While the problems of the evangelical Purity Movement have been well documented, one of its biggest errors was promoting a non-theological account of modesty focused almost exclusively on behaviors. With few exceptions, modesty was largely cast as the responsibility of women to . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Gathercole: Did Paul Really Expect Christ To Return In His Lifetime?
The mystery in 1 Corinthians 15.51–52 has long been a standard prooftext for the idea that Paul envisaged the parousia happening in his lifetime.1 On this view of the passage, Paul assumes his survival and that of a portion of his generation until . . . Continue reading →
Vos On The Startling Character Of What Happened On The First Christian Sabbath
Our text takes us to the tomb of the risen Lord, on the first Sabbath-morning of the New Covenant. It is impossible for us to imagine a spot more radiant with light and joy than was this immediately after the resurrection. Even . . . Continue reading →
The Principles Of Reformed Covenant Theology Unify The Bible’s Story
The principles of covenant theology unify the Bible’s story about God redeeming a people for himself. Even though we have to read our Bibles well to discern the doctrines of covenant theology, in return covenant theology helps us to read our Bibles . . . Continue reading →
What John Owen Actually Said About Biblicism
And the same is objected against them by Maimonides in Pirke Aboth: as though it were not known that the greatest part of their Talmud, the sacred treasury of their oral law, is taken up with differences and disputes of their masters . . . Continue reading →
Christian Camp Litigates For Religious Liberty
For more than 75 years, Camp IdRaHaJe has welcomed children each summer to hear the Gospel, build character, and grow in faith. Nestled in Bailey, Colorado, the camp’s name comes from a simple hymn lyric: “I’d rather have Jesus.” In 2024, the . . . Continue reading →
Young Ministers With Older Elders
As I lifted my hands, scanned the room, and gave my first benediction, the realization that I really was a pastor now hit me like a ton of bricks. From now on it was my job to “shepherd the flock of God… . . . Continue reading →
Second Circuit Rules For Christian School
Mid Vermont Christian School forfeited a girls’ playoff basketball game to avoid playing a team with a transgender athlete. The school believes that forcing girls to compete against biological males would affirm that those males are females, in violation of its religious . . . Continue reading →
Whose Kingdom, Which Power?
The pressure is immense. Then, we open social media and see absolutely no uniformity of agreement on how this should be done. There is pastoral disarray, it seems. Some of the most popular social media pastors are calling us to war, yes, . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof: The Minute Examination Of The Soul Does Not Produce Assurance
In the eighteenth century the religious life of Europe suffered from the blight of Rationalism. Religion became a matter of the intellect only, and religious truth was made to depend on rational arguments. Religious certainty was identified with a rational insight into . . . Continue reading →
Nihilism And The American Middle
In recent years, a new form of terror has emerged: decentralized, digitally driven violence organized not around coherent ideologies but around memes, fantasies, and nihilistic impulses. The perpetrators of this low-grade terror campaign do not belong to hierarchical organizations or pursue concrete . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Christ Is The Mirror Of Our Election
First, if we seek God’s fatherly mercy and kindly heart, we should turn our eyes to Christ, on whom alone God’s Spirit rests [cf. Matt. 3:17]. If we seek salvation, life, and the immortality of the Heavenly Kingdom, then there is no . . . Continue reading →
We’re Not The First Christians To Live In A Sexualized Culture
We’re not the first Christians to live in a highly sexualized culture. In fact, many of the first New Testament Christians lived in exactly that kind of culture. Over and over again the apostles warn against sexual immorality. They had to do . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof: Assurance Was A Tower Of Strength For The Reformers
The Reformers rejoiced in the assurance of salvation as a tower of strength. This Christian certitude made them irresistible in their attacks on the church of Rome and adamant in resisting the onslaughts of the enemy. They were the first to place . . . Continue reading →
Calvin On The Judgment Of Charity
It may be asked, how could this be found out, for the election of God is hid, and cannot be known without the special revelation of the Spirit; and as every one is made sure of his own election by the testimony . . . Continue reading →
Ralph Erskine: Are You Worried That You Aren’t Elect?
Are you polluted? I offer him to you, as made unto you sanctification. Are you miserable and forlorn? I offer him to you, as made of God unto you complete redemption. Are you hard-hearted ? I offer him in that promise, I will take away . . . Continue reading →
Hebrews Only Mentions Rahab
You would think that if God were going to raise up someone to lead his people to freedom from their bondage under the Pharaoh of Egypt, he would choose someone other than Moses–a man who didn’t speak well in public, and who . . . Continue reading →
Van Mastricht Taught Republication
It is asked, eighth, whether the covenant of grace was promulgated in the Decalogue. The famous Cameron, because he did not distinguish carefully enough between the use of the Decalogue and its nature, stated that the Decalogue was neither the covenant of . . . Continue reading →
An Interesting Volume On Reformed Social Thought
This fine primer in what could be an unwieldy volume with disparate threads is divided into three parts, roughly theorizing on the political, the familial, and the social. It is an important topic and one that deserves the growing attention it is . . . Continue reading →
Former CREC Pastor: Wilson Is Not A Prophet But A Performer
God’s people have always needed discernment to distinguish the voices that edify from those that merely impress (Jer. 23:16; 2 Cor. 11:5, 13). Throughout history, the Lord has raised up prophets who proclaimed his word with courage and tears. Jeremiah, John the . . . Continue reading →