The Heidelblog

Search

Primary Menu

Skip to content
  • About
    • R. Scott Clark
    • Heidelmedia
    • Heidelblog Resources
    • Heidelblog Contributors
    • Categories
    • Subscribe
    • HeidelShop
  • Contact
  • The Heidelcast
  • Books & Essays

Author: Mike Brown

Mike Brown is pastor of Chiesa Riformata Filadelfia, Milan, Italy. Prior to serving in Italy he was pastor of Christ Reformed Church, Santee, CA. He is a graduate of Westminster Seminary California, a veteran of the United States Army, and author of Christ and the Condition: The Covenant Theology of Samuel Petto (1624–1711) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012) and co-author (with Zach Keele) of Sacred Bond : Covenant Theology Explored (Grandville, MI: Reformation Fellowship, 2017).

Calvin: We Baptize The Children Of Believers In Recognition Of Their Membership In The Covenant Of Grace

by
  • Mike Brown
on May 24, 2025 | Comment

Yet we have already seen that serious injustice is done to God’s covenant if we do not assent to it, as if it were weak of itself, since its effect depends neither upon baptism nor upon any additions. Afterward, a sort of . . . Continue reading →

Calvin: In The Supper Christ Feeds Believers On His Body And Blood

by
  • Mike Brown
on May 21, 2025 | Comment

In his Sacred Supper he bids me take, eat, and drink his body and blood under the symbols of bread and wine. I do not doubt that he himself truly presents them, and that I receive them. John Calvin | Institutes of . . . Continue reading →

Ursinus: We Baptize Infants Because They Belong To The Covenant Of Grace

by
  • Mike Brown
on April 24, 2025 | Comment

First, all that belong to the covenant and church of God are to be baptized. But the children of christians, as well as adults, belong to the covenant and church of God. Therefore they are to be baptized as well as adults. . . . Continue reading →

The French Reformed Church: We Baptize Children Because God Receives Them

by
  • Mike Brown
on April 23, 2025 | 3 Comments

We hold, also, that although we are baptized only once, yet the gain that it symbolizes to us reaches over our whole lives and to our death, so that we have a lasting witness that Jesus Christ will always be our justification . . . Continue reading →

Goodwin: Children And Gentiles Are Included In The External Administration Of The Covenant Of Grace

by
  • Mike Brown
on April 15, 2025 | 4 Comments

The children of believing parents, at least their next and immediate seed, even of us Gentiles now under the Gospel, are included by God within the covenant of Grace, as well as Abraham’s or David’s seed within that covenant of theirs. Thomas . . . Continue reading →

Calvin: The Abrahamic Covenant And The New Covenant Are Substantially Identical

by
  • Mike Brown
on April 14, 2025 | 2 Comments

Both can be explained in one word. The covenant made with all the patriarchs is so much like ours in substance and reality that the two are actually one and the same. Yet they differ in the mode of dispensation. But because . . . Continue reading →

Calvin: Children Are Included In The New Covenant Because It Is Abrahamic

by
  • Mike Brown
on April 12, 2025 | Comment

Yet Scripture opens to us a still surer knowledge of the truth. Indeed, it is most evident that the covenant which the Lord once made with Abraham [cf. Gen. 17:14] is no less in force today for Christians than it was of . . . Continue reading →

Zanchi: We Agree With The Ancient Church That Children Are Included In The New Covenant

by
  • Mike Brown
on April 11, 2025 | Comment

We believe, with the whole ancient Church, that not only adults who have declared that they repent of their sins and believe in Christ, but also their little children, must be admitted to the sacrament of baptism, since the covenant also concerns . . . Continue reading →

Vermigli: The Reformed Accept The Children Of Believers As Members Of The Church

by
  • Mike Brown
on April 10, 2025 | Comment

We do not exclude the children of believers from the church, but accept them as members, with the hope that they are partakers of divine election and have the grace and Spirit of Christ, even as they are the seed of saints. . . . Continue reading →

Turretin: Christ Included Children Into New Covenant

by
  • Mike Brown
on April 9, 2025 | Comment

Because to infants belongs the kingdom of heaven according to the declaration of Christ: “Little children were brought unto Christ, that he should put his hands on them and pray” (Mt. 19:13*). Since the disciples would repel them, Christ said, “Suffer little . . . Continue reading →

Bavinck: We Baptize Infants On The Basis Of The Covenant

by
  • Mike Brown
on April 5, 2025 | Comment

Not regeneration, faith, or repentance, much less our assumptions pertaining to them, but only the covenant of grace gave people, both adults and children, the right to baptism. Continue reading →

Owen: To Deny Baptism To The Children Of Believers Is To Deny Christ’s Faithfulness

by
  • Mike Brown
on March 27, 2025 | 2 Comments

To deny that the children of believing, professing parents…have the same right and interest with their parents in the covenant, is plainly to deny the fidelity of Christ in the discharge of his office. John Owen | The Works of John Owen, . . . Continue reading →

Warfield: God Placed The Children Of Believers In The Church

by
  • Mike Brown
on March 25, 2025 | Comment

But now, having run through these various arguments, to what conclusion do we come? Are they sufficient to set aside our reasoned conviction, derived from some such argument as Dr. Hodge’s, that infants are to be baptized? A thousand times no. So . . . Continue reading →

