For even now, if believers choose to cheer themselves with musical instruments, they should, I think, make it their object not to dissever their cheerfulness from the praises of God. But when they frequent their sacred assemblies, musical instruments in celebrating the . . . 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.
Bavinck On Gospel In The Narrow Sense
And indeed, strictly speaking, there are no demands and conditions in the gospel but only promises and gifts. Faith and repentance are as much benefits of the covenant of grace as justification (and so forth). Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 4.454 (HT: James . . . Continue reading →
Where Was Our Church Before Luther And Zwingli? (6)
XIII. Third, as to place, the question can be understood in two ways. It may be understood definitely concerning the certain and constant seat of the church (such as Rome is) and in that continued series of bishops or pastors which the . . . Continue reading →
Where Was Our Church Before Luther And Zwingli (5)
X. Nevertheless, that we may not seem to shun the question (as if it were insoluble [alytos] by us), we can answer directly that the question puts on a fourfold relation or has reference to four things: (1) the doctrine and faith . . . Continue reading →
Where Was Our Church Before Luther And Zwingli? (4)
VIII. Fifth, the injustice of the demand appears also clearly in this—that they treacherously corrupt the writings of the fathers and endeavor to destroy whatever of candor remains and extinguish all memory of antiquity as far as they are able (most base . . . Continue reading →
Olevianus: Why Covenant Theology?
Why is the redemption or reconciliation of humanity with God presented to us in the form of a covenant, indeed a covenant of grace? A: God compares the means of our salvation to a covenant, indeed an eternal covenant, so that we . . . Continue reading →
Arminius’ Claims About The Belgic Confession And Heidelberg Catechism On Predestination
V. This Doctrine Of Predestination Is Not In Harmony With The Confessions Of The Reformed Churches With a minimum of contention or even trivial objection, it may be appropriately doubted whether this doctrine agrees with either the Belgic confession or the Heidelberg . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Churches Of Nassau (1578): No Organs In Church
Latin songs, as well as organs (first introduced into the churches by Pope Vitellianus about 665) are for the most part abolished in the churches of this land. Not that the use of the Latin language or of music is rejected of . . . Continue reading →
Clarkson: Public Worship To Be Preferred Before Private
“The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.”—Ps 87:2 THAT we may apprehend the meaning of these words, and so thereupon raise some edifying observation, we must inquire into the reason why the Lord is said . . . Continue reading →
Where Was Our Church Before Luther And Zwingli? (3)
VI. The question is one of history, not of faith, the solution of which, therefore, is not necessary to salvation. It suffices for the private Christian to know and be persuaded that that assembly in whose connection he lives is the true . . . Continue reading →
The Selective Genealogies Of Genesis 5 And 11
5:3-32 these verses contain 10 paragraphs, each written in the same form, which one paragraph for each generation in Adam’s line through Seth. There are some similarities, as well as significant differences, between this material and the Sumerian king list (written see. . . . Continue reading →
Synod Of Dort Day: Arminius Brought Out Of Hell
[We reject the errors of those] Who teach: That Christ by His satisfaction merited neither salvation itself for any one, nor faith, whereby this satisfaction of Christ unto salvation is effectually appropriated; but that He merited for the Father only the authority . . . Continue reading →
What Romanist Canon Law Claims For The Papacy
He that knowledgeth not himself to be under the bishop of Rome, and that the bishop of Rome is ordained by God to have primacy over all the world, is an heretic, and cannot be saved, nor is not of the flock . . . Continue reading →
Irenaeus Against The Gnostics (And Romanism)
1. When, however, they are confuted from the Scriptures, they turn round and accuse these same Scriptures, as if they were not correct, nor of authority, and [assert] that they are ambiguous, and that the truth cannot be extracted from them by . . . Continue reading →
Where Was Our Church Before Luther And Zwingli? (2)
IV. Second, they falsely argue from the ignorance of a thing to its negation, as if it was necessary for a thing not to be because it is not known. And yet the truth of the thing is to be measured from . . . Continue reading →
Where Was Our Church Before Zwingli And Luther?
I. Although from what has been said in the preceding question concerning the obscurity of the church, it is easy to answer the proposed question (for if the church can sometimes be so obscured and concealed as to the nowhere conspicuous on . . . Continue reading →
Reason Is Not The Principium But Instrument Of Faith
The question is not whether reason is the instrument by which or the medium through which we can be drawn to faith. For we acknowledge that reason can be both: the former indeed always and everywhere; the later with regard to presupposed . . . Continue reading →
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
I think what we’ve learned in Britain is that we’ve gradually, over the last certainly 12 or 13 years, with perhaps a little interruption, gone slowly further and further away from the free society towards something else…. At the same time we’ve . . . Continue reading →
Good Thing They Didn’t Say This Under Moses
“And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that Yahweh has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that . . . Continue reading →
Mohammad Talked A Lot About Jihad Because It Worked
Mohammed preached the religion of Islam for 13 years in Mecca and converted only a 150 people. He was driven out of Mecca and went to Medina. In Medina he became a politician, jihadist and warlord. He averaged a jihad event on . . . Continue reading →