Science is a tool with limitations. Science does not tell you how you should live your life, and science does not tell politicians what policies they should set. It may and, in many circumstances does, provide helpful information in making such decisions, . . . Continue reading →
A Quiet Crisis In The PCA?
Many elders of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) agree that there is a crisis of one kind or another in the denomination. Ironically, one of these crises has to do with elders themselves. More specifically it concerns the participation of elders . . . Continue reading →
Kirk Pulls Publicity Stunt. Social Media Falls For It: No Religious Liberties Were Harmed During The Filming Of This Commercial
There are places where religious liberties are being trampled, where Christians (and members of other religions) are not free to gather and to worship God according to Scripture or conscience. In such places people face arrest or worse simply for gathering to . . . Continue reading →
Ignatius Of Antioch As A Remedy For Two Weaknesses In Contemporary Evangelicalism: The Reality Of Christ’s Humanity And The Reality Of The Church
Each autumn term one of my responsibilities is to spend about half the semester helping a group of students to walk through the Apostolic Fathers, a collection of second-century Christian texts which was first compiled in the 17th century. That collection has . . . Continue reading →
RBG, Roe, And Realism
I suppose that many Americans held their breath for a moment when they heard the news of Justice Ginsburg’s death. Obviously, her death was a great loss for her family, friends, and colleagues. Then, there is the great question of the state . . . Continue reading →
Before The Heidelcast: Cross Talk (And The HB Media Archive)
Recently I did an interview with Jason Estopinal of the Layman’s Lounge podcast. During the interview he asked about the Heidelcow-bell. I gave a brief history of the Heidelcast and remembered the prototype of the Heidelcast: Cross Talk (2006–07). As an experiment, . . . Continue reading →
Re-Thinking Social Media
I know that I am supposed to have cancelled my Netflix subscription because of their release of the French film, which ostensibly seeks to critique the sexualizing of children, which nevertheless, according to critics, sexualizes them. I was also supposed to boycott . . . Continue reading →
A Useful Distinction Regarding Church And State In Our Covid-19 Controversy
For better or worse John MacArthur and Grace Community Church have become the public face of resistance to California’s onerous Covid-19 regulations. They have also become entangled in the culture war over masks and aligned with the Trump administration, since the president . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Rome Confuses Law And Gospel
The Church of Rome in a manner confounds the law and the gospel, saying that the gospel, which is the new law, reveals Christ more clearly than Moses’ law did, which they call the old law. But this is a wicked opinion, . . . Continue reading →
With The Laymen’s Lounge Podcast: What Are Proper Expectations For the Christian Life?
Jason Estopinal is the host of the podcast and he writes: “It’s been said that for fish that living under water, with all they’ve ever known is underwater living, and all the other fish around them also only know underwater living—that these . . . Continue reading →
Science Becomes Unsettled Again
A major correction has been issued by the American Journal of Psychiatry. The authors and editors of an October 2019 study, titled “Reduction in mental health treatment utilization among transgender individuals after gender-affirming surgeries: a total population study,” have retracted its primary . . . Continue reading →
Pourquoi Je ne Traverserai Pas le Tibre Avec Mark Galli
L’expression «traverser le Tibre» [swimming the Tiber] est une métaphore pour désigner la conversion du Protestantisme au Catholicisme Romain. Je n’ai pas été en mesure de déterminer ses origines, mais le Dictionary of Christianese online fait remonter l’expression à 1963, ce qui, . . . Continue reading →
Christian, Pray For Your Romans 13 Ministers
The Contested Legacy Of Singing God’s Inspired Songs In The Reformed Churches In South Africa
The scope of this article is focused on an investigation of song in worship in the period leading up to and including the 150-year history of the RCSA. It focuses on the period from the dissenting ‘Doppers’ to the adoption of the . . . Continue reading →
Payne: The PCA Is At A Crossroads
…Many of us are deeply concerned about the influence of Revoice doctrine upon our churches and surprised by the sympathy it has received from some in our ranks. Perhaps of even more concern is the growing ascendancy of critical theory and elements . . . Continue reading →
What Islamism And Wokeism Have In Common
It never occurred to me that free speech would come under threat in my newly adopted country. Even when I first encountered what has come to be known as “cancel culture”—in 2014 I was invited to receive an honorary degree at Brandeis . . . Continue reading →
Why I Will Not Follow Mark Galli Across The Tiber
The phrase “swimming the Tiber” is a metaphor for converting from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism. I have not been able to determine its origins but the online Dictionary of Christianese traces the expression to 1963, which, if true, would mean that it . . . Continue reading →
Justification And Sanctification: The Twofold Grace Of Salvation
It’s not uncommon to hear some people appeal to James 2:24 in order to argue that God saves people by faith plus works. In particular, some argue against the doctrine of justification by faith alone by appealing to this verse. They tend . . . Continue reading →
Before The Barbarians
This was exciting to those of us who began graduate school before political correctness set in. It made interpretation into a high-stakes game. You had to be wary to do it well, to focus acutely on the phenomena in front of you . . . Continue reading →
How Virtue Ethics Helps Address Final Salvation Through Works
Christian ethical theory has seen various changes over the centuries, but I believe that one of the reasons why some think that we need to teach the idea of final rewards in order to make obedience important owes to the dominance of . . . Continue reading →