In the Watergate scandal two city-beat reporters for the Washington Post turned journalists into saviors. They saved us all from the evil Nixon. Covid-19 is a Watergate for hitherto obscure public health authorities. Mostly benched after WWII by vaccines and the wonders of modern medicine, the public health authorities have been like the Maytag Repairman, playing solitaire on their phones, until Covid.
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Do We Confess That The Preaching Of God’s Word Is God’s Word? A Text-Critical Note On The Second Helvetic Confession
Heinrich Bullinger (1504–75) was Hulrych Zwingli’s successor as the Antistes (Chief Preacher) in Zürich and an influential figure in the transition between the first- and second-generation Reformers. He wrote the Second Helvetic Confession in 1561 as a private document but at the request . . . Continue reading →
For Reformation Week 2020: Why Luther Was Right About “Alone” In His Translation Of Romans 3:28
Resources How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia The Reformed Churches Confess Luther’s Translation Of Romans 3:28: Allein Resources On The Reformation Solas
The 1619 Project Is Bad History And Boring
Thus to speak of America’s “founding” at all is necessarily to speak of what makes Americans a “people.” When Abraham Lincoln said that the nation was “conceived in liberty” four score and seven years before the dedication of Gettysburg Cemetery—that is, in . . . Continue reading →
Machen Contra Dispensationalism
But what ought to be clearly observed is that that Covenant of Works or Covenant of Life did not offer “salvation.” The word “salvation” implies something from which one is saved. Adam was not lost when that Covenant of Life was given . . . Continue reading →
Are Good Works Enough?
Good works proceed from saving faith; faith that does not bear fruit is not saving faith (see James 2:19). James 2:24 is talking about works as fruit and evidence of saving faith, not meritorious works that save us. In fact, James reminds . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 161: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (8): The Good News Of Salvation Was Announced In One Covenant Of Grace
In this series we are considering the eschatology in 1 & 2 Peter, i.e., the relations between heaven and earth, between the end of all things and now, and life between the ascension of Christ and his visible, noisy, bodily return. Peter . . . Continue reading →
John Owen Defended Eternal Generation Against The Socinians
He Also Opposed Biblicism
Now, if Christ be not begotten of the essence of his Father, he is only a metaphorical Son of God by way of allusion, and cannot be called the proper Son of God, being only one who hath but a similitude to a proper Son Continue reading →
A. A. Hodge in Defense of Natural Revelation
An extreme opinion on this subject has been held by some Christians, to the effect that no true and certain knowledge of God can be derived by man, in his present condition, from the light of nature in the entire absence of . . . Continue reading →
Grammar Guerrilla: Lose The “Of”
“He is as good of a running back as you will see in the SEC.” One hears and sees the expression, “as good of” almost constantly now and it as defective as it is unnecessary. The first part of the problem is . . . Continue reading →
Editorial Note Regarding The “Shepherds” Post
A member of the Presbytery of the Southeast (OPC), who is also a member of the committee, called to ask me to remove the quotation of Rev. Mahaffy’s post. He argues that though the words quoted were said by the member, on the floor of presbytery, in open session, there is more to the story and that presbytery is addressing these issues judicially.
I continue to affirm Rev. Mahaffy’s sentiments about the role and nature of shepherds in Christ’s church and will be addressing this more fully in future.
Pray for your local confessional Presbyterian/Reformed congregation, that it might be neither “fundamentalist” nor “progressive” but faithful to God’s Word as we confess it in the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dort, and the Westminster Standards.
Resources
Federal Court Upholds The Right Of Religious Schools To Adhere To Their Stated Convictions Regarding Sex
Or Grace Does Not Obliterate Nature
…This action concerns the expulsion of two students from a seminary school for violating school policies against same-sex marriage and extramarital sexual activity. Plaintiffs claim violations of: (1) Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681, et seq. . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 160: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (7): Christ’s Abounding Graces
One of the principal reasons I became an amillennialist in eschatology was my study of 1 and 2 Peter. One of the reasons that, after study, investigation, and prayer, I rejected the claims of the Pentecostal moment is the triumphalism of the . . . Continue reading →
Why Not Stick To History? Short Answer: The Twofold Kingdom (Duplex Regimen)
A popular political commentator published a book a few years ago titled Shut Up And Sing, in which she argued that famous athletes and other entertainers should keep their political and cultural opinions to themselves and not seek to use their fame to . . . Continue reading →
Surprising Comfort
…Does personal confidence that we will receive everlasting rewards for our works square with all the biblical data? To be very clear, the question here is not about whether we will receive those rewards, but about the issue of personal confidence that . . . Continue reading →
Two Dark Sides Of The Sexual Revolution (UPDATED)
Regular readers of this space may remember that I have been arguing for a while that we are in the midst of arguably the third great sexual revolution since the late 19th century. Let me borrow from that earlier essay: There have . . . Continue reading →
Free Speech Matters: BigSocMedia Bans New York Post Article
BigSocMedia does not want you to be able to read an article in the New York Post concerning Hunter Biden and his connections to Burisma etc. Without commenting on the merits of the article, I am only posting this link here in . . . Continue reading →
More On New Definitions (Updated)
In 2016, Advocate a leading LGBTQ news and commentary magazine published an article in which an author used the phrase “sexual preference” non-ironically and with not hint of shame. As recently as 19 days ago, this same magazine used the expression in a . . . Continue reading →
Brooks Describes The Problem But Does He Answer The Central Question: Why?
During most of the 20th century, through depression and wars, Americans expressed high faith in their institutions. In 1964, for example, 77 percent of Americans said they trusted the federal government to do the right thing most or all of the time. Then came the last two moral convulsions. In the late 1960s and ’70s, amid Vietnam and Watergate, trust in institutions collapsed. By 1994, only one in five Americans said they trusted government to do the right thing. Then came the Iraq War and the financial crisis and the election of Donald Trump. Institutional trust levels remained pathetically low. Continue reading →
What The Court-Packing Debate Teaches Us About Defining The Adjective Reformed
Since about last Friday, the expression “court packing” has received a marvelous new definition. From the “things you should have learned in school” file, it was president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Thirty-Second President of the United States, who, in 1937, threatened to . . . Continue reading →