But these same scenes present an affront to the organs of social control. There would seem to be an inherent tension between the spirit of play and “safetyism” (I parse this tension more fully in my book Why We Drive, which will . . . Continue reading →
A Tension That Does Not Exist
There were a number of issues that I might have taken up in my response to Crawford Gribben and Chris Caughey’s essay, “History, Identity Politics, and the ‘Recovery’ of the Reformed Confession” in the volume On Being Reformed which space did not permit. . . . Continue reading →
The Reformed Rejected Both World-flight And Earthly Golden Ages
The Swiss Brethren, who signed the Schleitheim, confessed (in article 6) that a Christian may not serve as a magistrate and the magistrate may not enforce religious orthodoxy and (in article 7) that Christians may not swear oaths for any purpose.60 The . . . Continue reading →
Did Abraham Kuyper Become An Anabaptist? Updated With A Postscript
Is theocracy, i.e., an state-established religion and the state enforcement of religious orthodoxy essential to Reformed theology, piety, and practice? That is the question asked and answered recently by Craig Carter, a former Anabaptist turned Particular Baptist theologian in response a recent . . . Continue reading →
New Resource Page: Christ And Culture
Apart from getting the gospel right and getting the gospel out, there is perhaps no problem more pressing upon the church than that of how to relate Christ to culture. H. Richard Niebuhr identified three approaches: Christ against culture (e.g., Tertullian), Christ . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 168: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (14): Peter’s Theology Of Suffering
There is a thread running through the book of Isaiah, which some have called the Gospel of Isaiah. It is that of the servant. The prophet himself is described as the servant (עבד) of Yahweh (Isa 20:3). David is also Yahweh’s servant . . . Continue reading →
Luther Delivered Us From The Doctrine Of Purgatory But Critical Theory Will Have It Reinstated
R. Scott Clark, professor of church history at Westminster Seminary California in Escondido, California, told Campus Reform that “Dr. Thompson calls Lutherans to repent for ‘systemic racism’ and takes for granted that we should all accept this new, rather radical redefinition of racism which, in her account, entails a new, decided un-Lutheran definition of repentance.” Continue reading →
Post-Christian Americans Are Not Less Religious, Just More Pagan
This trend can be observed on the basis of age cohort: Young adults, being less religious, are more inclined to believe in ghosts, astrology, clairvoyance and spiritual energy. But it also can be observed geographically: The parts of the United States where . . . Continue reading →
Santa Is Law, Not Gospel
Santa rewards those who meet the terms of a covenant of works: Continue reading
Critical Theory Is Not Neutral
Christian advocates of critical theory frequently claim that it is a neutral tool to help us think through issue. That is not true. Continue reading
Understanding The New Calvinists: Neither New Nor Calvinists
The New Calvinist movement is probably about 20 years old or so. Collin Hanson’s Young, Restless, and Reformed appeared in 2008, just before Recovering the Reformed Confession. Whether it is Reformed is a matter to be debated. In recent years, however, the movement has certainly shown itself to be restless. One prominent figure in the movement has publicly abandoned the Christian faith. Three prominent figures, James MacDonald, C. J. Mahaney, and Mark Driscoll, have been either been removed from their churches or resigned amidst scandals. One might think of them as elephants in the YRR/New Calvinist room. Continue reading →
Muller On The Sources Of Biblicism
The rise and development of Socinianism in the seventeenth century cannot entirely account for the variant trinitarianisms of the age, including the English debates of the 1640s and 1650s, the variant language and historical perspectives of the Cambridge Platonists, and the doctrinal . . . Continue reading →
New Resource Page: On Biblicism
Biblicism is not the attempt to be faithful to Scripture (i.e., to be biblical). Rather, in its extreme form, biblicism is the attempt to read Scripture in isolation. It is the attempt to read Scripture in isolation from the rest of Scripture . . . Continue reading →
How Did Some Evangelicals Come To Teach The “Eternal Subordination Of The Son”? Biblicism
Further, I am sincerely heartened by Fred’s optimism. I hope he is right. The best-selling evangelical textbook on systematic theology now includes a clear affirmation of the eternal generation of the Son and has removed the appendix that cast doubt on it. . . . Continue reading →
In Defense Of Labels
Imagine going to a supermarket where none of the groceries was labeled and where none of the aisles was marked. For that matter, imagine trying to figure out which of the buildings in the strip mall is the grocery or telling one . . . Continue reading →
SCOTUS Applies Brooklyn Diocese v. Cuomo: Strikes Down Limit On Number Of Worshipers In Church
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a northern Colorado church that sued Gov. Jared Polis over capacity limits on religious gatherings, reiterating a stance the highest court took in a similar case last month. High Plains Harvest Church . . . Continue reading →
The Dispensational Playbook Again? There Is A More Biblical, Historic Way
“Now we are a global world. And that is a setup that we’ve been waiting for through redemptive history since the Lord promised that there would come, in the future, an Antichrist…who would have a global government.” He told the crowd this . . . Continue reading →
Jon Payne: The PCA Is In Trouble
A growing number of our ministers and churches are conforming to the world’s values, attitudes, and ideals, especially as it concerns homosexuality and the social gospel. The future doesn’t look good for the PCA. Frankly, the future looks pretty bad, and I’m . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 167: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (13): Submitting To Nero
Those who study such things tell us that, across the globe, no religious group is more persecuted than Christians. Those who profess the Christian faith have been all but driven out of Iraq. Christians in China suffer in untold ways. Christian in . . . Continue reading →
Judge Pulskamp: If People Can Gather In Costco, They Can Gather In Church
Defendants’ efforts to distinguish the permitted secular activity from the prohibited religious activity are not persuasive. For example, Defendants contend that the congregations of shoppers in big-box stores, grocery stores, etc., are not comparable to religious services in terms of crowd size, proximity, and length of stay. To the contrary, based on the evidence presented (or lack thereof) and common knowledge, it appears that shoppers at a Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. may —and frequently do—congregate in numbers, proximity, and duration that is very comparable to worshippers in houses of worship. Continue reading →