly and repeatedly contradicted themselves and each . . . Continue reading →
The physician returns to the examination room with a clipboard, tired eyes, and a noticeable weight on his shoulders. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” he begins. “The results came back and the news is not good.” You think to yourself, “How can a child . . . Continue reading →
San Diego County has places of obvious beauty. Mt Palomar is grand and so are the beaches and, of course, the Pacific Ocean. My little corner of San Diego County (North County), has areas of quiet beauty. The back roads are quiet . . . Continue reading →
And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were . . . Continue reading →
There is a great lot of talk in the evangelical and Reformed world(s) about sola Scriptura but one has the growing sense that not only is the Reformation scripture principle not well understood (e.g., it is often misconstrued as an endorsement of . . . Continue reading →
I. As the ceremonial law was concerned with God, the political was concerned with the neighbor. II. In those matters on which it is in harmony with the moral law and with ordinary justice, it is binding upon us. III. In those . . . Continue reading →
Shocking as it may be, courses in medieval history and theology do not always have immediate relevance to late modern society. There is a theme in medieval history and theology, however, that does illumine what is happening to the global economy. Since . . . Continue reading →
A correspondent to the HB writes: People can gloss over the term all they want, but secularism is still what it is, a rival religion and ethos to Christianity. The real divide between the FV and anti-FV crowd began with Van Til . . . Continue reading →
Note: This post first appeared in February 2008. Since that time the original link to Pulpit Magazine has been taken down. The archives at Pulpit Magazine only go back to 2012. § At Pulpit Magazine, Nathan Busenitz is tackling the question of . . . Continue reading →
Until very recently presidents and presidential candidates, even if they didn’t believe it, had to say that they were in favor of marriage as historically understood and opposed to homosexual marriage. Now, they don’t. What changed and how did that change come . . . Continue reading →
A correspondent writes to about an Anglican minister who advised the poor, who are starving, who’ve somehow fallen through the extensive British social safety net, among his congregation, to shoplift rather than commit burglary. He asked them not to steal from small . . . Continue reading →
