Originally posted Oct 29, 2008. Revised April 4, 2011. In the modern period, particularly in the 20th century, many Reformed folk became uneasy with the traditional Reformed language concerning “natural law.” As one who began to enter the Reformed world circa 1980 . . . Continue reading →
Twofold Kingdom
Audio: John Bolt on What America Owes Jesus as Lord-Theocratic Fears and Patriotic Ambitions
It’s been delightful to have Calvin Theological Seminary prof, John Bolt, on campus for the last two days. He spoke Wednesday on Herman Bavinck and yesterday on “quiet theocracy.”
Problems with the Presidential Prayer Breakfast
Let me be clear: I am not opposed to presidents, prayer, or breakfast. I’m not opposed to praying presidents having breakfast. I’m not opposed to prayer before breakfast. All these are good things. The annual presidential prayer breakfast, however, is more than . . . Continue reading →
Must We Change Our Theology to Vote for Mitt?
Veteran readers of the HB may remember that I expressed concern in 2009 over a comment by William Evans, The Younts Professor of Bible and Religion at Erskine College, about what he called the need for a “decisive break with the ordo . . . Continue reading →
2K-Kuyperian Rapprochement at Covenant College
Mike Horton, my colleague at WSC, spoke recently at Covenant College (Lookout Mt, GA) on the connections between a two-kingdoms analysis and the various neo-Kuyperian approaches to the relations between Christ and culture. Matt Tuininga was there and filed this report at . . . Continue reading →
William Perkins: Two Kingdoms As The Answer To Monasticism
This serves to decry unto us the blind error of many ages before us, wherein it has been thought, and is by Papists at this day, to be a state of perfection, to live as a monk or hermit out of all . . . Continue reading →
Of Hotels and 2 Kingdoms
An HB Classic
In view of the Oregon case in which a baker faces prosecution for refusing to make a wedding cake for a homosexual couple, it seemed like a good idea to re-post this. The original context was the challenge that there’s no good . . . Continue reading →
How Christians Are And Aren’t Distinguished From The Rest Of Humanity
For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of humanity by country, language, or custom. 2 For nowhere do they live in cities of their own, nor do they speak some unusual dialect, nor do they practice an eccentric way of life…4For . . . Continue reading →
Perkins On The Mediatorial Kingship Of Christ
Therefore Christ, as he is God, has under him, emperors, kings, princes to be his vicegerents; who therefore are called gods (Ps 82:1). But as he is Mediator, i.e., a priest, prophet, and king of the church, he has no vicegerent, vicar, . . . Continue reading →
Ridderbos: The Kingdom Of God Is Not Brought By Human Action
[The] absolutely theocentric character of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ preaching…implies that its coming consists entirely in God’s own action and is perfectly dependent on his activity. The kingdom of God is not a state or condition, not a society created . . . Continue reading →
Surrounded By Constantinians
There is some excitement in some quarters over the question of whether the United Reformed Churches confess the revised or unrevised version of the Belgic Confession. There is no evidence from the minutes of the URCs, of which I’m aware, that speaks . . . Continue reading →
Jack and the Kingdom of God (Updated)
In a piece that appears in Christianity Today online Ted Olson argues that a plan, which was cancelled, to free the Korean hostages in Afghanistan by taking hostage the families of the kidnappers is a bad idea because the Apostle Paul wouldn’t . . . Continue reading →
Variety Of Reformed Views On Mediatorial Kingship
Gillespie’s view of Christ’s kingship in relation to the nations is extensively set out in the pamphlets he wrote an answer to the publications of the Rev. Thomas Coleman, an Assembly commissioner and rector of St. Peter’s Church, Cornhill, in London. Coleman . . . Continue reading →
Rutherford On The Mediatorial Kingship Of Christ
Christ is the head and only head of the Church, for by what title Christ is before all things, he in whom all things consist, and is the beginning, the first borne from the dead, and hath the preeminence in all things; . . . Continue reading →
Things That Don’t Help The 2K Discussion (Updated)
R. C. Sproul, Jr published a post on Thursday 26 September answering the question, “What is 2k Theology?” (HT: David Murray). It gets some things right, some of what it says is a matter of opinion and debate, and some of what . . . Continue reading →
The Βασιλεια του Θεου as a Clue to the Social Program of the Apostles
Acts on the Kingdom of God: An HB Classic
Sunday night I heard a sermon on Acts 28 during which my attention was drawn to the way Luke uses the expression, “βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ” (Kingdom of God). I was struck by eschatological character of Luke’s conception (and by implication, Paul’s conception, . . . Continue reading →
Constantine’s Complexity
Constantine lived his entire life within the imperial court, which he saw as the central institution of Roman life. He believed that the emperor’s job was to defend the empire from external foes while creating a more just and ordered society for . . . Continue reading →
Helm: Transformationalism Has Status Of A Private Opinion
In the dust raised by the current renewed appreciation of the Reformed doctrine of the two kingdoms, through the work of David Van Drunen and others, it is sometimes asked, in adopting the doctrine of the two kingdoms, what becomes of the . . . Continue reading →
Black Friday, Subjectivism, And Christian Liberty
On 24 November, the Roman Bishop, Francis, issued a document, Evangelium Gaudii which the Vatican classifies as an “Apostolic Exhortation.” It’s a book, a really long (217 pages) sermon. Rome is a complicated creature with seemingly endless categories of offices, canons, decrees, laws, . . . Continue reading →
A Cross And The Twofold Kingdom
The cross atop Mt Soledad, in LaJolla has been in place since 1954 but it has been the subject of controversy and continuous and tortuous legal wrangling since at least 1989, when two atheists and the “Society of Separationists” sued in federal court . . . Continue reading →