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 →
William Perkins On Infant Baptism
Infants of believing parents are likewise to be baptized. The grounds of their baptism are these. First, the commandment of God, “Baptize all nations” (Matt. 28:19), in which words the baptism of infants is prescribed. For the apostles by virtue of this . . . Continue reading →
Paul’s Gospel Remedy For The Sickness Of The Evangelical Megachurch Celebrity Culture
If you follow the various evangelical sub-cultures you probably know that Carl Lentz, the megachurch pastor cum superstar pastor of pop star Justin Bieber, fashion icon, one-time college basketball player, denizen of day-time TV talk shows and the tabloids, has been fired . . . Continue reading →
Ellen Page Still Exists
So that’s it, is it? Ellen Page is no more? She’s been disappeared? She’s been shoved down the memory hole, left to stalk that netherworld of people whose names must never be uttered out loud, like Bruce Jenner, Frank Maloney, Voldemort?
Christmas Confusion
Dear NAPARC Pastor,
If you think that distinguishing law from gospel is “Lutheran” Continue reading
Brakel: Amyraut Claimed A “Middle Way” And A Way To Remove The Offense Of Particular Atonement
Amyraut, and all who follow him, maintain to have found a middle position whereby the offense of the true doctrine can be removed. They hold to the existence of two decrees. One is a universal decree whereby God, being graciously disposed towards . . . Continue reading →
A. A. Hodge Contra Amyraut
11. What is the view of this subject entertained by the French Protestant theologians, Camero, Amyraut, and others? These theological professors at Saumur, during the second quarter of the seventeenth century, taught that God, 1st. Decreed to create man. 2d. To permit . . . Continue reading →
New Resource Page: On Amyraut, Amyraldianism, and Hypothetical Universalism
One of the more important debates that rocked the French Reformed Church in the 17th century was that concerning the doctrine of Moises Amyraut (1596–1664). He was part of a broader movement to revise Reformed theology among the French in a variety . . . Continue reading →
On Being Reformed Now $19.99 Until December 31, 2020
On Being Reformed: Debates Over A Theological Identity is now $19.99 until December 31, 2020. Use the code: BEST20PAL to get the discount. For more information about this volume the introductory post. This volume is usually grossly over-priced but this is a . . . Continue reading →
Lessons from the Synod of Loudun: Government Overreach in the Twilight of Toleration
Though the erosion of Protestant liberties had already begun, the sessions of the Synod of Loudun give us a window into the government over-reach that was beginning to ramp up and would eventually take away all liberties of French Protestants. Continue reading →