74. Are infants also to be baptized? Yes, for since they belong to the covenant and people of God as well as their parents, and since redemption from sin through the blood of Christ, and the Holy Spirit who works faith, are . . . Continue reading →
An appropriately rich Reformed sacramentalism also renders Ash Wednesday irrelevant. Infant baptism emphasizes better than anything else outside of the preached Word the priority of God’s grace and the helplessness of sinless humanity in the face of God. The Lord’s Supper, both . . . Continue reading →
Kevin DeYoung writes about a conference just held at his congregation with Collin Hansen. He makes a couple of points to which I want to respond. As a minister who has spent a fair bit of time calling people to Christ and . . . Continue reading →
When Martin Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms (1521), on the day after he asked for time to think, his examiner asked whether all the books stacked on the table were his. Luther began to answer by distinguishing between the various . . . Continue reading →
This year marks the 395th anniversary of the publication of the Canons of the Synod of Dort. They were published on May 9, 1619. Canons are synodical rulings on a series of doctrinal issues and the synod published these decisions in response to . . . Continue reading →
Before there was Recovering the Reformed Confession, there was Recovering Mother Kirk a seminal book for all Reformed confessionalists who are looking for a way between revivalism and fundamentalism or between QIRC and QIRE. Darryl Hart published Recovering Mother Kirk just over . . . Continue reading →
Yet the leaders of the “young, restless, and reformed” have not typically allowed that concern to curtail their comments in the past. Many of them have been outspoken about the teaching of Joel Osteen, for example. In their early days, when the . . . Continue reading →
When most people think of the Reformed confession of the Christian faith they probably think about predestination. This is the minimalist definition that is often used. When evangelicals say, “I’m Reformed” what they often mean is, “I’ve adopted the doctrine of election” . . . Continue reading →
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 →
The ninth commandment is still a part of the moral law of God. It requires that all humans tell the truth. It says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” As my dear friend Don Treick always says, “It’s in . . . Continue reading →
For a fellow who has been dead since 1564 and for a movement that, socially considered, is little more than a demographic blip (about 500,000 people in North America) Calvin and Calvinism continue to receive a remarkable amount of attention in the . . . Continue reading →
Narcissus is a mythological story about a young man who became so fascinated with his own reflection it cost him his life. Narcissism is a psychological disorder that confuses subjective experience for objective reality. In Recovering the Reformed Confession I described the . . . Continue reading →
UPDATED 14:02 5 Feb 2013 So says YRR (Young, Restless, and Reformed) leader Mark Driscoll in an interview (regarding his forthcoming book) published by the TGC: Q: You observe that “appreciated people” exchange grumbling for praying, competing for celebrating, bitterness for thankfulness, . . . Continue reading →
The main concern is that TGC comprises folk who do not confess the same understanding of the church and sacraments. Continue reading →
For a fellow who has been dead since 1564 and for a movement that, socially considered, is little more than a demographic blip (about 500,000 people in North America) Calvin and Calvinism continue to receive a remarkable amount of attention in the . . . Continue reading →
For a fellow who has been dead since 1564 and for a movement that, socially considered, is little more than a demographic blip (about 500,000 people in North America) Calvin and Calvinism continue to receive a remarkable amount of attention in the . . . Continue reading →
Collin Hansen has a fascinating series of interviews on the Gospel Coalition today asking a variety of pastors whether they allow those who make no Christian profession, who regard themselves as non-Christians, non-believers, those we used to call “heathen” or “pagans” to . . . Continue reading →
Andrée Seu of WORLD Magazine made a boo boo. She’s supposed to say that, as an evangelical, she disapproves of Mormonism but the temperature of Glen Beck’s religious fervor is so high that it wins the day. She writes:
Too soon? Bad taste? Perhaps but so is suggesting that God might have a body (see Most Moved Mover) and that the future is “genuinely open” to God. As soon as I read of Pinnock’s death in Christianity Today the first thing . . . Continue reading →
There is a generally fair piece on the resurgence of interest in Calvin and in aspects of his theology among evangelicals by Daniel Burke of the Religious News Service. It is better than most pieces as Burke took the time to interview . . . Continue reading →