His teaching is a subtle form of legalism and eventually is “another gospel”. —D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Continue reading →
Norman Shepherd
Lloyd-Jones Against Shepherd: Complete Statement
He even talks of eschatological justification and regards it as something that is not complete until the judgment…He does not recognize that justification is entirely God’s forensic act of declaring we are just because he has imputed to us Christ righteousness. The result is no one could ever bring against Shepherd the charge brought against Paul in Rom. 6:1—Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Continue reading →
Should I Buy It? A Book Review
Frequently I receive the question in my inbox: “Should I buy this book?” What I would like to say is, “Yes, buy every book but don’t buy every book you buy.” I think it is a good idea to own and read . . . Continue reading →
Justified Through Our Faithfulness?
Introduction As I mentioned in an earlier post in Romans 2:13 Paul writes, “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified” (ESV).1 The chapter begins with . . . Continue reading →
Sinclair Ferguson On Shepherd (1977)
…Dr. Shepherd makes no attempt to define his concept of covenant, and yet it is imperative, in view of its centrality to scripture, theology , and history, that this term should be defined, and used with the utmost precision. …He assumes that . . . Continue reading →
Forty Three Years Of Federal Vision Theology
On this date in 1546 Martin Luther completed his Christian pilgrimage on this earth. This year we are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (October 31, 1517). It’s appropriate then, that confessional Protestants do in our time what Luther did in . . . Continue reading →
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 →
Principles Of Spiritual Self-Defense
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 →
Clark Contra Shepherd (2001)
One of the gravest problems raised by Rev. Shepherd’s book, The Call of Grace is its refusal to honor the Biblical, confessional and Reformed theological distinction between Law and Gospel as expressed in the two covenants in the historia salutis. The covenant . . . Continue reading →
Resources On Norman Shepherd
Resources Explaining the Errors in the Theology of Norman Shepherd and in the So-Called Federal Vision Movement Continue reading →
Of Nice And Men
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 →
Godfrey on Shepherd In 1978
Editor’s Preface During the controversy at Westminster Seminary (Philadelphia), not only did faculty devote meetings to the highly objectionable views of Norman Shepherd, but they also wrote articles for the seminary’s theological journal and even used class lectures to counter arguments from . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast Minute: Understanding The Roots Of The Federal Vision
Resources Resources On The Federal Vision Theology Source episode: Heidelcast 55: Why We Can’t Move On (1) Should I Buy It? (1) Should I Buy It? (2) Resources On Norman Shepherd
Explaining the Nine Points of Synod Schereville
In 2007 the Synod the United Reformed Churches in North America adopted a statement of pastoral advice concerning the self-described “Federal Vision” theology. One of the main matters of business at Synod Schereville was to address an overture brought by Classis Michigan regarding the Federal Vision theology. As part of dealing with that overture Synod took two actions. First it re-affirmed and strengthened the language first adopted at Synod Calgary regarding justification by faith alone (sola fide). 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 →