No truth today seems more self-evident in our culture than the fact that God is love. But this is not understood in its biblical setting where John immediately defines the nature of this love by saying that Christ was sent “to be . . . Continue reading →
Ben Is A Straight Shooter
We live in a time when telling the truth is not fashionable, when it’s considered a little gauche (unsophisticated, awkward) to speak the truth plainly. More than that it’s considered a little old-fashioned to talk about truth at all. As far as . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Hywel Jones On The Role Of The Holy Spirit In Sanctification
The Holy Spirit has sometimes been described as the forgotten member of the Trinity. Whether that is true it is important to recognize the Spirit’s role in progressive sanctification, that gradual, gracious renewal to the image of Christ. He is the Spirit . . . Continue reading →
“Calvinism” Is Hip Again (Again)
Just when one might have thought that the Young, Restless, and Reformed movement(s) might be waning—they aren’t getting any younger—comes a piece in last Friday’s New York Times by Mark Oppenheimer on the Calvinist revival among evangelicals. Of course it begins with TULIP . . . Continue reading →
It’s Not Divine Simplicity And Complexity. It’s Just Simplicity. Period.
In earlier generations simplicity was regarded as an indispensable aspect of an orthodox doctrine of God. Anglicans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists all confessed that God is “without parts” and the Belgic Confession even made divine simplicity its opening affirmation: “We all believe . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 57: Why We Can’t Move On (3)
Revisionism isn’t always a bad thing. I am a revisionist myself. I’ve been trying to help people see the history of Reformed theology rather differently from the way it was often presented from the middle of the 19th century through the 1970s. . . . Continue reading →
“Did God Leave Me When I Went To Seminary?”
Ryan at Sola Gratia raises a question that many first-semester seminary students ask. In essence the question is this: Before I came to seminary I had an active devotional life and a vital, immediate, experience of God and now things have changed. . . . Continue reading →
Ironically, Gnosticism Is A Nasty Business
In preparing to reach CH601 (Ancient Church) this fall, I’ve been reading a lot of primary and secondary texts that I’ve not read or that I’ve not read for a long time. One of the more interesting has been Simon Gathercole’s book, The . . . Continue reading →
Todd Is Recovering The Reformed Confession
From the end of 2008 to 2013 I was the lead teaching pastor of a large non-denominational church in the northeast. During my time there I was told by various elders to lead the church in a more “broadly evangelical” direction. By . . . Continue reading →
A Peevish, Grudging Rancor Against Men
A peevish, grudging rancor against men has been one of the most unpalatable and unjust features of second- and third-wave feminism. Men’s faults, failings and foibles have been seized on and magnified into gruesome bills of indictment. Ideologue professors at our leading . . . Continue reading →
Rational Responses To Attacks From Advocates Of Homosexual Marriage
Attack 1: You’re intolerant–you reject me just because I’m different from you. Reply: Let’s be honest with each other. We both know you’re the one who rejects what is different from yourself. You reject the challenge of the other sex. Attack 2: . . . Continue reading →
The Danger Of A Falling Church
If possible, I wish to raise an alarm without being an alarmist. The Reformed theologian, J. H. Alsted (1588-1638) said that the doctrine of justification is the article of faith by which the church stands or falls. Of course, he was only . . . Continue reading →
Happy New Year From The Heidelblog
Since the revival of the HB 2.0 in September 2012 there have been nearly a million views. This year alone there have been almost 200,000 thousand readers (and listeners) from 185 countries (including Togo and Mauritania). There have been nearly 8,000 comments. . . . Continue reading →
Beyond Plagiarism: The Politics Of A Cult
Wilson was gracious to me in all of these private interactions, but he made it clear that if I disagreed with him publicly I would be undermining his work for God’s kingdom. As he wrote in one e-mail, “either you remain out . . . Continue reading →
Top 10 Posts For 2013
It’s that time again. This is the year that was with the top HB posts (with some comment) for 2013. As always thanks for making the HB a regular part of your day and thanks to all those who made the coffer . . . Continue reading →
Gottschalk Confessio Brevior
Gottschalk/Godescalc (c. 804–69) Preface by R. Scott Clark Born in Bern (not far from Geneva), his parents entered him into an Benedictine monastery. When it was time for him to become a deacon, he tried to leave the monastery and was opposed by his abbot. Later, . . . Continue reading →
An Annotated Reformed Reading List (Updated)
From time to time students ask what books must they have in their libraries before they leave seminary. This list contains my suggestions. This could be much longer, but it would be less useful. Since I teach historical theology, this list is weighted with those sorts of texts. Continue reading →
Office Hours: Mike Horton On Sanctification And Justification
The core question of the Reformation was this: how can a sinner be right with God? The medieval church had concluded that he cannot, that, before God can accept someone, a person must be entirely sanctified and sanctification is a process initiated . . . Continue reading →
My Favorite Atheist Lesbian Author: A Case Study In Providence
I first encountered Camille Paglia in 1991, just after she had published the essay, “The Joy of Presbyterian Sex.” Blame Bob Godfrey. I was pastoring a church in Kansas City and happened to be visiting Escondido and stopped by Bob’s office. He . . . Continue reading →
Calvin On Instruments In The New Covenant: Restoring Shadows
It is evident that the Psalmist here expresses the vehement and ardent affection which the faithful ought to have in praising God, when he enjoins musical instruments to be employed for this purpose. He would have nothing omitted by believers which tends . . . Continue reading →