One need not be a Christian to observe truths about the way organizations work. Those true observations are what I mean by “common” (not neutral). They are true because they are observations about the nature of God’s general process, even if they . . . Continue reading →
Confessionalism
Hegel in the PCA?
It seems like a dialectic. It’s almost a minimalist definition of “Reformed” and Darryl has some interesting analysis of it.
Office Hours: Darryl Hart on the American Church and Confessionalism
The latest episode of Office Hours is out via iTunes and RSS. Darryl Hart talks about his journey to the Reformed confession and discusses the relations between confessionalism and the American church. This episode is available now on iTunes. It should be . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Godfrey on the Myth of Influence
The latest episode of Office Hours is out via iTunes and on the website. In this episode, Office Hours talks with Dr W. Robert Godfrey about the “myth of influence” and how that myth shapes our attitudes and behaviors. Read this article. . . . Continue reading →
Pastor Dave is Looking for Courageous Calvinism in the PCA
He writes: “I’m not sure that there are many in the PCA with this conviction. We are going with the flow, paddling with the current of broad evangelicalism seeking relevance, influence, and recognition. And sadly, to the extent we pursue those things . . . Continue reading →
Ross Douthat On The Virtues Of Confessionalism
For evangelicals, it means thinking more seriously about ecclesiology and what it will take to sustain Christianity across generations. Promise Keepers, Campus Crusade for Christ, and other parachurch groups have been important to evangelicalism. But “parachurch” makes sense over the long term . . . Continue reading →
The Healthiest Path
I myself am not sure where conservative Presbyterianism is headed. I do hold to the view that the healthiest path for conservative Presbyterianism is not celebrity speakers and theologians but churches where worship is lean, teaching confessional, and government procedural. Slow and . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 13: Why the Focus on the Confessions?
An HB Classic
Both Nancy and William Twisse (and the latter is particularly remarkable since, as the first prolocutor of the Westminster Assembly, he’s been dead for centuries) both wrote to the HB sometime back to ask how Reformed confessionalists relate the doctrine of sola . . . Continue reading →
Three Ways of Relating to American Religion
An HB Classic
Darryl Hart has weighed in at DRC regarding the controversy at WTS/P. He is responding to a couple of blogs and to a post by Carl Trueman to which I replied a month ago. Darryl has pointed out for a years now, . . . Continue reading →
Carnell’s Ironic Critique Of Machen
The mentality of fundamentalism sometimes crops up where one would least expect it; and there is no better illustration of this than the inimitable New Testament scholar, J. Gresham Machen. Machen was an outspoken critic of the fundamentalist movement. He argued with . . . Continue reading →
Let The Cool Kids Be Cool
…Since the Great Awakening, many American Protestants have allowed market forces to dictate how Christianity is presented to the watching world. That faith once delivered to the saints was repackaged for the Second Great Awakening, kicked up a notch for the great . . . Continue reading →
Refusing To Land Is Not Humility
I use this analogy when explaining to my students why they have to take positions on difficult theological issues: women in ministry, image of God, election, etc. Every year I have at least some students who don’t want to land the plane. . . . Continue reading →
What Must A Christian Believe?
The questions often arise, “what must a Christian believe to be saved”? or “what are the essentials?” Most often the broad evangelical answer is “not much.” The tendency is toward minimalism in doctrine (belief) and practice. In some circles it is enough . . . Continue reading →
Sacraments Versus Selective Piety
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 →
Audio: How Not To Be A Heretic
You and I are not the first ones to read the Bible. Christians as individuals and the church as a corporation has been hearing, meditating upon, and reading God’s Word for its entire history. One of the principal fruits of that corporate . . . Continue reading →
Machen’s Warrior Children, Ed Stetzer, And Beth Moore
John Frame first published his essay “Machen’s Warrior Children” in 2003, in a Festscrhfit (a volume of congratulatory essays usually in honor of a 65th birthday or a retirement) for Alister McGrath. The essay was ostensibly a historical analysis of what happened . . . Continue reading →
Three Vital Questions For the PCA In 2021
There are three great questions to be faced by the PCA in 2021: Continue reading
Why Are Confessionalists Just A Niche?
That was one of the questions I asked in Recovering the Reformed Confession. Continue reading
More Thoughts About The PCA: Liberal v Conservative Is The Wrong Paradigm
I have had some interesting and illuminating responses to my analysis and critique of the anonymous “Open Letter” (OL) to the PCA published last week. Continue reading
Confessional Concerns And Conflict In The PCA With Presbycast
As always good, Presbyterian, fun was had with PCA Ruling Elder Brad “Chortles” Isbell and Wresbyterian on Presbycast last night as we discussed the Open Letter, the essay by the founder of the National Partnership, and the status and function of the . . . Continue reading →