For most of world history, until quite recently, most of the world thought about the most basic questions in life categories of right and wrong or in legal categories. God was thought to be what he is thus we humans need to . . . Continue reading →
In fact, what stands out about [Praise and Worship approaches to public worship] is the aura of teenage piety. Anyone who has endured a week at one of the evangelical summer youth camps that dot the landscape will be struck by the . . . Continue reading →
This documentary was premiered in 2004 and appeared on YouTube a little more than a decade ago. After some years it disappeared and then reappeared on moscowid.net. I do not necessarily share the film maker’s social, philosophical, or theological views but the . . . Continue reading →
I think everybody’s view of God is a rejection or projection of their earthly father…Atheism says, ‘I have no Dad.’ Agnosticism says, ‘I never met him and I’m not looking for him. Deism says, ‘he used to be here but he went . . . Continue reading →
If you are an adult you know about mediators. It is not uncommon now, when one signs a contract, to agree to “binding arbitration” or to “mediation” either in lieuof going to court or before going to court. A mediator, then, . . . Continue reading →
A few years ago I wrote an article on what pastors should not tell their wives. In it I argued that there is much that it said behind closed doors, in elder meetings (e.g.,consistory or session meetings), that should not be repeated . . . Continue reading →
You know about Revoice but do you know about Rosaria? There is an alternative to Revoice and Rosaria Butterfield will be articulating that case, in conference, in Escondido on July 26, 7:00 PM in the Heritage Center at Calvin Christian School. The . . . Continue reading →
HT: Jack Miller
More than 50 years ago Philip Rieff alerted us to what has been called the “therapeutic revolution.” The West did not pay attention and now our broader culture is awash in therapeutic categories and rhetoric. Anyone, on most any university campus, who . . . Continue reading →
2018–2019 was the 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dort so it has been a kind of Dortpalooza on the Heidelblog. Recently I talked with Andy Olson about the basics of the Synod and the Canons of Dort. If you are new . . . Continue reading →
Dr J. Ligon Duncan III is Chancellor and CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, where he is also the John E Richard Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. He was senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Jackson, Mississippi for 17 years . . . Continue reading →
By J. Ligon Duncan, III A paper presented to the Social Science History Association, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Saturday, October 15, 1994 Department of Systematic Theology Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, MS Copyright © 1994 Introduction For many years now, students and professors in . . . Continue reading →
In season 5 of Office Hours we focused on the biblical, Reformed, and confessional doctrine and practice of sanctification, i.e., the process of being made holy, of being brought gradually and graciously into conformity to Christ by the Holy Spirit. The doctrine . . . Continue reading →
The Reformation gospel of salvation by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), as defined and confessed by the Reformed churches and as rejected by the Remonstrants (Arminians) was intended to produce and had the effect of giving comfort to . . . Continue reading →
Ours is not an age characterized by wisdom either inside or outside the church. Conferences on wisdom will not likely pack a football stadium (at least not a large one) but wisdom is a major theme in Scripture—terms for wisdom occur more . . . Continue reading →
The Protestant Reformation was one of the most important theological, social, religious, and political episodes in Western history. It is reasonable to divide all Western history in two: before the Reformation and after. Nevertheless, in our time, the Reformation is not well . . . Continue reading →
On this date in 1959 the state of Nebraska executed the death sentence upon Charles Starkweather, an admitted, notorious spree killer and mass murderer. Certainly, when “Charlie” (as he was known) was captured after a shootout in Douglas, Wyoming there was little doubt and by the end of his trial it was certain that he had committed a shocking and brutal series of murders in and around what was then a sleepy college town and state capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska. The only real question that remained through the trial, which persists to this day, is whether Caril Ann Fugate, whose family Charlie murdered, accompanied him willingly during his spree, whether she cooperated in or even committed some of the murders, or whether she was a hostage (as she later claimed) and suffered from Stockholm Syndrome. Continue reading →
The Bible contrasts two very different kinds of ministries. In 2 Corinthians 3:6 the apostle Paul says that we are ministers of the New Covenant, of the Spirit and not of the letter. The contrast the apostle is making is between the New Covenant as the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, which he calls the “ministry of righteousness,” and the particular phenomenon of the giving of the law on Sinai to Moses—which he designates as the “ministry of condemnation.” The contrast between them is important because each kind of ministry produces its own kind of fruit in its recipients. Continue reading →
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the largest evangelical Christian denomination in the USA reporting a total membership of 14.8 million (of whom 1/3 attend weekly). The SBC is Baptist in name and practice but about 99% of the other 45 million . . . Continue reading →
Romans is one of the greatest resources available to the Christian faith and life. Written in the mid-to late AD 50s to the congregation in Rome, Paul sent this pastoral letter to make clear the gospel, that salvation is from the Lord, . . . Continue reading →