Uncle Henry Was A Lib

When one recalls the family ties dating back to Baltimore days and the pleasant contacts of Machen’s early years at Princeton, the violence of van Dyke’s attack is rather overwhelming. These considerations only serve to point up, however, the thoroughness of van . . . Continue reading →

Church Architecture Matters

What a church looks like on the outside—what we usually mean when we say architecture—is relatively unimportant. The primary work of the church, and the primary way a church is worked on and built up, is through the means of grace, its worship, which generally . . . Continue reading →

The “New Christian Right” Mirrors YRR?

We are now1 supposed to call the Online, Sometimes-Somewhat-Reformed Christian Nationalists and their assorted adjacencies the “New Christian Right” rather than the opprobrious but apt denominator “Woke Right.” Well, that’s fine—movements have the risky right to attempt rebranding. Remember “New Coke”? Nomenclature aside, we’ve noticed . . . Continue reading →

Where Are All The Women?

We are very reliably informed that a recent visitor to a PCA church circled all the names of the church’s officers in the printed worship bulletin and wrote, “Where are all the women?” on the page, which he or she duly folded and dropped in . . . Continue reading →

Too Much Confidence And Not Enough Controversy?

Who/what did Machen oppose (and who/what opposed Machen) besides theological liberalism of the Fosdick and Auburn Affirmation ilk? Moderate evangelicals who put unity, peace, and growth before doctrinal fidelity Boards and agencies that valued efficiency, worldly ideologies, and influence above faithfulness Ecumenists . . . Continue reading →

Nothing New Under The Sun

The year was 1972, the month was July, and I was living the summer school’s-out vacation dream in the small town of Senath, Missouri that I’ve often compared to Andy Griffith’s Mayberry. How was it like Mayberry? Well, I could walk two . . . Continue reading →

It Is Not That Complicated

One of the reasons terminology matters is because the BCO is not just for professional presbyterians. Imagine the confusion of a member (maybe one under discipline or appointed or nominated for some office or role) who opened a PDF of the BCO . . . Continue reading →

Isbell On The Types Of Christian Nationalists

There are at least three types of Christian Nationalists: the highbrow Wolfeans (HW), the folk evangelicals (FE) who have always spoken vaguely of “takin’ this country back,” and the barely Christian, mostly charismatic/megachurch dominionist-NARcrowd (I’ll call them CMDs). The self-consciously protestant HW . . . Continue reading →

The Biblical Middle Between Hierarchy and Anarchy

Concepts of representation and visibility often come up in social and political discussions about equity, inclusion, fairness, or justice. These concepts can be wrongly or unwisely imported into the church, a spiritual body with her own ethics, processes, standards, and constitution. Yet there is a pressing . . . Continue reading →

God Has Ordained Men, Means, and Method

The wonderful Preface to the Presbyterian Church in America’s Book of Church Order is an overlooked masterpiece of piety and practice—an especially helpful resource: Christ, as King, has given to His Church officers, oracles and ordinances; and especially has He ordained therein His system of doctrine, government, . . . Continue reading →

What Should We Think About At The Table?

At my church, the Lord’s Supper elements are distributed (the bread then the wine), held, and then the congregants partake in unison to demonstrate the communal nature of the meal. I like this way of doing it though it’s certainly not the only way. . . . Continue reading →