Federal Vision

With The Presbycast On The Federal Vision

by on October 21, 2016

The self-described “Federal Vision” has been with us, in its most recent incarnation, since about 1974, when Norman Shepherd began to teach that we are justified through faith and works. That’s right. A professor of theology, in an ostensibly confessional school, openly . . . Continue reading →

Was Herman Witsius A Federal Visionist?

by on April 1, 2017 | 10 Comments

One of the distinctive errors of the self-described Federal Vision theology is the doctrine that, in baptism, all the benefits of the covenant of grace are conferred temporarily and conditionally.1 Thus, they claim, there is such a thing as a “covenantal” (temporary, . . . Continue reading →

Initial Justification Sola Fide And Final Salvation Through Faithfulness Is Federal Vision Theology

by on November 8, 2017 | 8 Comments

“[T]his double justification doctrine (initial justification by faith alone, followed by a second justification according to works in the eschatological judgment) is re-emerging as a “consensus position” among today’s leading evangelical and Reformed biblical theologians. Rich Lusk, “The Reformed Doctrine of Justification . . . Continue reading →

Principles Of Spiritual Self-Defense

by on January 26, 2018 | 20 Comments

My first interaction with the theology of Norman Shepherd probably came in seminary. He was dismissed from his position as a professor in a Reformed and Presbyterian seminary, where he taught the course on the doctrine of salvation (soteriology) in 1981. I . . . Continue reading →

Baptists And Federal Visionists Together?

by on March 8, 2018 | 28 Comments

Let us define our terms. A Baptist is someone who believes that baptism is only validly administered to professing believers. He denies that the infant children of believers are the proper subjects of baptism. A Federal Visionist is someone who, among other . . . Continue reading →

Of Nice And Men

by on July 23, 2018 | 11 Comments

In a recent foreword to a book advocating Norman Shepherd’s peculiar brand of covenant theology, John Frame attacks some of Shepherd’s critics as “stupid, irresponsible and divisive.” Apparently, someone complained about Frame’s lack of civility so he issued an apology that the . . . Continue reading →

One Practical Benefit Of Remembering The Synod Of Dort

by on November 11, 2018 | 5 Comments

Eight years ago my colleague at Abounding Grace Radio, Chris Gordon, wrote some important essays calling attention to the parallels between contemporary Federal Vision movement and the Arminian movement at the Synod of Dort. He was quite right to do so. Following . . . Continue reading →

Canons of Dort (32): Our Sovereign God Uses Means To Encourage Us

by on June 6, 2019

For perhaps 20 years we have been in the midst of a movement which Collin Hansen (2008) described as Young, Restless, and Reformed. Others have spoken of the “New Calvinists” (see the resources below). The one doctrine that animates these movements is the sovereignty of God. For many American evangelicals it is a given that God has his opinion and we have ours. Continue reading →

Straight Out Of Münster

by on June 10, 2019 | 5 Comments

I think I first read about “web logs” about 1995, when I was teaching at Wheaton College. Then they were the domain of people writing about what they had for breakfast. They were daily, public journals where people recorded online their most . . . Continue reading →

Just In Time For Reformation Day: The Return Of The Federal Visionists (And Their Allies)

by on November 2, 2019 | 6 Comments

Most of the confessional Reformed denominations took formal positions or at least received study papers rejecting the self-described Federal Vision theology a little more than twelve years ago. Because the original debate is so far in the rear view mirror, it seems . . . Continue reading →