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 →
Heidelberg Catechism
What is Your Only Comfort? (2)
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 →
Will God Punish Disobedience? (HC 10, pt 1)
10. Will God suffer such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished? By no means,1 but He is terribly displeased with our inborn as well as our actual sins, and will punish them in just judgment in time and eternity, as He has . . . Continue reading →
(Q. 10, pt. 2) Will God Punish Disobedience?
10. Will God suffer such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished?By no means,1 but He is terribly displeased with our inborn as well as our actual sins, and will punish them in just judgment in time and eternity, as He has declared: . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg Catechism 10 (4) Hell on Earth?
10. Will God suffer such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished? By no means,1 but He is terribly displeased with our inborn as well as our actual sins, and will punish them in just judgment in time and eternity, as He has . . . Continue reading →
HC Question #1 Set to Contemporary Tune
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 →
The Freedom of the Divine Will (Q. 12, pt 2)
12. Since then by the righteous judgment of God we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, how may we escape this punishment and be again received into favor? God wills that His justice be satisfied;1 therefore we must make full satisfaction to the . . . Continue reading →
When Sin is Sin and Grace is Grace
13. Can we ourselves make this satisfaction. By no means, on the contrary, we daily increase our guilt.1 1 Job 9:2, 3. Job 15:15,16. Matt 6:12. * Matt 16:26. Only Christianity accounts for sin.
Our Bloody Religion (HC 14) Pt 1
14. Can any mere creature make satisfaction for us? None, for first, God will not punish any other creature for the sin which man committed;1 and further, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin 2 and . . . Continue reading →
PCUSA Presbytery Proposes Revisions to Adopted Translation
Thanks to Stephen Ley for alerting me to this interesting discussion. I don’t pretend to understand the intricacies of PCUSA (the mainline, largest and most liberal Presbyterian body in North America). What is interesting about this sort of argument in this context is that . . . Continue reading →
More On the Proposed Revision to the PCUSA Translation of the Heidelberg Catechism
Thanks to Justin Taylor for pointing me to Robert Gagnon’s brief essay here. On one level the argument isn’t really about fidelity to the original German and Latin texts but about the meaning of the proof texts cited in HC Q. 87, . . . Continue reading →
Our Bloody Religion Pt 2 (HC 14)
Part 1 of this post. 14. Can any mere creature make satisfaction for us? None, for first, God will not punish any other creature for the sin which man committed;1 and further, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal . . . Continue reading →
Our Bloody Religion pt 3 (HC 14)
Part two of this series is here. 14. Can any mere creature make satisfaction for us?
A Historical, Theological, Pastoral, and Polemical Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism
Note 22 April 2008: What follows is very rough draft of the beginning of a commentary on the HC. This material may not be published, re-published or distributed without the express permission of the author. Introduction It is the great need of . . . Continue reading →
Ursinus on True Thankfulness
Note: Zacharias Ursinus was the primary author of the Heidelberg Catechism. The comments below come from his lectures on the catechism that were authorized by the Elector Palatinate, Frederick III. Happy Thanksgiving. § Having now considered the misery of man, and his . . . Continue reading →
Zwingli and the Reformed Confessions on the Supper
The question came up on the PB whether Zwingli gets a bum rap on the Supper. It’s true that Zwingli has on the receiving end of the stick. This has provoked a reaction, led most recently by W. P. (Peter) Stephens in . . . Continue reading →
The Benefits of Christ's Conception and Birth
At the RB
Published Today: Ames, A Sketch of the Christian's Catechism
It’s volume 1 in the Classic Reformed Theology series. Thanks to Todd, Jay, Joel, and to the editorial committee for their work toward getting this series off the ground. Stay tuned for more details about the next two volumes, which are already . . . Continue reading →
Happy Birthday to the Heidelberg Catechism
Thanks to the Wittenberg Door for reminding us that the first edition of Heidelberg Catechism (Heidelberger Katechismus) was published on this day (19 January) in 1563. You can read the catechism for yourself and about it here. The catechism was written to . . . Continue reading →
Ames on the Heidelberg Catechism is In!
If you love Reformed theology (whether from Europe or from the UK) you will love this book. William Ames was probably the greatest student of William Perkins. If you identify with the Heidelberg Catechism, if you are looking for resources for understanding . . . Continue reading →