Most of us at some point shall have to choose a church. Are they all the same? No. How on earth does one? On what basis? In my experience people use a variety of criteria, not all of them good. Families choose congregations . . . Continue reading →
Here is the recording of yesterday’s paper delivered to the Reformation Studies section at ETS. There are a few glitches in the audio: Below is the handout for the talk. OUTLINE Introduction: Olevianus the Churchman Olevianus as contributor to the catechism As . . . Continue reading →
I try not to burden you too much with pieces about Caspar Olevianus (1536–87) but I’m to give a paper later this morning at the Evangelical Theological Society meeting in San Diego. It’s been a few years since I wrote anything on . . . Continue reading →
Therefore, one can also say that the sacraments have sealed to Christ what is depicted in them for the elect. The Father promised and assured Him that, on the basis of His merits, everything represented in the sacraments would occur in the . . . Continue reading →
In part 2 we looked at what it means to speak about God being just and about justice. In this last installment we need to consider what it means to speak of truth and the truth of God. During his interrogation of our . . . Continue reading →
The Reformation churches have some wonderful slogans that are chock full of important truths. Sometimes, however, these slogans can be misconstrued, misreported, and misunderstood. With the possible exception of sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone), none of these slogans has been mangled more . . . Continue reading →
Scripture has a great deal to say about wisdom. The words wisdom or wise occur about 400 times in the Bible. Yet, both in and outside the visible church, ours is not an age that is characterized by that same interest in . . . Continue reading →
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Now indeed these two kinds of theology are so different that they cannot truthfully be related to some one, definite head and shared genus. Of course the first kind of theology, which we have named divine and a prototype, does not belong . . . Continue reading →
In the first part we considered the death of Christ in light of his three offices, prophet, priest, and king. We saw that those who view Jesus’ merely as a teacher (a reduced sort of prophet) cannot account for his death except . . . Continue reading →
The sum and whole cause of the writing of this epistle is to prove that a man is justified by faith only; which proposition whoso denieth, to him is not only this epistle and all that Paul writeth, but also the whole . . . Continue reading →
Congratulations to my friend and colleague Kim Riddlebarger on the forthcoming publication of his excellent work on B. B. Warfield. I read this as a PhD diss. written under Richard Muller. It’s one of the best things I’ve read on Warfield. Anyone . . . Continue reading →
This is a case about change—and how best to handle it under the United States Constitution. From the vantage point of 2014, it would now seem, the question is not whether American law will allow gay couples to marry; it is when . . . Continue reading →
From a purely human point of view, from a historical point of view, from an intellectual point of view, there have been few historical figures as compelling and important as Jesus of Nazareth. Many regard him as a sort of Jewish Socrates, . . . Continue reading →
We’ve gone from tolerance to compulsion,’’ the Giffords’ lawyer, James Trainor, told me. “State government should not be forcing people to violate their own religious beliefs, nor should they be forced to make a choice between making a living and violating their . . . Continue reading →
As many writers have noted, perhaps most notable among them recently the Archbishop of Canterbury, in Western culture, the cross has largely lost its religious significance. One would not see pop stars of the 1940s and 50s wearing gold or silver cross while performing. . . . Continue reading →
Thanks to the brothers and sisters at Christ United Reformed Church, Santee, California for doing such a terrific job hosting their first ever Reformation Day conference last Saturday. The audio for the entire conference is available online. Here’s my talk on “By Grace Alone, . . . Continue reading →
Last time we looked at what is known from Scripture and from extra-biblical documents about the Roman governor who sentenced our Lord to death. The question remains, however, why our Lord permitted this? Indeed, “permitted” may not be strong enough a word. . . . Continue reading →
It is also important to comment on Junius’s relationship with Jacobus Arminius, who became professor at Leiden University in 1603. Junius carried on a correspondence with Arminius after meeting him at Leiden in 1596 at the wedding of Geertje Jacobsdochter (Arminius’s aunt) . . . Continue reading →