But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, . . . Continue reading →
The URCNA Committee Report On The Federal Vision
4. Justification by the Instrument of an “Obedient Faith” In the writings of FV authors, however, faith, even in respect to its instrumentality for justification, is defined differently. Norman Shepherd, for example, persistently speaks of the instrument of justification as a “living,” . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 113: I Will Be A God To You And To Your Children (9)
Does initiation of covenant children into the visible covenant people expire with the new covenant? Is the new covenant absolutely relatively new? Is it new relative to Abraham or new relative to Moses? These are the topics we’re investigating in this episode of the Heidelcast. Continue reading →
Strangers And Aliens (22b): Serving The Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:1–5)
The Kingdom of God is a reversal of the order of this world. In this world, the first are first and the last are last. It is cut-throat and Darwinian, red in tooth and claw, but in the Kingdom of God the last are first and the first are last. This is the difference between grace and works. Works gives what is earned but grace gives to those who cannot, who would not, what they did not earn. So, as a consequence, ministry in the kingdom is on a different order, a different paradigm. Jesus is the model of ministry in the kingdom. The Son of Man was the suffering servant who as abused, stricken, and finally murdered for us, in our place, as our substitute. He did not suffer for himself. He did not obey for himself. His obedient suffering was for us, in our place, and all that he did is credited to us who believe and even our believing is a gift from God. Continue reading →
On Distinguishing Christianity From The American Religion Of Optimism
Peale distilled the optimism and self-sufficiency of the American character into a simple creed. The first article of his faith was a warm patriotism. He called the U.S. “the greatest country in the world” and addressed his writing to “everyday people of . . . Continue reading →
Voetius Contra Middle Knowledge
From the points which have been so far upheld against middle knowledge it is clear that the whole difficulty in the present controversy reduces to this one point: Could free conditioned things, from eternity indifferent by nature to futurition or nonfuturition, have . . . Continue reading →
Turretin Contra Middle Knowledge
I. Although the knowledge of God is one and simple intrinsically no less than his essence, yet it can be considered in different ways extrinsically as to the objects. But it is commonly distinguished by theologians into the knowledge of simple intelligence . . . Continue reading →
Confessions Of A Former Charismatic
Dr. Clark, A few weeks ago you posted a warning against the desire for ongoing prophecy. [See also this—Ed.] In it you told a story of what happens when people look to words from God beyond Scripture. I wanted to stand as . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 112: I Will Be A God To You And To Your Children (8)
This is episode 8 of our series: I will be a God to You and to Your Children. Last time we looked at circumcision, about which we saw that, just as with the bloodshed of the sacrifice of pigeons, bulls, goats, and . . . Continue reading →
With Theocast On Spiritual Disciplines
It is widely held among evangelicals (of various stripes) that the private reading of Scripture and prayer (“the quiet time” or devotions), Bible memorization, and meditation is the very essence of Christian spirituality and piety. The emphasis is on activity (one prominent . . . Continue reading →
When The Room Is The Elephant
How can the church assert the truth of the gospel—an exclusive truth which makes demands in the present because of promises which will be fulfilled only in the future—in a world predicated on consumer options, entertainment, and instant gratification? Just a brief . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof Contra Kenosis
The Kenotic Theories. A remarkable attempt was made in the so-called Kenosis doctrine to improve on theological construction of the doctrine of the Person of Christ. The term Kenosis is derived from Philippians 2:7, which says that Christ “emptied Himself, taking the . . . Continue reading →
The Muslim Brotherhood In America (Ikhwan): A Present Threat To Religious Liberty
Office Hours: German Influences On Charles Hodge’s Theology
Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812 in order to train men for pastoral ministry in the Presbyterian Church. Within a century of her founding, however, those features that had helped to make old Princeton a bulwark of Reformed orthodoxy had been . . . Continue reading →
All Welcome. No Exceptions.
Yesterday we were motoring through Poway, a leafy suburb of San Diego, and we drove past a large Episcopal church with a large, temporary banner proclaiming, “All Welcome. No Exceptions.” That message was striking as it was brief. It struck me as . . . Continue reading →
Vos Contra Kenosis
b)…On the contrary, however, modern kenosis doctrine, itself pantheistic in origin, has explained the incarnation itself as a extinction or emptying of deity. —Geerhardus Vos, Reformed Dogmatics, ed. Richard B. Gaffin, trans. Annemie Godbehere et al., vol. 3 (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, . . . Continue reading →
The Zeitgeist
They’ll tell you it’s wrong in private, but in public they felt they had to go along…. —Bill Kristol
Machen Contra Kenosis
Finally, there is no trace in Paul of any doctrine of “kenosis,” by which the higher nature of Christ might have been regarded as so relinquished while He was on earth that the words and deeds of the historic person would become . . . Continue reading →
A Brief History Of The Kenosis Theory
KENOTICISM, from the Gk. kenōsis, meaning (self-) ‘emptying’ (used in Phil. 2:6–7), refers to a number of related Christological theories concerning the status of the divine in the incarnate Christ. While the term is found in a number of patristic writers and . . . Continue reading →
The Power And Influence Of The Evangelical Top Men
The economy of evangelical power is complicated but I want to highlight just two aspects today, aspects which have been critical in the recent discussion and which have a profound doctrinal significance. First, there is the fact that the same narrow gene . . . Continue reading →