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 →
Twofold Kingdom
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 offices, canons, decrees, laws, and . . . 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 →
A Cross And A Twofold Kingdom (2)
In Part 1 I sketched the history and current legal status of the Mt Soledad Cross and I indicated some ambivalence about that use of the cross. On the one hand, it seems clear that some opposition to the cross is less . . . Continue reading →
Is The URCNA Going Forward, Backward, Or Sideways?
Years ago a Protestant Reformed minister told me that the URCNA was nothing more than the CRCNA of the 1950s. I took exception to that statement but it did make me wonder how much truth was in it. Would the URC be . . . Continue reading →
But Is It Biblical?
Anthony Bradley has posted a provocative essay arguing that church planting is insufficient for social change. He appeals to his own experience and to the history of education and Christendom. His post begs some questions and raises others. As to the former, . . . Continue reading →
God’s Twofold Kingdom in Belgic Confession Art. 36
By using this language, the Belgic Confession grounds the civil government in God’s goodness, not his grace, in creation, not redemption. God rules over all things, but in two different ways, as the two kingdoms doctrine of the Reformers expressed. This doctrine . . . Continue reading →
Law, Wisdom, And Charity: Life In A Twofold Kingdom
Under the subject line “2k” P writes, If Abraham the sojourner had no trouble making secular deals with people in Canaan, why did he refuse the offer of possessions from the king of Sodom? What would have been so wrong if the . . . Continue reading →
Melville: Two Kings, Two Kingdoms
Sir, we will always humbly reverence your majesty in public; but since we have this occasion to be with your majesty in private, and since you are brought in extreme danger both of your life and crown, and along with you the . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 50: Christ Reigns Now (2)
Last time we looked briefly at some of the reasons some evangelicals (Dispensationalists) have had difficulty with the biblical and historic Christian doctrine that Jesus is presently reigning over all things and particularly his church. That view is in contrast to the . . . Continue reading →
Congratulations To Senator Sasse
“Pray for those in authority over you.”