Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
One striking aspect of the recent “Federal Vision” conflict in the various conservative micro-Reformed groups is a debate over what older theologians really meant and said. Examining the credentials of various people who speak with great assurance on these matters one sees repeatedly degrees in church/theology history studies. In fact,…
The Worship of the English Puritans by Horton Davies really valuable book for gaining historical perspective on the American Presbyterian scene. (I will note for the record that I don’t believe there is an objective definition for “puritan” and I wish historians would stop using it and instead speak of…
This is the conclusion to Frame’s discussion about historical/covenantal election in his The Doctrine of God (pp. 329-30): Historical election and eternal election are distinct, but they cannot be entirely separated. Note the following: 1. Both historical and eternal election are aspects of God’s saving purpose. The election of Israel…
From John Frame’s The Doctrine of God : So although the election of Israel is by grace, there is an important place for continued faithfulness. Individuals can belong to the chosen people, yet lose their elect status by faithlessness and disobedience. Branches can be broken off “because of unbelief” (Rom.…
I’ve recently re-discovered an awesome theological resource, The Westminster Shorter Catechism Project . It is excellent, not least because it demonstrates the healthy diversity that has always been allowable in the Reformed Tradition until recently. For example, consider the sources attached to Question and Answer #94: Q: What is baptism?…
A friend recently asked if the frequent saying of the Pledge of Allegiance was a sign of American jingoism, or an attempt to inculcate “nationalism” of a bad sort. It seemed to him as a Canadian that that might be the case. That seemed to me to be probably backwards,…
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A review of the recent collection of essays on Charles Hodge claims that no biography of Hodge has appeared since his son’s 1880 account. This is fairly astonishing, given Hodge’s importance even to this day. It’s a gap in the Reformed past that needs to be filled.
In the December 12, 2003 issue of the TLS , Jerry Fodor reviews a book by Brian Ellis on “the new essentialism.” In a nutshell, the new essentialism challenges an important feature of modern accounts of knowledge and reality. As Fodor puts it, modern philosophy has assumed there are two…
In the December 12, 2003 issue of the TLS , Jerry Fodor reviews a book by Brian Ellis on “the new essentialism.” In a nutshell, the new essentialism challenges an important feature of modern accounts of knowledge and reality. As Fodor puts it, modern philosophy has assumed there are two…
Joseph Epstein goes to town pricking the inflated reputation of George Steiner in the Feb 16 issue of the Weekly Standard . Among his jibes: “I once, in print, referred to Harold Bloom as George Steiner without the sense of humor, which was, as Senator Claghorn used to say, ‘A…
Richard John Neuhaus wants to defend the theological prowess of our current President, defending his statement that “Muslims worship the same Almighty” as Christians. Neuhaus has some jolly fun at the expense of “official of the Southern Baptist Convention” and the NAE, reducing the arguments to: “we got a competition…
Philip Jenkins has a superb review of Charles Murray’s Human Accomplishment in the Feb issue of First Things . Jenkins challenges Murray’s basic method, which involved a process of selecting eminent persons in science and culture by attending to their role and presence in standard reference works. Murray discovers by…
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