When Is a Church Not a Church?

An HB Classic

I was searching for something the other day and ran across chapter 18 of the Scots Confession (1560) which speaks to the “Notes” (from the Latin, nota or “mark” or “indicator”) of the True Kirk (church). I’ll return to the Scots Confession . . . Continue reading →

In Order for Leviathan to Flourish He Must First Kill Natural Law

An HB Classic

Stanley Fish proposes to go back to Thomas Hobbes. The Leviathan (Whale)-like civil authority is precisely why our founders said: “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” and appealed to “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” and to the “the . . . Continue reading →

Federal Vision Audio

In 2007 the Synod the United Reformed Churches in North America adopted a nine point declaration against the self-described federal vision movement. They described these points as “pastoral advice.” Here’s a written exposition of the Nine Points. These nine talks (below) also explain . . . Continue reading →

Why Equality is the Wrong Category By Which to Analyze Homosexual Marriage

One of the most most rhetorically successful and popular ways to defend homosexual (gay) marriage is the appeal to “marriage equality.” The argument is, in short: if heterosexuals may marry and enjoy the social and civil benefits of the institution then homosexuals, . . . Continue reading →

CJPM Now Available as an E-Book

Apropos of recent discussions on the HB P&R Publishing has released CJPM as an e-book on iTunes for $9.99. The hardcopy is still available for $18.99 at the bookstore.

The Moralists Will Be Back

An HB Classic

It is an historical fact that moralism (the confusion of justification with sanctification) never dies, it just goes dormant periodically. The Reformation defeated 1000 years of moralism only to see forms of it re-emerge in the Protestant churches even before Luther died. . . . Continue reading →

The Leithart Verdict Is In: The News is Not Good for Orthodoxy

Peter Leithart is a teaching elder (TE) in the Presbyterian Church in America. Until recently he was a minister, laboring outside the bounds of his presbytery, in a Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) congregation in Moscow, ID. The CREC is the . . . Continue reading →

A Day in the Life of the Rev Mr Joe Presbyterian

An HB Classic

The question came up on the PB whether pastors are overworked. Most people work hard but not everyone works in the same way the pastor does. Some compared the pastor’s work to physical labor. That’s a poor comparison. The labor of the . . . Continue reading →

Office Hours: Hywel Jones on Hebrews 8

The Christians to which the book of Hebrews was written were struggling with the temptation to leave that which is unseen for that which is seen, to go backwards in the history of redemption to those things that are described as “shadows” . . . Continue reading →

Saturday and the Silence of the Lamb

During this season, which many Christians call “Holy Week,” I am perversely drawn to Saturday. Perhaps it is because the Saturday between “Good” Friday and Resurrection Day is, for others a sort of relief. For them it is a day off from the . . . Continue reading →

Online Classes: Just Because They’re Hip and Convenient Doesn’t Mean They Educate

One of the primary purposes for the HB is to but there are limits to what can be done online. The limits of online education/distance ed is has been a frequent topic here and here on the HB. The maxim is this: . . . Continue reading →

Available Now: A Faith Worth Teaching

New Resource on the Heidelberg Catechism

This is the 450th Anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism (1563). The HB, of course, is devoted to explaining and applying the catechism and to pointing you to worthy resources to that end. This is one of them. Here’s my jacket blurb: As a . . . Continue reading →