Tom Wright is just making up stuff about the history of Reformed theology. He’s admitted that he doesn’t know much about the history of biblical exegesis beyond Calvin and one or two others. It’s pretty clear that he doesn’t know much about . . . Continue reading →
john piper
Calvin in the Hands of Anglican Revisers (1)
N. T. (Tom) Wright has published a new volume articulating again his proposed revision of the way Paul’s doctrine of justification should be understood. The volume is Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision (IVP Academic, 2009). In the preface he indicates that . . . Continue reading →
A Gentle Rebuke to Brother John (Updated)
UPDATE 12 October 2009 The remarks that follow highlight areas of significant disagreement so let me preface my remarks thus: I am thankful for the good work that John Piper has done. I’m most thankful for his clear and strong stand in . . . Continue reading →
Helm Reviews Wright
At Helm’s Deep
Interpreting Providence
Apparently a bizarre and unforeseen tornado struck Minneapolis recently. According to this post by John Piper, it hit an ELCA (mainline) Lutheran Church just as they were about to consider ecclesiastical policy regarding homosexuality. John offers a somewhat restrained interpretation of providence, . . . Continue reading →
Horton Comments on Warren at DGM
Nail, meet hammer.
Is "Desiring God" A New Law?
Darryl Hart writes, I have nothing personal against John Piper. I believe him to be basically sound theologically, though I wish he were a confessional Reformed Protestant. And his earnestness is truly impressive. I do not sense that he is faking what . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast Episode 3b: Follow Up to DGM (Part 2)
Heidelcast episode #3: A Gentle Rebuke to Brother John (pt 2)
Is John Piper Reformed? Or Holding The Coalition Together (Updated)
This morning my friend Kevin DeYoung (listen to the Office Hours interview with Kevin here) makes some arguments in defense of a broader definition of the adjective Reformed. This question is at the heart of why the HB exists and and why I wrote . . . Continue reading →
On Traveling From Münster To Geneva
In 1535 the Reformation was about 14 years old. The Protestants had gained some legal status within the Empire but its existence was by no means secure. Internally it was wracked with dissension over the moral and theological implications of the doctrine . . . Continue reading →
Young, Restless, And New School
All of this is to say that the New Calvinism looks a lot like the old New School Presbyterianism with a Baptist and charismatic flair to it. Piper chose not to deal with this issue between the Old and the New just . . . Continue reading →
“Final Salvation” Through Faith AND Fruit Is Not Reformation Doctrine
John Piper, “Does God Really Save Us By Faith Alone?” (September 25, 2017)
One Of The Root Causes Of The Current Controversy Over Salvation Sola Fide
John Piper, Foreword to Daniel Fuller, Law and Gospel: Contrast or Continuum? (1980) (HT: Pat Abendroth)
Initial Justification Sola Fide And Final Salvation Through Faithfulness Is Federal Vision Theology
“[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 →
Will We Be Finally “Saved” By Faith Alone (Sola Fide)?
The Scriptures simply do not support the inference that there are two stages of salvation and that our putative “future salvation” is contingent upon sanctification. Saying that our future sanctification is “decisively” wrought by God does not alleviate the problem. The whole construct rests on the premise that so long as we assert divine sovereignty we may say, more or less, whatever we please. Continue reading →
Bible Presbyterian Church: We Reject A Final Justification Through Works
In every generation, the doctrine of justification by faith alone comes under attack. As the heart of the gospel, the doctrine of justification is most fundamental to the definition of salvation and any adequate understanding of the atoning work of the Lord . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast Minute: The Federal Vision Is A False Gospel
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 149: Q & A On How Pray, When To Drop The H Bomb, What Did OT Believers Know, And Why Final Justification Through Good Works Is Bad News
Now sanitized for your listening safety, the Heidelcast is back with episode 149 in which we take questions from Lancaster, PA, Houston, TX, Cork, Ireland, and Belfast, UK. The Heidelcast is a global podcast. As always we had some good and challenging . . . Continue reading →
Piper’s Rejection Of The Gratitude Ethic Is A Rejection Of The Reformation
The magisterial Protestant Churches, i.e., the Lutherans and the Reformed, agreed that salvation (justification, sanctification, and glorification) is by divine favor alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), in Christ alone. These convictions were essential to the Reformation but those convictions . . . Continue reading →
New: Resources On The Doctrine Of Justification
According to J. H. Alsted (1588–1638), “the article justification is said to be the article of the standing or falling of the church.” It was said to be such by the confessionally Reformed and Lutheran alike. The language was probably borrowed from . . . Continue reading →