Mr. White, Mr. Black, and Mr. Gray Cornelius Van Til used to write about Mr. White (the confessionally Reformed fellow), Mr. Black (the Roman Catholic fellow), and Mr. Gray (or Grey, the Arminian fellow). His point was that, on some issues, the . . . Continue reading →
reformation
Reformation Day 2022: The Antidote For A Fearful People
On reflection, it is rather amazing that an obscure Augustinian monk from a German backwater, teaching in an obscure school, was able to turn the Holy Roman Empire on its ear. Just as amazing is the fact that the greatest known powers . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast For July 17, 2022: Every Tribe, Tongue, And Nation (8): First Head Of Doctrine (5)
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on the the Canons of Dort where we are looking at the First Head of Doctrine of the Canons of Dort, articles 12 and 13. The Synod was responding to the problem of assurance. . . . Continue reading →
Imprisoned And Faithful: A Letter From Marie Durand
[Marie Durand] would be born in 1711 in Bouchet-de-Pranles into a community with a hoary past of linguistic, cultural, political, and religious autonomy. She was born into a church whose beliefs and practices were deeply rooted in the sixteenth-century Reformation and the . . . Continue reading →
Commencement
It is graduation season. This academic year (and the one preceding it) has been rough on students and parents alike. If you have not been paying attention here are a few examples of what we’ve learned is taking place in your local . . . Continue reading →
“Edwards Injects Into Faith” In The Act Of Justification The Virtues Of The Christian Life
Edwards is very clear that faith does not justify a believer as a virtue or as forming any part of the righteousness which is the basis or ground of God’s judicial verdict. In this, he clearly stands with the Reformed tradition over . . . Continue reading →
A Tour Of The Reformed World In Uganda
After my lecture in Covenant Theology class, a student, John,1 came up to speak with me. He shared that he was having trouble paying his fees, which is a common struggle post COVID. But he was having trouble for a more particular . . . Continue reading →
Too Late For This (Western) “Holy Week” But There Is Always Next Year: Rome Offers A Full Indulgence
A plenary indulgence can be obtained during Holy Week for oneself or for a deceased person if one of the following works established by the Church is performed. A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits . . . Continue reading →
Brothers, The Time Is Now
In 1643, George Gillespie traveled to London as one of the eleven Scots chosen to participate in the Westminster Assembly. Initially tasked by Parliament to revise the 39 Articles of the Church of England, one of the most contentious topics of the . . . Continue reading →
Stop Blaming Your Problems On Luther
…Yet I dissent from Chalk’s genealogy of modernity. He goes on to argue that this notion of the autonomous, emotivist self can be traced to Martin Luther. In part this is because Chalk depends upon Jacques Maritain’s Three Reformers: Luther, Descartes, Rousseau . . . Continue reading →
Happy Reformation Day! On Sale For $5.00 Until Monday: Still Protesting
RHB is selling D. G. Hart, Still Protesting for $5.00 until Monday. That’s a discount of $13.00. See the resources below for a review and an interview with Darryl about this volume. See the resources below for a cornucopia of other resources . . . Continue reading →
A Reformation Doctrine To Be Recovered: Every Christian Has A Vocation
Finally, this point is to be noted: the Lord bids each one of us in all life’s actions to look to his calling [vocatio].8 For he knows with what great restlessness human nature flames, with what fickleness it is borne hither and . . . Continue reading →
Stop Saying It Please
Reformed people need to stop saying that the distinction between law and gospel is “Lutheran” and that the Reformed did not (and do not) make that distinction. Continue reading
Your Ethnic Identity Is Important But It Is Not Ultimate
Christians are not Gnostics. Against the Gnostics, Christians have, since the first quarter of the second century, affirmed the essential, inherent goodness of creation. Against the Gnostics and Marcionites we also affirmed the unity of the covenant of grace. Both of those truths help us to address the problem of ethnic tensions in Christ’s church. Continue reading
New Resource Page: On Christian Liberty
The doctrine of Christian liberty was one of the principal achievements of the Protestant Reformation. The medieval church had come to think that there are two streams of authority, Scripture and an alleged unwritten apostolic tradition curated by the church. Over time . . . Continue reading →
Luther Delivered Us From The Doctrine Of Purgatory But Critical Theory Will Have It Reinstated
R. Scott Clark, professor of church history at Westminster Seminary California in Escondido, California, told Campus Reform that “Dr. Thompson calls Lutherans to repent for ‘systemic racism’ and takes for granted that we should all accept this new, rather radical redefinition of racism which, in her account, entails a new, decided un-Lutheran definition of repentance.” 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 →
ICYMI: Indulgences Are Still A Thing In Rome (And The Reformation Still Matters)
The Reformation was a complex event, which happened for many reasons but the triggering event on which many have focused over the centuries was Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses (1517). Though provocative, the theses were not themselves all that radical. Luther’s discovery of the . . . Continue reading →