13. Our indulgence ought to extend much farther in tolerating imperfection of conduct. Here there is great danger of falling, and Satan employs all his machinations to ensnare us. For there always have been persons who, imbued with a false persuasion of . . . Continue reading →
Cyprian, Gelasius, And Guido De Bres On Communion In Two Kinds
That we ought not to take from the laity the wine of the supper. Gelasius Pope of Rome, of consecration in that the second distinction, chapter Comperimus etc. “We have understood that some men receiving only the body of the Lord, do . . . Continue reading →
Would That Protestants Were Less Concerned With The Young And The Cool
Of course, I am in fundamental disagreement with Weigel’s positive proposals on a large number of fronts. Yet he is addressing the same basic problem we face as Protestants: the abolition of human nature and the self-creation of the person, with all . . . Continue reading →
Popes And Councils Do Err
The election of a universally recognized Pope did not put an end to the conciliar movement. The demand that councils should meet regularly was a nightmare prospect for a papacy struggling to reassert its authority, and one which Martin V and his . . . Continue reading →
Trent On Communion In One Species
For though Christ the Lord at the last supper instituted and delivered to the Apostles this venerable sacrament under the forms of bread and wine, yet that institution and administration do signify that all the faithful are by an enactment of the . . . Continue reading →
Cartwright: The Bishop Of Rome Grew Beyond The Limits Of Christian Ministry
Indeed to apply it to the true Roman Church, or the right succession in the Apostolic see, which was in the days of S. John, or in the time of the Christian Emperors, it were both folly and blasphemy: but to apply . . . Continue reading →
Chalcedon Rejects Primacy Of Rome
Rome is a Sect
Following in every way the decrees of the holy fathers and recognising the canon which has recently been read out—the canon of the 150 most devout bishops who assembled in the time of the great Theodosius of pious memory, then emperor, in . . . Continue reading →
But The Whole Three Persons Are Co-Equal And Co-Eternal
Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith; which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one . . . Continue reading →
Van Til: Yet This Is Not The Whole Truth
Yet this is not the whole truth of the matter. We do assert that God, that is, the whole Godhead, is one person…. In other words, we are bound to maintain the identity of the attributes of God with the being of . . . Continue reading →
Berger: The New American Secularism Is In Defense Of The Sexual Revolution
Let me venture a sociological hypothesis here: The new American secularism is in defense of the sexual revolution. Since the 1960s there has indeed been a sexual revolution in America. It has been very successful in changing the mores and the law. . . . Continue reading →
Pastor Willour is Reading RRC!
Pastor Geoff Willour is pastor of Lake OPC in Cleveland. He writes: “One of the things that I have noticed in recent years has been lots of discussion (both on the internet, and through numerous books and articles) on two trends in . . . Continue reading →
Vatican I On Papal Infallibility
Sola Scriptura v Solo Papatu
We teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines . . . Continue reading →
The Treasury Of The Church—”A Satanic Mockery”
Now very many persons see the base tricks, deceits, thefts, and greediness with which the indulgence traffickers have heretofore mocked and beguiled us, and yet they do not see the very fountain of the impiety itself. As a consequence, it behooves us . . . Continue reading →
This Treasury Also Includes The Good Works Of Mary And All The Saints
Thus is explained the “treasury of the Church” which should certainly not be imagined as the sum total of material goods accumulated in the course of the centuries, but the infinite and inexhaustible value the expiation and the merits of Christ Our . . . Continue reading →
The Last Thing We Need
The last thing we need is a church that keeps us sealed up in our own compartment with others of similar experiences in life. We need to be integrated into the body of Christ. Younger believers don’t need another speaker to come . . . Continue reading →
The Healthiest Path
I myself am not sure where conservative Presbyterianism is headed. I do hold to the view that the healthiest path for conservative Presbyterianism is not celebrity speakers and theologians but churches where worship is lean, teaching confessional, and government procedural. Slow and . . . Continue reading →
Crying Up The Spirit And Crying Down The Ministry
Those who so cry up the Spirit as to cry down ordinances and the ministry do not have the Spirit of God. In the NT, when vision and inspiration were in use, the Spirit did not teach men immediately, but referred them . . . Continue reading →
The Underlying Problem In The Study Of Calvin’s Doctrine Of Union
The underlying problem of much of the literature on [union with Christ and ordo salutis] (one might even call it a cottage industry) is the rather massive, highly theologistic, a ahistorical attention given to Calvin’s understanding of the unio in isolation from . . . Continue reading →
The Long-Term Success Depended On the Company Of Pastors
John Calvin was undoubtedly the leading theologian and chief architect of Geneva’s Protestant church in the 16th century. But the long-term success of his religious program depended in large part on the company of reformed ministers who worked alongside Calvin with daily . . . Continue reading →
To Picture His Humanity Makes Him But Half Christ
Quest. 1. If it be not lawful to make the image of God the Father, yet may we not make an image of Christ, who took upon him the nature of man? Resp. No. Epiphanius seeing an image of Christ hanging in . . . Continue reading →