It is also very important at this point that we deal with an issue which has become very divisive among the Reformed churches of late–and that is whether or not our confession teaches that there is a covenant based upon a works-principle . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 195: What Must A Christian Believe? (12) On Christ’s Descent Into Hell
In our survey of the rule of faith, i.e., the Apostles’ Creed, we have reached the fourth article: “suffered under Pontius, Pilate, crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell.” In this episode we focus on the last clause, “he descended into . . . Continue reading →
Presbyterial Problems
This has not been a wonderful week in American Presbyterianism. Earlier this week Aimee Byrd published the letter she received from the Southeast Presbytery of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and then she announced that she is leaving her OPC congregation and the . . . Continue reading →
University Professor To Be Fired Because He Did Not Apologize For Students Rushing To Judgment
Theater students study the principle of the “willing suspension of disbelief,” meaning that in order to enjoy a show, audience members must suspend their critical thinking and believe that the performance onstage is really happening. To make sense of Coastal Carolina University’s . . . Continue reading →
Religious Freedom Watch: Kansas City Church Wins Settlement Over Religious Discrimination
A Kansas City-area Baptist megachurch has reached a $150,000 settlement with the county over coronavirus restrictions, with the church claiming that the county treated them more harshly than secular institutions when it came to COVID protocols. Abundant Life Baptist Church, which has . . . Continue reading →
Twenty-Four Attorneys General File Amicus Brief In Support Of A Coach’s Right To Pray After The Football Game
The Bremerton School District prohibited Coach Kennedy from “engag[ing] in demonstrative religious activity, readily observable to (if not intended to be observed by) students and the attending public.” App. 37, 81. The District suspended Coach Kennedy for violating this directive when he . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger On The Reformed Altar Call
In those independent Bible churches in which I was raised, most Sunday mornings the minister preached from a well-worn Bible, told a few stories to illustrate his point, and then reminded us that we must believe in Jesus to go to heaven. . . . Continue reading →
Christian Employers Alliance Sues Biden Administration Over Sex Transition Surgery Requirement
The Christian Employers Alliance filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on Monday over two mandates that force religious nonprofit and for-profit employers to fund “gender transition surgeries, procedures, counseling, and treatments.” On Tuesday, Alliance Defending Freedom filed a motion asking a . . . Continue reading →
The Theologically Liberal Empire Strikes Back
In 1923 J. Gresham Machen (1881–1937) published his incisive and devastating critique of theological liberalism, Christianity and Liberalism. At the outset let me emphasize that we are discussing theological liberalism. There are other uses of the word liberalism, e.g., “classical liberalism” refers to . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 194: What Must A Christian Believe? (11) On Christ’s Obedience And Atoning Death
In our survey of the rule of faith, i.e., the Apostles’ Creed, we have reached the fourth article: “suffered under Pontius, Pilate, crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell.” In this episode we consider Christ’s suffering and death and in the . . . Continue reading →
A Little More Gospel
HT: Corby Hornoi and Inwoo Lee
Does Your Worship Need To Be “Elevated”?
I received a piece of spam mail late last week offering to “elevate” the worship service at my church.
Trueman On The Failure Of The Evangelical Elite To Understand The Cultured Despisers Of Religion Are Despisers Of Religion
There are times in history when Christianity feels its place in society coming under threat. As it finds itself pushed to the margins, two temptations emerge. The first is an angry sense of entitlement, an impulse to denounce the entire world and . . . Continue reading →
How You Can Help Return The Reformed Faith To Germany
Editor’s Note: The Reformed confession has German roots. Heidelberg, the capitol of the Palatinate was one of the most important centers of the Reformed movement in the sixteenth century. It was the Reformed Church in the Palatinate that gave us our Heidelberg . . . Continue reading →
Bob Godfrey On “What’s Going on Right Now: Sex, Race, Politics & Power”
Bob Godfrey has been teaching the Adult Sunday School class in (what is now) the Escondido United Reformed Church for forty years. Some of that material has made its way into print and, in that way, perhaps you have benefited directly from . . . Continue reading →
A New Religion With A New Sacrament?
John Calvin (1509–64) famously wrote that the human heart is a “perpetual factory of idols” (Institutes 1.11.18).
Gregory of Nyssa Against The Chiliasts
Now if we loudly preach all this, and testify to all this, namely that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, always changeless, always imperishable, though He comes in the changeable and the perishable; never stained Himself, but . . . Continue reading →
Jesus’ Spring House Cleaning
[K:NWTS 4/2 (Sep 1989) 22–32] John 2:13–22R. Scott Clark Even with the latest in household appliances spring cleaning is unpleasant. Things come to such a state in the garage, basement and in the children’s rooms that we find it necessary to really . . . Continue reading →
Laying the Foundation…. Twice
Where do we begin our theology? The answer may seem obvious: We begin with God. Theology, after all, is talking about God; that’s literally what the word means. But things get a little more complicated when we get around to developing a . . . Continue reading →
Reminder: Please Subscribe The English Translation Of Polanus
Amandus Polanus (1561–1610) was a theologian and Professor of Old Testament in Basel. He produced one of the most important systematic theologies of the early orthodox period. It has never been translated into English. There is, however, a publisher willing to take . . . Continue reading →