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 I . . . Continue reading →
Alleged manifestations of our Lord have been claimed for a long time since the close of the apostolic period. It is even more common for artists to represent what they imagine his likeness to have been in paintings. So widely accepted are . . . Continue reading →
Kelly Kapic is Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College. This is a sort of lost episode. Kelly was on campus campus in February, 2010 to talk with our students about theology and piety. That spring we renovated the Office Hours studio . . . Continue reading →
In my past life, battling through the highway throng on the ‘5’ out of Escondido, I used to stare in amazement at the gas guzzling Christian four by fours thundering past my little Volkswagen. As I tried to prevent myself from being . . . Continue reading →
The grace and mercy of our good God and heavenly Father, and the love of His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, be with you, my dearly beloved. Catherine Ramon, my dear and beloved wife and sister in our Lord Jesus Christ: your . . . Continue reading →
“The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.”—Ps 87:2 THAT we may apprehend the meaning of these words, and so thereupon raise some edifying observation, we must inquire into the reason why the Lord is said . . . Continue reading →
14. Still there was nothing with the Fathers less intended than to establish that kind of perfection which was afterwards fabricated by cowled monks, in order to rear up a species of double Christianity. For as yet the sacreligious dogma was not . . . Continue reading →
We like the idea of direct, special revelation that speaks to our particular circumstances. Most of us don’t relish the idea of struggling in prayer, of dealing with doubt, of making a decision in the midst of uncertainty. God could clear things . . . Continue reading →
Modern evangelicals often assume that the line between canonical and post-canonical life is blurry or non-existent. Making that distinction, however, is essential to knowing God’s will. This isn’t the most popular way of thinking about God’s will, however. After all, why listen to . . . Continue reading →
We say that it is a superstition to esteem one day more holy than another. or to think that to abstain from labor is something which, in itself, pleases God (Rom 14:5, 6; Col 2:16, 17). But, following what the Lord has . . . Continue reading →
According to Deuteronomy 29:29 believers are to trust in, rely upon, listen to, and obey that which God has revealed rather than seeking what God has not revealed. In the history of redemptive history the practice of seeking God’s will where he . . . Continue reading →
The single most pressing question I hear is: “How can I know God’s will?” Prospective seminary students want to know whether they should attend seminary. Couples want to know whether they should get married. Ministers want to know whether to take a . . . Continue reading →
[This post was first published on the HB in 2009] One link led to another and I happened recently upon the website of a large NAPARC congregation. As I often do I looked to see who the pastor was. That link led me . . . Continue reading →
Part 4: Consolation And Pastoral Ministry IV. Consolation Preached In part one of this series we considered Calvin’s interpretation of several biblical passages on consolation. In part two we looked at how he harvested a theology of consolation from his exegetical work. . . . Continue reading →
Part 3: His Theology of Consolation in The Institutes. III. Consolation and Pastoral Ministry For Calvin, christian consolation is not only a theological reality but it is also the result of good pastoral practice. Christians often fail to appropriate the consolation they . . . Continue reading →
My doctrine of sanctification is the doctrine of the Heidelberg Catechism: Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude and the doctrine of the Belgic Confession Art. 24. We believe that this true faith, produced in man by the hearing of God’s Word and by the . . . Continue reading →
II. His Theology of Consolation (1559 Institutes) In the previous installment we looked at the way Calvin read Paul’s epistles and how he drew from them a doctrine of consolation, of God’s presence with his people in Christ, by the Spirit, in . . . Continue reading →
Part 1: Introduction to Calvin’s Life and His Own Need for Comfort I. Calvin’s Exegesis of Consolation (in Paul) In the first part we saw that Calvin was a pilgrim who himself needed the consolation of the gospel, given by the Spirit, . . . Continue reading →
Wikipedia, that ubiquitous source of unimpeachable scholarship, defines “consolation” as “something of value, when one fails to get something of higher value….” That is precisely the opposite of what John Calvin (1509–64) meant by “consolation.”For Calvin, the consolation that Christ gives to . . . Continue reading →
Reformed theology and piety has been frequently caricatured as “dry” by which I take it critics mean to suggest that it is overly academic, overly intellectual and unconcerned about the interior, spiritual life of the believer. That this is a caricature is . . . Continue reading →