Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
A Brief Comparison of Calvin’s Institutes with the Westminster Confession and Catechisms regarding the shape of imputation This essay is a brief argument that the soteriology of John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion regarding union with Christ and the imputation of his righteousness is the same as…
The thoughts in this paper were largely prompted by a study of Walter E. Krebs, “The Word and the Sacraments,” Mercersburg Review (July, 1867), 366-383. The discussion in this paper presupposes my earlier studies of baptism, “Baptismal Efficacy and the Reformed Tradition: Past, Present, and Future” and “Calvin on Baptism,…
Sometimes our systematic theology creates an illusion of precision. For example, we distinguish the ground and instrument of justification. Justification is grounded in Christ’s work alone, and is instrumentally received by faith alone. That makes good sense and guards us from thinking that faith itself is somehow meritorious. All the…
Whenever we participate in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we remember Christ and His Work for us. We remember. And in remembering, we imitate God, as His creatures made after His image. God remembers. This is mysterious to us because we usually think of remembering in the context of our…
It is standard in paedobaptist circles to argue for the baptism of infants out of the Old Covenant system. Because there is no explicit command in the New Testament, we are left to the broader principles and patterns of Scripture. In the Old Covenant, we continually find that the children…
Luther popularized the law/gospel hermeneutic. Luther argued that any demands God made upon us fell into the category of “law” and could only condemn. By contrast, anything God gave us was “gospel” and came with no strings attached. Calvin paid lip service to this law/gospel antithesis, even though it was…
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God is light and there is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5). Eschatologically, the alternation of light and dark ceases for the creation (Rev. 21:25). Yet, all things were created by Him and manifest Him, and the first form of creation to come from Him was covered with “darkness.”…
INTRODUCTION Prophets were involved from the beginning of the monarchy, but Israel’s prophets did not interfere with Gentile politics during the days of Saul, David and Solomon. Now, for the first time, a prophet anoints a Gentile king, and this initiates several centuries of prophetic ministry toward the Gentiles. Israel…
One of the intriguing aspects of Elisha’ ministry is his attitude toward Jehoram. The house of Ahab was doomed before Jehoram ever became king. Their fate was sealed during the lifetime of Ahab. And Jehoram shows few signs of repentance. He put away the pillar of Baal that had belonged…
Apart from a few suggestive comments in Ephraim Radner’s The End of the Church , I know of no study that examines the Reformers’ use of Israel’s history as a paradigm for understanding the Reformation itself and as a program for that Reformation. (Radner cites an article by Congar that…
Much as I like the Nevin that’s emerging from Hart’s biography, he seems to be stuck in modern dualisms that need to be overcome. Hart quotes him as saying that if the Supper were only a sign it would “carry with it no virtue or force, more than might be…
Much as I like the Nevin that’s emerging from Hart’s biography, he seems to be stuck in modern dualisms that need to be overcome. Hart quotes him as saying that if the Supper were only a sign it would “carry with it no virtue or force, more than might be…
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