The Necessity Of Comfort Americans know in their heart of hearts they are going to die but they do not like to admit it. It is a mark of our post-Christianity that this culture is so obsessed with youth and beauty. Most . . . Continue reading →
The Heidelberg Catechism, building on the breakthrough of the first stage of the Reformation, is organized in three parts. Remarkably, as basic an insight as this is, it continues to elude nearly all evangelicals and many ostensibly Reformed folk. This should not . . . Continue reading →
I met Brian and Carla Bywaters last week in Ponte Vedra, FL at the Gospel-Driven Life Conference hosted by PV PCA. They were enthusiastic about the conference. In our conversations he mentioned that he had set Question 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism . . . Continue reading →
Martin understands.
At DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed.
Most folk probably associate the Rolling Stones more with “Sympathy for the Devil,” than with historic Christianity, and few of us would expect to learn any theology from them but I noticed recently that in “Ventilator Blues” Mick and the lads hit . . . Continue reading →
Wikipedia, that ubiquitous source of unimpeachable scholarship, defines “consolation” as “something of value, when one fails to get something of higher value….” That is precisely the opposite of what John Calvin (1509–64) meant by “consolation.”For Calvin, the consolation that Christ gives to . . . Continue reading →
The doubts and fears of most Christians arise from hence because they have not a clear understanding of the difference between the covenant of grace and the covenant of works. There is nothing in the world would so satisfy the consciences of . . . Continue reading →
Part 1: Introduction to Calvin’s Life and His Own Need for Comfort I. Calvin’s Exegesis of Consolation (in Paul) In the first part we saw that Calvin was a pilgrim who himself needed the consolation of the gospel, given by the Spirit, . . . Continue reading →
II. His Theology of Consolation (1559 Institutes) In the previous installment we looked at the way Calvin read Paul’s epistles and how he drew from them a doctrine of consolation, of God’s presence with his people in Christ, by the Spirit, in . . . Continue reading →
Part 3: His Theology of Consolation in The Institutes. III. Consolation and Pastoral Ministry For Calvin, christian consolation is not only a theological reality but it is also the result of good pastoral practice. Christians often fail to appropriate the consolation they . . . Continue reading →
Part 4: Consolation And Pastoral Ministry IV. Consolation Preached In part one of this series we considered Calvin’s interpretation of several biblical passages on consolation. In part two we looked at how he harvested a theology of consolation from his exegetical work. . . . Continue reading →
Here are all the episodes of the Heidelcast. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe directly via RSS Call the Heidelphone anytime at (760) 618-1563. Leave a message and we may use it in a future broadcast. If you benefit from the Heidelcast please . . . Continue reading →
Wikipedia, that ubiquitous source of unimpeachable scholarship, defines “consolation” as “something of value, when one fails to get something of higher value….” That is precisely the opposite of what John Calvin (1509–64) meant by “consolation.”For Calvin, the consolation that Christ gives to his people, by the gospel, through the Spirit, is not second prize but to be valued above that which we lost. When we consider Calvin, “consolation” might not be the thing we first associate with him. The dominant perception of Calvin in our culture is that of a tyrannical, dyspeptic fellow, who delighted in nothing more than to dispatch a few heretics to the flames before breakfast. That caricature, however, was one drawn by his enemies during his lifetime and sadly, despite the facts, it has stuck for a variety of reasons. Continue reading →
One of the animating forces that drove the Reformation was problem and doctrine of assurance. In the medieval church (as in the Roman communion and in some Protestant quarters today) it was ordinarily impossible for a Christian to have confidence that he had been saved and was accepted by God. Tragically, one finds this sort of approach among some evangelicals and even among some ostensibly Reformed writers. Continue reading →
This is a classic case of begging the question, i.e., assuming what has to be proved. People regularly say that amillennialism is “pessimistic” but postmillennialism is “optimistic.” Who is pessimistic about what? Define pessimism. Who says? By what standard? I say that amillennialism . . . Continue reading →