So far in this series we have surveyed some significant voices in the interpretation of the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), and we have considered one of the more important documents in its background, the Scots Confession. Now it remains to consider . . . Continue reading →
American Evangelical Christianity is in crisis. The story of how it got here is an important part of this series but there are several reasons so many evangelical Christians are discontent and looking for something else, something with historical roots, with a sense of tradition, with a sense of of transcendence, with reverent worship, and with a deeper view of the sacraments. Continue reading →
American Evangelical Christianity is in crisis. The story of how it got here is an important part of this series but there are several reasons so many evangelical Christians are discontent and looking for something else, something with historical roots, with a sense of tradition, with a sense of of transcendence, with reverent worship, and with a deeper view of the sacraments. Continue reading →
In this episode of the Heidelcast, the Superfriends discuss special offices. Continue reading →
In order to interpret the text of the Scots Confession and the Westminster Confession we must decide on a hermeneutic, a way of interpreting confessional texts. Often in the interpretation of confessional documents the temptation is to try to interpret a specific passage without reference to the broader context, but that is no way to read a text. Continue reading →
In this episode of the Heidelcast, the Superfriends discuss exorcism. Continue reading →
The child was nine years old. She was to be the oldest survivor of her murdered family: the terrorists planned to hold her prisoner, after an explosion had killed her father, mother, and 11-year-old brother. Her survival would depend on submitting to . . . Continue reading →
American Evangelical Christianity is in crisis. The story of how it got here is an important part of this series but there are several reasons so many evangelical Christians are discontent and looking for something else, something with historical roots, with a sense of tradition, with a sense of of transcendence, with reverent worship, and with a deeper view of the sacraments. Continue reading →
In the manner of justifying, the two covenants (law and gospel) are locked in frontal combat. This is because the gospel justifies through grace through faith, not works. Samuel Rutherford, The Works of Samuel Rutherford: Arminianism: A Systematic and Theological Response, ed. . . . Continue reading →
American Evangelical Christianity is in crisis. The story of how it got here is an important part of this series but there are several reasons so many evangelical Christians are discontent and looking for something else, something with historical roots, with a sense of tradition, with a sense of of transcendence, with reverent worship, and with a deeper view of the sacraments. Continue reading →
They hold that the Roman Church does not teach fundamental errors but only errors conditionally and improperly so, which do not undermine the foundation. But our theologians, like Perkins and Whitaker, have demonstrated that the papal church as such does not teach . . . Continue reading →
American Evangelical Christianity is in crisis. The story of how it got here is an important part of this series but there are several reasons so many evangelical Christians are discontent and looking for something else, something with historical roots, with a sense of tradition, with a sense of of transcendence, with reverent worship, and with a deeper view of the sacraments. Continue reading →
That council [Trent, 1551] was convened and met intermittently for two decades in order to respond to the Protestant Reformation. It defined the Roman Catholic Church. Until that council concluded, there was still some hope that Rome might repent, that she might . . . Continue reading →
The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered; yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance, the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited, and conferred, by the Holy Ghost, to . . . Continue reading →
American Evangelical Christianity is in crisis. The story of how it got here is an important part of this series but there are several reasons so many evangelical Christians are discontent and looking for something else, something with historical roots, with a sense of tradition, with a sense of of transcendence, with reverent worship, and with a deeper view of the sacraments. Continue reading →
Recently, a Roman Catholic laywoman and a male companion (who stood behind her with his rosary, saying prayers) came to my door on behalf of St. Mary Catholic Church in Escondido. She asked if there were any Catholics in the house. I . . . Continue reading →
Law and Gospel By definition, the command to pray presupposes faith. One cannot ask anything of God unless he believes that God has made a promise. Part of the Roman problem is that they do not distinguish the law and the gospel: . . . Continue reading →
The Problem of Sin and Free Will In A Reformed Catholic, Perkins’s first charge against Rome, which he notes is not the principal issue, is that the Roman communion has corrupted the doctrine of sin. It comes under the heading of free . . . Continue reading →
There are truly important works that simply have been forgotten or unjustly ignored. One of these is William Ames’s Fresh Suit Against Human Ceremonies in defense of the Reformed theology and practice of worship. Another is William Perkins’s 1597 treatise A Reformed Catholic, subtitled Or . . . Continue reading →
American Evangelical Christianity is in crisis. The story of how it got here is an important part of this series but there are several reasons so many evangelical Christians are discontent and looking for something else, something with historical roots, with a sense of tradition, with a sense of of transcendence, with reverent worship, and with a deeper view of the sacraments. Continue reading →
