Clergy are particularly vulnerable in these decades of decline, because the financial security and health of their families are hanging by a thread; and their reputation in the world is already smudged and prejudiced; the cross-sector colleagues who once defended them are . . . 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.
They Carried Out Rudimentary Tests
The killers, who were dressed in Western clothes, ordered all Muslims to leave, before carrying out rudimentary tests to see if hostages could recite the Koran and name the mother of the Prophet Mohammed. Read more» Paul Bentley and David Williams RESOURCES . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof On The Creator/Creature Distinction
Alongside of the archetypal knowledge of God, found in God Himself, there is also an ectypal knowledge of Him, given to man by revelation. The latter is related to the former as a copy is to the original, and therefore does not . . . Continue reading →
Where The Scenery Is Plain And The People Are Scenic
My area of the country (south Mississippi, the “Pine Belt”) is not especially picturesque. Very low rolling hills, hillocks really, and miles and miles of woodland. In this little part of the Deep South, though, if the scenery is plain, the people . . . Continue reading →
Beza On The First Use Of The Law
There then is the first use of the preaching of the law; to make known our innumerable faults so that in ourselves we begin to be miserable and greatly humble ourselves; in short, to beget in us the first degree of repentance . . . Continue reading →
Ignatius On The Atonement
Neither the ends of the earth nor the kingdoms of this age are of any use to me. It is better for me to die for Jesus Christ than to rule over the ends of the earth. Him I seek, who died . . . Continue reading →
Variety Of Reformed Views On Mediatorial Kingship
Gillespie’s view of Christ’s kingship in relation to the nations is extensively set out in the pamphlets he wrote an answer to the publications of the Rev. Thomas Coleman, an Assembly commissioner and rector of St. Peter’s Church, Cornhill, in London. Coleman . . . Continue reading →
Heidegger And Turretin On Amyraut (Hypothetical Universalism)
Canon VI: Wherefore, we can not agree with the opinion of those who teach: l) that God, moved by philanthropy, or a kind of special love for the fallen of the human race, did, in a kind of conditioned willing, first moving . . . Continue reading →
Boys And Girls Are Different
What can we do to improve the prospects of boys? For one thing, we must acknowledge the fact that boys and girls are different. In many education and government circles, it remains taboo to broach the topic of sex differences. Many gender . . . Continue reading →
Heidegger and Turretin On The Election Of Christ
Canon V: Christ himself is also included in the gracious decree of divine election, not as the meritorious cause, or foundation prior to election itself, but as being himself also elect (I Pet 2:4, 6). Indeed, he was foreknown before the foundation . . . Continue reading →
J. H. Heidegger And Francis Turretin On Arminianism And The Decree
Canon IV: Before the creation of the world, God decreed in Christ Jesus our Lord according to his eternal purpose (Eph 3:11), in which, from the mere good pleasure of his own will, without any prevision of the merit of works or . . . Continue reading →
Cyril Of Alexandria On Substitutionary Atonement
He had undergone, for our sakes, though innocent, the sentence of death. For, in His own Person, He bore the sentence righteously pronounced against sinners by the Law. For He became ‘a curse for us’, according to the Scripture: ‘For cursed is . . . Continue reading →
Heroes, Villains, And Pretty Packages
The dead, in other words, are people too. Scoring points on their failings does not seem to be particularly charitable or self-interested (since one day we won’t be around to defend ourselves or the limitations of our historical moment). It is not . . . Continue reading →
The Irrelevance Of Indolent Impressionism
Second, I was struck by the fact that the last chapter – on post-confessional, mainline Presbyterianism – indicated just how irrelevant Presbyterianism has become in its liberal forms. With dull preaching, and always appearing to be a day late and a dollar . . . Continue reading →
Grace And Election In The Late 90s AD
Let us then draw near to Him with holiness of spirit, lifting up pure and undefiled hands unto Him, loving our gracious and merciful Father, who has made us partakers in the blessings of His elect. For thus it is written, “When . . . Continue reading →
Hodge On The Care And Feeding Of The New Life
It is natural that those who have experienced the agitations which frequently attend upon conversion, and have felt the peace which flows from a hope of acceptance with God, to imagine that the conflict is over, the victory won, and the work . . . Continue reading →
The Practice Of The Sabbath In Calvin’s Geneva
Between 1542 and 1609, the Consistory frequently interviewed and sometimes reprimanded people for working on Sunday, whether for pruning trees, making lace, selling tripe, unloading boats, hunting birds, or moving furniture. The Consistory also disciplined people for engaging in recreational activities on . . . Continue reading →
Trueman On The Rhetoric Of The 2K Debate
Many readers may disagree with my views on this matter. That is of little account. My point here is not to argue for the spirituality of the church so much as to highlight the problem of the rhetoric being used by some . . . Continue reading →
Machen On The Uniqueness Of Pastoral Ministry
Remember this, at least — the things in which the world is now interested are the things that are seen; but the things that are seen are temporal, and the things that are not seen are eternal. You, as ministers of Christ, . . . Continue reading →
Beza’s Role In Developing Resistance Theory
Beza believed that this natural law of sovereignty had been evident in the Jewish monarchies of the Old Testament and was borne out in contemporary European politics. He placed several caveats on this principle, however: first, the king must be guilty of . . . Continue reading →