Recently I had opportunity to engage in a friendly dialogue with some Baptist academics over the merits of the project proposed in Recovering the Reformed Confession. That project is, as they say, wending through the publication process. Because of space limitations I was unable to do a couple of things, namely, to engage more fully with some of the texts and approaches to Baptist covenant theology (as distinct from Reformed covenant theology). Continue reading →
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Students come to Westminster Seminary California from across the globe and from a wide variety of backgrounds. Even though they usually graduate affirming Reformed theology they do not always begin there. Westminster Seminary California was an important destination in the journey of . . . Continue reading →
A wise traveler makes preparations for a trip (Matt. 10:8–10). Any traveler who attempts a difficult journey without a map risks not arriving or worse. The Christian life is a journey to the heavenly city (Heb. 11:8–15). A map is a record . . . Continue reading →
The magisterial Protestant churches (i.e., the Lutheran and Reformed) and their theologians did not speak of, teach, or confess a “two-stage” doctrine of justification or even a “two-stage” doctrine of salvation (justification, sanctification, and glorification). Yet, today, one sees leading evangelical and . . . Continue reading →
“I am a member of the church universal. I do not need to be a member of an organized church.” “Our church does not believe in church membership.” “Church membership is unbiblical. It is a man-made tradition.” These are but a few . . . Continue reading →
It was good to talk with Paul Flynn of Megiddo Radio today about the ongoing controversy over justification and salvation. It was a wide-ranging discussion. Paul and his family are members of Loughbrickland Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland. Click on the link . . . Continue reading →
The period of time around the Great Synod of Dort, the 400th anniversary of which we are celebrating in 2018–19, was an important time in the history of Reformed theology. During the Reformation, though the magisterial Protestants faced significant internal challenges, the . . . Continue reading →
This is what is meant when we insist that justification is forensic. It has to do with a judgment given, declared, pronounced; it is judicial or juridical or forensic. The main point of such terms is to distinguish between the kind of . . . Continue reading →
Bible reading has become a largely private practice—something we do in our own personal “quiet time.” A few verses, or perhaps as much as a chapter, are often read before the sermon on Sunday morning. But when was the last time you . . . Continue reading →
The world has changed quite a bit since I entered Dundee Elementary in 1965–66. No-fault divorce did not yet exist. Two-parent families were the norm. Abortion had not yet been legalized. The late-modern drug culture had not yet exploded. WWII had been . . . Continue reading →
The biblical doctrine of God’s immutability says that God is always what he is. He is never any more or any less than he is. He is not becoming. He is not changing. He is utterly reliable. He is utterly perfect. He . . . Continue reading →
My first interaction with theology of Norman Shepherd probably came in seminary. He was dismissed from his position as a professor in a Reformed and Presbyterian seminary, where he taught the course on the doctrine of salvation (soteriology) in 1981. I began . . . Continue reading →
Tim Challies has published a list of predictions for the “New Calvinist Movement” for 2018. It has understandably provoked discussion. He writes, In 2018 we will begin to see wider practice of the sign gifts among those who hold to Reformed theology . . . Continue reading →
As I ran errands yesterday I listened to a recent Presbycast episode from which I learned that there are NAPARC congregations in which laity (non-ordained members of the congregation) regularly attend elders meetings and participate in the decision making process. In Presbyterian . . . Continue reading →
When the fullness of God’s self-revelation in Scripture is not taken into account, heresy is the result. Those who emphasize the oneness of God to the neglect of what Scripture teaches regarding the deity of the three persons fall into errors such . . . Continue reading →
For Americans, where the Reformed theology, piety, and practice is a fraction of the number of Christians, it is easy to overlook the presence of the Reformed faith in other parts of the world. There are Reformed Christians and churches across the . . . Continue reading →
Since Roe v. Wade (and Doe v Bolton) in 1973 those who believe that the constitutional protections to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” extend to humans in utero (in the womb) have been called “pro-life.” Since 1973 it has been . . . Continue reading →
How old must a child be to come to the Lord’s Table? We know from the nature of the two sacraments (covenant signs and seals) instituted by our Lord that infant communion (paedocommunion) is an error. It confuses the sign of renewal . . . Continue reading →
