Do Reformed preachers not see the stupidity of telling people not to rely on their works while also saying genuine faith produces good works? It just seems like double-speak to avoid being labeled Catholic or Arminian. I reply: this Reformed preacher fails . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Theology
A Patristic Root In Reformed Theology Part 1: What, Who, And Why?
Over my years of study, one essential thing I have learned is that the Reformation was a return to patristic roots not only in worship,1 but also in theology. It was not a wholesale repudiation of history; nor did it cast off the . . . Continue reading →
Muller: Protestant Scholasticism Was A Continuation Not A Corruption Of The Reformation
When this orthodox or scholastic Protestantism is examined in some depth and viewed as a form of Protestant theology in its own right rather than as merely a duplication or reflection of theology of the Reformation, it is clearly a theology both . . . Continue reading →
After Calvin: Recommended Reading
There is a popular view of church history that tells a story in which there was a pure, believing church during the apostolic age and then, for all intents and purposes, there was not a church (except for the Waldensians who alone . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Reformation Basics—Good Works Follow Faith
Therefore we, being justified by faith, do good works, through which, as 2 Peter 1:10 says, our call and election are confirmed and made more certain day by day. But because we have only the first fruits of the Spirit and do . . . Continue reading →
Beza: Sanctification Flows From Christ Whom We Apprehend By Faith
But although sanctification flows forth from the same Christ seized by faith, and leads us to the same place, namely the attainment of eternal life, it would nevertheless be mere madness to add something to the most perfect righteousness of Christ to . . . Continue reading →
Beza: Justification Through Faith Alone Is Shared By All The Lutherans And All The Reformed
If there is any head of Christian doctrine about which it is absolutely necessary to agree to obtain eternal life, it is that in which it is taught not only concerning the righteousness which is required of us before the judgment-seat of . . . Continue reading →
The Establishment Principle
In my mind, the Old Testament model of theocracy doesn’t clearly correlate with the New Testament or Apostolic Church practices, or even the Patristics for that matter, which suggests that applying Old Testament concepts to Christian statecraft might be anachronistic or misguided. . . . Continue reading →
The Early Church Fathers On The Anti-Christ
The earliest Christian documents which mention the Antichrist contain slight theological reflection, apart from a brief mention of him in connection with a particular biblical passage. Over time, the short-shrift given him begins to change. Some tie Antichrist to heresy (appealing to . . . Continue reading →
The Significance Of The Covenant Of Grace In Reformed Theology
It is correctly said that covenant theology is the center of Reformed theology. In Eden, while under the covenant of works, all of humanity fell when the first of our race (Adam), rebelled against his creator, thereby plunging the entire human race . . . Continue reading →
Turretin On The Fundamental Articles of Faith
But [the Reformed] all agree in these fundamental articles: the doctrines concerning the sacred Scriptures as inspired, being the only and perfect rule of faith; concerning the unity of God and the Trinity; concerning Christ, the death, concerning the law and its . . . Continue reading →
Strong Meat from the Stacks: The Art of Man-Fishing
Ministers are fishers by office; they are catchers of the souls of men, sent “to open the eyes of the blind, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,” Acts 26:18. Preachers of the . . . Continue reading →
Strong Meat from the Stacks: What Makes a Theologian?
Therefore whoever knows well how to distinguish the Gospel from the Law should give thanks to God and know that he is a real theologian. I admit that in the time of temptation I myself do not know how to do this . . . Continue reading →
Strong Meat from the Stacks: Van Til On The Importance Of Systematics
If we do not pay attention to the whole of biblical truth as a system, we become doctrinally one-sided, and doctrinal one-sidedness is bound to issue in spiritual one-sidedness. As human beings we are naturally inclined to be one-sided. One tends to . . . Continue reading →
An Update on the Reformation in Africa
In May, we opened our new training center in Meru, Kenya and had men attending our class on Covenant Theology from Tanzania, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, and two from Ethiopia. Nearly forty in attendance. I celebrated my 70th birthday during that . . . Continue reading →
The Narcissism of Evangelical Latitudinarianism
This essay was written before I published Recovering the Reformed Confession (2008), which, remarkably and quite unexpectedly, remains in print. In it, I interacted with a book review published in Christianity Today which serves as a symbol of the way Pietists and modern evangelicals . . . Continue reading →
Engaging Confessional Baptists on Covenant Theology (Part 2): Unity of Salvation in the Old and New Testaments
This two-part series engages recent confessional Baptist publications on the nature of covenant theology in order to help Reformed readers understand the Baptistic view better and to have some starting points for responding to it. Part one looked at new developments in . . . Continue reading →
The Reformation On Law And Gospel Language
The Reformation made clear the distinction between law and gospel in reference to the Old and New Testaments of Scripture. Continue reading →
Engaging Confessional Baptists on Covenant Theology (Part 1): Typology
The elephant in the room of any discussion about the development of redemptive history is the disagreement between Baptist and Reformed theologies about the unity of the covenant of grace, including the whole language of the covenant’s substance and administration. Continue reading →
Beza On Law And Gospel
We divide this Word into two principal parts or kinds: the one is called the ‘Law,’ the other the ‘Gospel.’ For all the rest can be gathered under the one or other of these two headings…Ignorance of this distinction between Law and . . . Continue reading →