In the Church service: that the cross in baptism, interrogatories ministered to infants, confirmation, as superfluous, may be taken away; baptism not to be ministered by women, and so explained; the cap and surplice not urged; that examination may go before the . . . Continue reading →
Nazi Policy: Abort The Unwanted
The Slavs are to work for us. Insofar as we do not need them, they may die. Therefore, compulsory vaccination and German health service are superfluous. The fertility of the Slavs is undesirable. They may use contraceptives or practice abortion, the more . . . Continue reading →
Straight Outta Noyon
Heidelberg 112: Your Speech Shall Accord With Objective Reality
In the garden the Evil One began by questioning the veracity of God’s Word: “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen 3:1b). The woman collaborated with the Evil One by adding to the Lord’s . . . Continue reading →
Confessional Presbyterian Church Plants In The UK
Recently I learned about a relatively new church plant of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales in Sheffield, Leeds, and Manchester. The pastor is the Rev. Dr. Kevin Bidwell. In addition to the work in Sheffield, they are also actively working . . . Continue reading →
St Bartholomew’s Day 1572: An Orgy Of Popular Violence
Long-range prospects for the Reformed churches in France appeared almost hopeful in the summer of 1572. The Peace of St. Germain (1570) that concluded the third civil war had granted significant political, military, and religious concessions to the Huguenots. The Catholic Duke . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 110–111: You Shall Not Steal
The eighth commandment says: “You shall not steal” (Exod 20:15). I recall following Mom down the grocery aisle and picking grapes as a I went. I was probably 5 or 6. I saw the grapes. They looked good and I wanted some. . . . Continue reading →
Antinomianism Is The Fruit Of Over-Realized Eschatology
Those who do not see the Law as valid in the life of the Christian must also assert that this world has passed away and that the new world has already been inaugurated. This proposition must be firmly rejected because only at Christ’s . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 108–109: You Were Bought With A Price (2)
God’s Word is very clear about sexual immorality. Leviticus 18 illustrates how God views sexual immorality. It prohibits adultery and moves immediately in the next verse to warn against not offering one’s children to Molech, to a prohibition against male homosexuality, which . . . Continue reading →
How We Lost The Psalms
In the course of time the constraint of Calvin’s ideals has gradually come to be less felt in the worship of the Reformed Churches. A modification of view as to the relations of art and worship has permitted the harmonization of congregational . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Side By Side With Ed Welch
We live in a fallen world. It is broken and dysfunctional. More importantly for us, we are fallen. We are not what we were made to be and we’re not what we shall be. I do not know where you are right . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Psalmody: Inspired Songs To The Exclusion Of Uninspired Songs
But the Calvinistic Psalm took its authority and its appropriateness from its divine inspiration. It must be Holy Scripture, first of all; and then it became metrical merely to facilitate its congregational rendering. Calvin had determined to make the Psalter the praise . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 108–109: You Were Bought With A Price (1)
In reaction to the latest phase of the sexual revolution, in response to the discovery by a 5–4 majority of the Supreme Court of the United States of “right” to same-sex marriage, in reaction to the rise of a militant “transgender” (transsexual) movement and the normalization of homosexuality generally, it has become accepted wisdom in some quarters that sexual sin is no different than any other sin. Continue reading →
Bone Of His Bone, Flesh Of His Flesh
And they two shall be one flesh. They shall be one man, or, to use a common phrase, they shall constitute one person; which certainly would not hold true with regard to any other kind of relationship. All depends on this, that . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 105–107: You Shall Not Murder (2)
Imagine four American states utterly vacant. Since 1973 Americans have killed as many people as were killed during World War II. Continue reading →
Ambrose: Psalms Unite The Church
Psalms are song by emperors; the common people rejoice in them. Each man does his utmost in singing what will be a blessing to all. Psalms are sung in the home and rehearsed on the streets. The psalm is learned without labor . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 105–107: You Shall Not Murder (1)
The equivocal translation “you shall not kill” is a little confusing but it is odd that people should think that “you shall not kill” would be absolute. The very same Torah teaches that sometimes, in some cases, some people are to be put to death. This was taught even before the law given to Moses at Sinai. Continue reading →
Eusebius: The Command To Sing Psalms Is Universal
…the command to sing psalms in the name of the Lord was obeyed by everyone in every place: for the command to sing psalms is in force in all Churches which exist among the nations, not only for the Greeks but also . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 104: Authority And Submission (3)
Nevertheless, despite all our natural resistance to authority and despite our suspicion of the church the fact is that our Lord Jesus, whom we profess to love and whose Word we profess to believe, instituted the very visible church against which we so easily rebel. Continue reading →
Vos: Distinguishing Two Ages Is Not Platonism
If further inquiring into the characteristics of the aionion, still keeping its formal aspect rather than its substantial content in view, the first feature obtruding itself is that of the imperishableness, including the unchangeableness, of the things pertaining to it. Paul declares, . . . Continue reading →