The Reformation In Italy Continues

by
  • Mike Brown
on March 21, 2025 | 1 Comment

As 2025 marches on, Milan is showing the first signs of spring. The cold winter air is beginning to lose its bite. Locals are lingering longer in the piazzas, basking in the growing sunlight. Cherry blossoms and magnolias are starting to unfurl . . . Continue reading →

Categorized Church News, Church Planting, Ministry, Missional and Reformed | 1 Comment

Perché battezziamo i figli dei credenti?

by
  • Mike Brown
on October 12, 2024

“Perché la vostra chiesa battezza i bambini?” Questa è una domanda che viene posta spesso dai visitatori di chiese riformate e presbiteriane. Poiché la prassi storica di battezzare i figli dei credenti è in gran parte un concetto estraneo alla maggioranza degli . . . Continue reading →

Categorized Covenant Theology | Tagged Resources in Italian

Video: Mission In Milan

by
  • Mike Brown
on October 11, 2024

Rev. Michael Brown talks about his exciting ministry in Milan and the highs and lows of preaching the Gospel in a Roman Catholic-saturated environment. Continue reading →

Che cos’è la teologia del patto e perché dovrebbe interessarmi?

by
  • Mike Brown
on September 28, 2024

Che cos’è la teologia del patto e perché dovrebbe interessarmi? La teologia del patto non è un sistema astratto, imposto alla Bibbia dall’esterno, bensì la sua stessa struttura portante e il suo sfondo di riferimento.  Chiunque abbia letto la Bibbia sa che . . . Continue reading →

Categorized Covenant Theology | Tagged Resources in Italian

Cosa succede nell’Eucaristia?

by
  • Mike Brown
on September 21, 2024

Secondo te, quali sono le tre cose più importanti per la crescita spirituale personale? Immagino che per la maggior parte di noi la Parola di Dio sia una di queste. È mediante la Parola che conosciamo Cristo. Sicuramente la Parola di Dio . . . Continue reading →

Categorized Church Government | Tagged Resources in Italian

L’importanza di una pluralità di anziani nella chiesa locale

by
  • Mike Brown
on September 14, 2024 | 3 Comments

Vivendo in provincia di Milano, mi piace passeggiare lungo il perimetro del Castello Sforzesco. Costruito nel XV secolo, questa struttura è stata per centinaia di anni una delle cittadelle più grandi d’Europa. Le sue massicce mura, alte più di trenta metri, incombono . . . Continue reading →

Categorized Church Government | Tagged Resources in Italian | 3 Comments

Milan Mission Update

by
  • Mike Brown
on March 25, 2024

I am happy to share with you that, by God’s grace, the ministry of the Word in Milan continues to flourish. God has blessed us with several new families and students. Continue reading →

Categorized Global Christianity, Global Presbyterianism, Global Reformed Theology, Missional and Reformed

Post navigation

← Previous Posts

Subscribe to the Heidelblog today!

Recent Comments

  • Drew T on Church Planting In Phoenix’s West Valley: Inheritance United Reformed Church
  • Darrell Todd Maurina on Wisconsin Man Files Religious Discrimination Suit Against Corporation
  • Matt on Wisconsin Man Files Religious Discrimination Suit Against Corporation
  • Darrell Todd Maurina on It’s Too Easy To Think The Worst
  • R. Scott Clark on Wisconsin Man Files Religious Discrimination Suit Against Corporation

Resources

  • Archives
  • Books and Essays
  • Categories
  • Contact
  • Covenant Theology And Infant Baptism
  • Discovering The Reformed Confession
  • Feathers And All (Or Why The Scriptures Are Enough)
  • Featley: The Sweet Dipper
  • Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
  • Heidelberg Reformation Association
  • Heidelberg Reformation Association Privacy Policy
  • Heidelblog Contributors
  • Heidelblog Resources
  • Heidelcast Series: Ordinary Means
  • Heidelcast Series: The Comfort Of The Covenant
  • Heidelcast Series: To Nourish And Sustain
  • Heidelcast: Saturday Superfriends!
  • Heidelmedia Archive
  • Heidelminicast Series: Calvin’s Short Treatise On The Lord’s Supper
  • How To Read The Bible
  • POPLL: An Alternative To Christian Nationalism (And Theonomy, Christian Reconstruction, Theocracy, And Christendom)
  • R. Scott Clark
  • Recursos Reformados Em Português
  • Resources On Confessional Subscription
  • Resources On Instruments In Worship
  • Resources On Lent
  • Resources On Richard Baxter
  • Resources On The Doctrine Of The Church (Ecclesiology)
  • Resources On The Internal/External Distinction In The Covenant Of Grace
  • Resources On The Spirituality Of The Church
  • Resources On Weddings And Funerals
  • Subscribe To The Heidelblog!
  • The Canons Of Dork
  • The Cradle Of Christian Truth: The Apostles’ Creed
  • The Ecumenical Creeds
  • The Fruit Of The Spirit Series
  • The Heidelberg Catechism Podcast
  • The Heidelcast
  • The Reformed Confessions
  • Top HB Posts Through The Years
  • Using the HB Effectively
  • Welcome to the Heidelblog!
  • What Must A Christian Believe?

The “Ruformation” Continues: Heideldog 2

Heidelshop

Proudly powered by WordPress


Copyright © 2025 R. Scott Clark. All Rights Reserved. The Heidelberg Reformation Association is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Federal ID number available upon request. The Heidelblog® and Heidelcast® are registered trademarks. Hosted by Kinsta.