77. We do not consider the use of organs in the churches to be good especially for the preaching (services). Therefore, we judged that ministers should labor, even though organs are tolerated for a time, that they be removed at the earliest . . . Continue reading →
Synod Of Dort (1578): Psalms Only To Be Sung In Worship
76. The Psalms of David translated by Pieter Datheen shall be sung in the Christian gatherings of the Netherlands churches as has been done until now, excluding the hymns which are not found in the Bible. National Synod of the Netherlands, German, . . . Continue reading →
Resources On Instruments In Worship
Below are gathered the quotations, posts, and essays from the Heidelblog on the history, theology, and practice of instruments in public worship. Continue reading →
The Judgment Of A 1574 Dutch Provincial Synod On Organs And Alms
50. As to the playing of organs in the church, it is maintained that this should be completely discontinued in accordance with the teaching of Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:19. And although some of these churches still use it at the end . . . Continue reading →
Civil Liberties Imperiled On American University Campuses
The survey results establish with data what has been clear anecdotally to anyone who has been observing campus dynamics in recent years: Freedom of expression is deeply imperiled on U.S. campuses. In fact, despite protestations to the contrary (often with statements like . . . Continue reading →
Construction Update 19 September 2017
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Trueman On Paglia: Liberal Christianity Cannot Cope With Sex As It Really Is
Yet there is another aspect to the essay, and that is Paglia’s barely concealed contempt for the attempts of liberal Christianity and of the gay lobby itself to make homosexuality respectable. For Paglia, sex is powerful and deviant sex reflects that power . . . Continue reading →
Flavel Versus Cary: The Baptists Have Made Infant Baptism The Article Of Standing Or Falling Of The Church
But if your meaning be, (as I strongly suspect it is) that we must not expect to be owned by Christ, except we give up infants baptism; then, I say, it is the most uncharitable, as well as unwarrantable, and dangerous censure . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Godfrey On The Lutheran And The Reformed
Presently, the confessional Lutheran churches and the confessional Reformed and Presbyterian churches represent two distinct traditions and several different denominations. There is a gulf between them. Apart from a few cooperative enterprises the two traditions are not actively engaged in any major . . . Continue reading →
The Synod Of Dort On The Difference Between Law And Gospel
5. In the same light are we to consider the law of the Decalogue, delivered by God to His peculiar people, the Jews, by the hands of Moses. For though it reveals the greatness of sin, and more and more convinces man . . . Continue reading →
John 3 Might Not Mean What You Think It Does
Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can . . . Continue reading →
Do Not Forget
Between Magic And Mere Memory
When Christians receive the Lord’s Supper or when people are baptized, what happens? Is it the case that, as Rome claims, at consecration, the elements of bread and wine are transformed (transubstantiated) so that they are no longer, in substance, bread and . . . Continue reading →
Ministry Is Not Mastery
There are myriad temptations in ministry. One persistent temptation is to stop ministering and start mastering. There are many reasons mastering is tempting. All congregations are non-profit organizations. Most are under-funded and understaffed or staffed with volunteers. Often the pastor is the . . . Continue reading →
The Presbyterian Churches Reject Images Of Jesus
Q. 109. What sins are forbidden in the second commandment? A. The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and any wise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself; the making any representation of God, . . . Continue reading →
The Reformed Churches Reject Images Of Jesus
96. What does God require in the second Commandment? That we in no wise make any image of God, nor worship Him in any other way than He has commanded us in His Word. 97. May we not make any image at . . . Continue reading →
Judas Is A Warning
Few figures in the history of Christianity are as notorious as Judas Iscariot but for all his infamy, we know remarkably little about him. Nevertheless, he plays a major role in the gospel narratives and in Acts chapter 1. He was certainly . . . Continue reading →
Housing Project Construction Update
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Witsius: Among The Various Acts Of Faith Is Union With Christ
It seems proper, in the mean time, to remark that, amongst the various acts of faith which we are about to describe, there is one which holds the principal place, and in which, as it unites us to Christ and justifies us, . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Aquinas Among The Protestants
Thomas Aquinas (c.1224–74) was one of the most important Christian teachers in the period and though he was eclipsed in the centuries after, his work returned to prominence in the 16th–19th centuries particularly among Roman theologians, for whom Thomas became the theologian . . . Continue reading →