This is season 8 of Office Hours and we are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In confessional Protestant circles we use some shorthand Latin phrases that all might not understand, even though we use them frequently. Sola scriptura, according to . . . Continue reading →
One frequently sees the sentiment “I am not religious, I am a Christian” or something like this. This notion manifests itself in a variety of ways. For example, over the last several years we have seen the gradual abandonment of traditional Christian . . . Continue reading →
In his second disputation with Balthasar Hubmair, in 1523, Huldrych Zwingli well articulated the formal principle of the Reformation: “For in all controversies concerning faith and religion, the divine Scripture alone ought to be our measure and rule rather than oral tradition.” . . . Continue reading →
Q. 3. How, then, are these ways and means of the worship of God made known unto us? A. In and by the written word only, which contains a full and perfect revelation of the will of God as to his whole . . . Continue reading →
As near as I am able to determine, the first fellow in the procession is a minister in the Church of England. I infer this from his (Roman) clerical garb, from which I infer that he might also be sympathetic to the . . . Continue reading →
One of the highlights of the Spring semester is the opportunity to read through and discuss the Belgic Confession. Yesterday, as we worked through articles 24–27, a theme emerged. One of the great differences between the Roman communion and the Reformed communions is . . . Continue reading →
Another precedent, already noted, was the confessional embodiment of the sola Scriptura of the Reformers. Insofar as confessional theology offered a primary basis for doctrinal development, the tendency of the Reformed confessions to begin with a doctrine of Scripture bore immediate fruit . . . Continue reading →
We believe that those Holy Scriptures fully contain the will of God, and whatsoever man ought to believe unto salvation is sufficiently taught therein. For since the whole manner of worship which God requires of us is written in them at large, . . . Continue reading →
In short, when persons have once taken upon them to tyrannize over men’s souls, there is no end of new laws being daily added to old ones, and now enactments starting up from time to time. How bright a mirror there is . . . Continue reading →
I do not, however, concede to [Rome] that Paedobaptism had its origin the Tradition of the Church. It certainly appears to be founded on the institution of God, and to have derived its origin from circumcision. It would have little foundation if . . . Continue reading →
According to the western church calendar this is the Lenten season (the 40 days from “Shrove Tuesday” to Easter) and it is being more widely observed within NAPARC. This is worth noting since, historically, most Reformed churches have not observed Lent and have . . . Continue reading →
In April 1521, when Martin Luther stood before the powers of this world at the Diet of Worms, he did so on the basis of the sole, unique, and final authority of God’s Word. Luther confessed that his conscience was bound by . . . Continue reading →
Article XI Concerning Things Commanded and Not Commanded Of self law (Autonomia) or power in the conscience, Relinquished to Christ alone in the church We confess that no one ought to command in any manner that which Christ has not commanded; also, . . . Continue reading →
THERE is no day commanded in scripture to be kept holy under the gospel but the Lord’s day, which is the Christian Sabbath. Festival days, vulgarly called Holy-days, having no warrant in the word of God, are not to be continued. Nevertheless, . . . Continue reading →
In the Western church calendar Lent began yesterday on “Ash Wednesday.” Lent did not exist in any form in church law until 325 where the word appears in Canon 5 of the canons of Nicea. Even then there is no detailed prescription . . . Continue reading →
The earliest post-apostolic Christians (some of whom are denominated the Apostolic Fathers) knew of an apostolic tradition but they did not know about a secret and unwritten apostolic tradition on the authority of which the church could justify virtually anything it wanted. . . . Continue reading →
Here I beseech the godly, if they know the true rule of righteousness is to be sought from Scripture alone, religiously and earnestly to ponder with me how Scripture may, without quibbling, be duly brought into agreement with itself. John Calvin, Institutes . . . Continue reading →
Let us now see what is meant by the due worship of God. Its chief foundation is to acknowledge Him to be, as He is, the only source of all virtue, justice, holiness, wisdom, truth, power, goodness, mercy, life, and salvation; in . . . Continue reading →
A correspondent writes to the HB to ask, in effect, if confessions are not infallible, what good are they? He asks, Westminster Confession 31:4 seems to be problematic, since it says all synods…have erred or may err, and thus are not to . . . Continue reading →
1. The first thing to know is that there are no good works except those works God has commanded, just as there is no sin except that which God has forbidden. Therefore, whoever wants to know what good works are as well . . . Continue reading →