Resources On Union With Christ

The doctrine of union with Christ is an essential part of the Reformed doctrine of the application of salvation to the elect by the Holy Spirit (ordo salutis). In the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Presbyterian Churches say: Q. 30. How doth the Spirit . . . Continue reading →

Resources On Defining Reformed

Recovering the Reformed Confession

In 2009 Time Magazine hailed the rise of “The New Calvinism” among the 10 ideas that are changing the world. Behind that article was the publication of Collin Hansen’s Young, Restless, and Reformed (2008) and the formation of The Gospel Coalition (2005), . . . Continue reading →

Resources On Pastoral Education

The internet has created a new world of possibilities for education. Seminaries and theological colleges have seized upon the potential of the internet by offering online courses and online degrees. For older non-traditional students, for those who already have families and other . . . Continue reading →

Resources On Christmas, Advent, And The Church Calendar

Christmas, the Advent season in the church calendar, is a part of the culture. Christmas advertisements seem almost to run year round now. It is the one time when it almost seems acceptable (again) to be a Christian. Between the commercial and cultural pressure on one side and the religious impulse on the other, the press to observe Christmas or the Advent season of the church calendar is great. Yet, there are good reasons why members, elders, and laity ought to think critically about Christmas, advent, and the church calendar generally. Continue reading →

Resources On Images Of Christ

The question whether because God the Son became incarnate Christians are free to create images of him has plagued the church since just after the close of the canon. The ancient church, however, rejected them with one voice and the Reformed and Presbyterian churches all confess against images of Christ on biblical and theological grounds. Continue reading →

Resources On Church Growth And Ordinary Means Ministry

The church growth movement has been one of the more influential movements in modern evangelicalism for the last 40 years. Pastors receive a steady stream of emails and advertisements promising to “grow the church” if only his congregation will buy this product or service. In some quarters it is unquestioned dogma, it is axiomatic that if the church is not growing numerically it is failing in its mission. Continue reading →

Resources For A Redemptive-Historical Reading Of Scripture

“Biblical theology,” or “redemptive-historical” theology may be new terms or perhaps confusing. After all, is not Reformed theology supposed to be biblical? Yes, it is but in the history of theology there developed, in the 19th century, a movement that intended to . . . Continue reading →

Resources On Machen, Christianity, And Liberalism

In 1923 J. Gresham Machen, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, published one of the more important books in the modern history of the Reformed and Presbyterian churches, Christianity and Liberalism. It was a stirring and cogent defense of the thesis that . . . Continue reading →