In chapter three, MacArthur turns to Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus in John 3. Since I have been primarily critical of his methods and conclusions, let me begin with some areas of agreement. When he writes, “the central theme of the Old Testament . . . Continue reading →
Reviews
Review: Divine Providence: A Classic Work for Modern Reader by Stephen Charnock
To paraphrase the concern of one of the leading theologians of the past century: one of the great issues with reading texts from within the tradition, but from a much earlier time, is that it is as if we live in a . . . Continue reading →
The Gospel According To John (MacArthur)—Part 6
There are real, substantive differences between the way MacArthur writes in The Gospel According to Jesus and the way those of us in the confessional Reformation traditions speak about good works and salvation. This does not mean that MacArthur does not say . . . Continue reading →
Review: How the Church Fathers Read the Bible by Gerald Bray
If you were to survey your average Reformed churchgoer on the extent of their knowledge of church history, my guess is that their knowledge would extend as far back as the sixteenth century and the Protestant Reformation. They know the story of . . . Continue reading →
The Gospel According To John (MacArthur)—Part 5
As we engage the book proper, it is useful to remember that GAJ is organized in five parts: 1) Today’s Gospel: Good News or Bad?; 2) Jesus Heralds His Gospel; 3) Jesus Illustrates His Gospel; 4) Jesus Explains His Gospel; 5) Jesus . . . Continue reading →
The Gospel According To John (MacArthur)—Part 4
In his introduction, MacArthur asks what is perhaps the central question in this debate: “What is the gospel?”36 He says that it is not merely an academic question (and all God’s people say, Amen!). He is exactly right when he writes, “And . . . Continue reading →
The Gospel According To John (MacArthur)—Part 3
In his preface to the anniversary edition of GAJ (2008), MacArthur tells the story of how this volume came to be—emerging from a series of 226 sermons in the Gospel of Matthew, over the span of seven and one-half years.31 For what . . . Continue reading →
The Gospel According To John (MacArthur)—Part 2
Before we dive into the preface of GAJ, we should shore up two points from the first installment: 1) The Modernity of Dispensationalism; and 2) The fundamental nature of the distinction between law and gospel. Dispensationalism: A Modern Paradigm Dispensationalism is a Modern . . . Continue reading →
The Gospel According To John (MacArthur)—Part 1
The controversy over the so-called Lordship Salvation doctrine has its proximate roots in a series of sermons through the gospel of Matthew preached by John MacArthur from about 1978 to 1985.1 He published the first edition of The Gospel According to Jesus . . . Continue reading →
Review: Cultural Apologetics: Renewing the Christian Voice, Conscience, and Imagination in a Disenchanted World by Paul M. Gould
While enjoying breakfast in a quaint diner with my family the other day, I observed another family sitting a few booths over from ours, finishing up their meal. Well, “sitting” is not exactly accurate. While the mother and father sat, engrossed in . . . Continue reading →
Machen Worked & Played Harder Than You Do
It does seem to me that there can never be any true advance, and above all there can never be any true prayer, unless a man does pause occasionally, as on some mountain vantage ground, to try, at least, to evaluate the age in which he is living. And when I do that, I cannot for the life of me see how any man with even the slightest knowledge of history can help recognizing the fact that we are living in a time of sad decadence—a decadence only thinly disguised by the material achievements of our age, which already are beginning to pall on us like a new toy. Continue reading →
Review: Francis Turretin (1623–87) and the Reformed Tradition by Nicholas A. Cumming (Brill, 2021)
Nicholas A. Cumming is the Assistant Professor of Humanities at Pepperdine University. Francis Turretin (1623–87) and the Reformed Tradition is an adaptation of his doctoral dissertation at King’s College London. Published in the St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History Series, the book . . . Continue reading →
Review of Tadataka Maruyama, Calvin’s Ecclesiology: A Study in the History of Doctrine
There are too many treatments of particular aspects of John Calvin’s theology. The proliferation of books and articles of course relates to Calvin’s large and varied writing corpus as well as his ongoing popularity, especially growing throughout the twentieth century. The problem . . . Continue reading →
Review: Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms edited by Chad Van Dixhoorn
In the last few years, we have seen a rise in the retrieval of historic Christianity. By “historic” Christianity, I mean, creedal, confessional, and catechetical: a communal dialogue of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. The return to an . . . Continue reading →
Review: Theodore Beza: The Man and the Myth by Shawn D. Wright
If a survey were to be taken of Christians in America, a vast majority would probably never have heard of the French Reformer, Theodore Beza (1519–1605). For those actually familiar with him, they would likely fall into one of three camps. For . . . Continue reading →
Review: Doing Theology with The Reformers by Gerald Bray
It would take a sizable monograph to catalog all the books written about the Protestant Reformation. Many Reformed Christians undoubtedly have more than a few of these books on their shelves and could likely name at least a few more. Speaking of . . . Continue reading →
A Response to Brent E. Parker and Richard J. Lucas (eds.), Covenantal and Dispensational Theologies: Four Views on the Continuity of Scripture (Part 3)
This is the final installment of a three-part review of Brent Parker and Richard Lucas’ new volume of essays wherein theologians representing traditional Reformed covenant theology, progressive covenantalism, progressive dispensationalism, and traditional dispensationalism interact on issues of continuity and discontinuity in redemptive . . . Continue reading →
A Response to Brent E. Parker and Richard J. Lucas (eds.), Covenantal and Dispensational Theologies: Four Views on the Continuity of Scripture (Part 2)
This three-part series reviews the new multi-view collection of essays, edited by Richard Lucas and Brent Parker, concerning the unity of redemptive history as expressed in various forms of covenantal and dispensational theologies. Part one considered Michael Horton’s argument for traditional Reformed . . . Continue reading →
A Response to Brent E. Parker and Richard J. Lucas (eds.), Covenantal and Dispensational Theologies: Four Views on the Continuity of Scripture (Part 1)
At my ordination, I took a vow that I hold the Westminster Standards “as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures,” expressing that these documents summarize the shape of biblical truth most accurately. This “system” of doctrine connects various . . . Continue reading →
Review: J. M. Vorster’s The Gift of Life (Part 3): What Kind Of Reformation?
The tensions and inconsistencies that I have attempted to illustrate in this book review beg another question: What kind of reformation is The Gift of Life after? The answer Professor Vorster appears to provide is one of “flourishing personhood” that roots out . . . Continue reading →