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Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Ephesians

Law and Gospel in Presbyterianism

The Reformed Doctrine Stated & Briefly Vindicated from Scripture THE REFORMED VIEW ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL PRESBYTERIAN DOCTRINE The contrast between Law and Gospel is often treated as if it were a uniquely Lutheran idea, but Reformed doctrine also uses such a formulation. In fact, the distinction is important to understanding…

by Mark HorneMay 22, 2004
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Justification

Justification is the Gospel

According to N. T. Wright : By “the gospel” Paul does not mean “justification by faith” itself. He means the announcement that the crucified and risen Jesus is Lord. To believe this message, to give believing allegiance to Jesus as Messiah and Lord, is to be justified in the present…

by Mark HorneMay 22, 2004
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Justification

Justification & Adoption

Imagine two strangers who happen to be standing on the same subway train; we’ll call one Joe and the other Larry. Joe accidentally steps on the Larry’s foot so that he, in a flash of pain, thinking Joe did it intentionally, resorts to name calling and says something about Joe’s…

by Mark HorneMay 22, 2004
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Eucharist

Children at the Table

Imagine being a small child at an orphanage. One day, one of your caretakers comes rushing to you as you play in the common yard. “I have great news!” she tells you, excitedly. “What is it?” you ask. “A wonderful family has adopted you. They’re at the courthouse right now…

by Mark HorneMay 20, 2004
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Federal Vision

The Necessity of New Obedience

The Westminster Standards, Repentance, & Pardon REPENTANCE ENTAILS ALL OF LIFE According the Westminster Divines, “repentance to life” is an “evangelical” (WCF 15.1) and “saving” (WLC #87) “grace”. By it, a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness…

by Mark HorneMay 19, 2004
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Biblical Horizons

Liturgical Man, Liturgical Woman — Part 1

Click HERE for an audio version of this article. For Part 2, click HERE . The ordination of women to the Christian ministry, specifically the pastoral office of overseeing worship and performing preaching and the Lord’s Supper, is a recent development in Church history. From the early church until the…

by James B. JordanMay 5, 2004

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Evangelicals and Catholics in Europe

Christianity Today reported this week on a controversy among European Evangelicals about relations with the Roman Catholic Church. Thomas Schirrmacher and Thomas K. Johnson of the World Evangelical Alliance, responded with a defense of Evangelical collaboration and dialogue with Catholics . Schirrmacher and Johnson note the difference between the Reformation…

February 2, 2018

Orphan Philosophy

Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy's *In the Cross of Reality,* the first volume of his *Sociology*: "Rene Descartes' mother died shortly after childbirth. . . . He never found relief from the formal strictness prevalent among grown men, with its presumption of standing by one's given world. Prematurely, this child had no choice…

February 2, 2018

Christian Ethics In Technological Age

It’s important to pay careful attention to the title of Brian Brock’s superb 2010 Christian Ethics in a Technological Age . The book isn't merely a theological/ethical analysis of technology, though it includes that. Brock’s aim is broader, as he explores the shape of Christian morality in contemporary, technological society,…

February 1, 2018

God of Days, God In Days

The following paragraphs are snipped from an article of mine on God and time in Genesis 1, published in the Criswell Theological Review. You can find more information about this issue of the journal here . It seems significant that Genesis describes this evening-and-morning pattern without reference to the category…

February 1, 2018

Hand of Yahweh

Theopolis student Jacob Hanby pointed out that Ezekiel uses the phrase "the hand of Yahweh" seven times. It appears at major junctures in the prophecy: Ezekiel 1:3 : The first verses of Ezekiel provide a double narrative opening (first person, then third person) to a prophecy that is largely taken…

January 31, 2018

Reaganism for Lefties

Mark Lilla's dissection of identity politics in The Once and Future Liberal is incisive. He doesn't spare the conservative movement or the Republican party in the least, but he at his sharpest in analyzing what he calls the "abdication" of liberalism and the Democratic party. Liberals, he argues, once had…

January 30, 2018

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