Where funeral sermons are not held, they shall not be introduced; and where they already have been accepted, diligence shall be exercised to do away with them by the most appropriate means. —Church Order of the Synod of Dort (1619). RESOURCES Subscribe . . . Continue reading →
Author: Heidelblog
The Heidelblog has been in publication since 2007. It is devoted to recovering the Reformed confession and to helping others discover Reformed theology, piety, and practice.
Irish Articles (1615): The Covenant Of Law, Christ’s Merits, And Grace To Sinners
21. Man being at the beginning created according to the image of God (which consisted especially in the wisdom of his mind and the true holiness of his free will), had the covenant of law engrafted in his heart, whereby God did . . . Continue reading →
Rutherford: Meritorious Works For Adam And Christ But Grace For Us
Christ gave perfect obedience as man to the Covenant of Works, and he did merit as man, by the law of works, life eternal, the way that Adam should have merited life eternal, so he had never fallen…. Continue reading →
Christ’s Merits Affirmed And Ours Denied In The Reformed Confessions
Christ’s Merit For Us Affirmed “only for the sake of Christ’s merits” (Heidelberg Catechism 21) “for the sake of Christ’s merits” (Heidelberg Catechism 84) “if they did not rest on the merit of the suffering and death of our Savior” (Belgic Confession, . . . Continue reading →
Not For Carvers Or Artists
Although Christ assumed human nature, yet he did not on that account assume it in order to provide a model for carvers and painters. He denied that he had come “to abolish the law and the prophets” (Matt. 5:17). But images are . . . Continue reading →
The Didache Calls Abortion Murder
You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit pederasty, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion . . . Continue reading →
How To Choose A Church
Most of us at some point shall have to choose a church. Are they all the same? No. How on earth does one? On what basis? In my experience people use a variety of criteria, not all of them good. Families choose congregations . . . Continue reading →
Junius And Gomarus Saw It Coming
It is also important to comment on Junius’s relationship with Jacobus Arminius, who became professor at Leiden University in 1603. Junius carried on a correspondence with Arminius after meeting him at Leiden in 1596 at the wedding of Geertje Jacobsdochter (Arminius’s aunt) . . . Continue reading →
Daniel P. Fuller’s Doctrine Of Justification: Antithetical To The Reformation
Finally, a word needs to be said about the confessional implications of Fuller’s doctrine of Justification. Fuller claims that there are “several passages in Scripture which clearly indicate that the enjoyment of God’s gracious benefits depends on meeting certain conditions” (p. 108). . . . Continue reading →
Turretin: Christ Has Saved Us And Is Keeping Us
The method of our salvation; it was not sufficient to obtain salvation once, unless it could be perpetually preserved and applied. Christ obtained the former by his satisfaction, but the ladder he should procure by his intercession. By the former, he obtained . . . Continue reading →
Calvin Against Images Of Christ
God has forbidden two things [ cf. Exodus 20:4-5]. First, the making of any picture of Him…. The other is, that no image may be worshipped…. The setting up of images in churches, is a defiling . . . By and by, . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: God’s Accommodation No License For Images
God, indeed, from time to time showed the presence of his divine majesty by definite signs, so that he might be said to be looked upon face to face. But all the signs that he ever gave forth aptly conformed to his . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Who Is Faithful To The Church Fathers?
Moreover, they unjustly set the ancient fathers against us (I mean the ancient writers of a better age of the church) as if in them they had supporters of their own impiety. If the contest were to be determined by patristic authority, . . . Continue reading →
Resources On The Double Procession And Filioque
Double Procession of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of the W. Church acc. to which the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Support for it is found in several NT passages, notably Jn. 16:13–15, where Christ says of the . . . Continue reading →
The Ten Points Of Marxism
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. 2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. 3. Abolition of all right of inheritance. 4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. 5. . . . Continue reading →
Behold My Servant
Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so . . . Continue reading →
The Serpent Strikes At The Son
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star . . . Continue reading →
Sometimes A Miracle Is Just A Miracle
When it comes to Mary’s Magnificat, I find that I cannot take away the messages often proffered. Both the mode and content of her revelation will never be afforded me in any sense whatsoever. God will never speak directly to me, and . . . Continue reading →
The Principal Acts Lead To Others
By this faith, a Christian believes to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word, for the authority of God Himself speaking therein; and acts differently upon that which each particular passage thereof contains; yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the . . . Continue reading →
St Paul’s “Vile Speech”
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor . . . Continue reading →