Our sense of distance in the late-modern, ultra-high-tech world has changed dramatically. It was not that long ago that a long-distance telephone call was a major event. The pastor with whom I served, Norman Hoeflinger, served a congregation in a town where . . . Continue reading →
If you think it through, I think you’ll also come to realize that civil discourse is the biggest impediment to centralized power. How so? When people fear expressing their innermost thoughts to others, friendships cannot develop. Personal associations are nipped in the . . . Continue reading →
Early in post-apostolic Christian history confused believers and heretics alike sought either to conflate the two natures of Christ, with the result that Christ was made, as it were, to have only one nature (the monophysite heresy) or to separate the two . . . Continue reading →
Santa Christ is sometimes a Pelagian Jesus. Like Santa, he simply asks us whether we have been good. More exactly, since the assumption is that we are all naturally good, Santa Christ asks us whether we have been “good enough.” So just . . . Continue reading →
Darryl Hart has a thought-provoking post today on Rick Warren’s recent comments about what Rome and Protestants have in common. Warren’s comments are a sterling reminder of the importance of knowing our church history. Yes, Christians of all the major traditions receive . . . Continue reading →
This is the fundamental commandment, the one that comes before all the others and lays the foundation for them. Before we learn anything else about what God demands, we need to know who he is, and who we are in relationship to . . . Continue reading →
The first commandment says: “You shalt have no other gods before me.” The Hebrew text says literally, “You shall not have any other Elohim before my face.” Elohim is the generic word for God in the Hebrew Bible. When Genesis 1:1 says, . . . Continue reading →
Christianity is a creedal religion. You cannot separate Christianity from its ancient creeds. In fact, every true Christian adheres to the ancient creeds of the church, whether he knows it or not. We all have creeds. Whether formal or informal—whether written or . . . Continue reading →
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As a boy I attended a grammar school down the street from an orphanage. I remember one of the boys saying, “I saw my mom drive by. She’ll come by to pick me up soon.” I did not fully understand why some . . . Continue reading →
The law professors’ criticism of this administrative overreach barely scratches the surface of a central problem that has led colleges and universities throughout the country to inflict massive changes in college and university culture. In their opening paragraphs, the professors write, “We . . . Continue reading →
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, . . . Continue reading →
I’m not a Luddite. I bought my first computer, an Atari ST, in 1985. I began using email (CompuServe) before the internet was made available to the public. It was very exciting when CompuServe and AOL users could email to each other. At . . . Continue reading →
It is never easy to be separated a family member, dear friend, a mentor, or even a coach. Whether through death or relocation or for some other reason when we suffer such a loss the grief is genuine. Today, because of social media, that . . . Continue reading →
[399] But a great many Reformed theologians believed otherwise and answered the above question in the affirmative. In their opinion, the answer to Christ’s prayer (John 11:42; Heb. 5:7) and especially the entire state of exaltation from the resurrection to his coming . . . Continue reading →
The doctrine of the holy gospel is the doctrine of eternal salvation, and on account of our corrupt nature there is nothing more difficult and troublesome for us to learn; that is why this doctrine requires the most faithful, earnest and persistent . . . Continue reading →
Be4 I sign off learned a new word in church today: Eschatology. Anyone? — Katie Couric (@katiecouric) December 1, 2014 Couric, a television host took a lot of heat for admitting that she did not know what “eschatology” means. That’s unfortunate because . . . Continue reading →
2. He infers a general conclusion, “That a man is justified by faith, without the works of the law,” chap. 3:28. What is meant by “the law,” and what by “the works of the law,” in this discourse of the apostle about . . . Continue reading →
William Perkins (1558–1602) is among one of the most important English Reformed theologians. Arguably, he and John Owen (1616–1683) are the two most important English Reformed theologians. Remarkably, his works have been out of print and largely inaccessible for the centuries. Now, . . . Continue reading →