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

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Assurance

The Call of Grace: How the Covenant Illuminates Salvation & Evangelism

Book Review The Call of Grace: How the Covenant Illuminates Salvation & Evangelism by Norman Shepherd The Call of Grace is an excellent manual to put in the hands of laymen to teach them how to rest in God’s grace while taking seriously the prize of the upward call of…

by Mark HorneJune 3, 2002
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Baptism

Why I Did Not Baptize My Daughter

My Role as a Parent in My Children’s Salvation Evangeline Jael Horne is our third child. My two boys were born while we were at seminary and we had the privilege of giving them to Jeff Meyers, our pastor at that time, for baptism. When Evangeline was born, however, I…

by Mark HorneJune 3, 2002
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Eucharist

John Calvin & Paedocommunion

John Calvin writes in the Institutes about the possibility of admitting children to the Lord’s Supper by virtue of their baptism once and only once: At length they object, that there is not greater reason for admitting infants to baptism than to the Lord’s Supper, to which, however, they are…

by Mark HorneJune 1, 2002
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Eucharist

For the Children’s Sake: An Alternative Angle on the Paedocommunion Debate

The debate over paedocommunion does not seem to have made much headway on either side in recent years. Certainly both sides have made a solid effort to argue for their position. But no resolution seems to be forthcoming in the near future. As a convinced paedocommunionist, I find the church’s…

by Rich LuskJune 1, 2002
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Baptism

Can Baptism Do Anything?

Lots of conservative Protestants want to answer “no” to this question. The problem with this position is that conservative Protestants are bound to believe what the Bible teaches. And the Bible says inconvenient things, like “baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3.21), or “all of you who were baptized into…

by Mark HorneMay 30, 2002
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Baptism

Calvin On Baptism, Penance, and Absolution

This paper is something of a follow-up to my earlier study, “ Baptismal Efficacy and the Reformed Tradition: Past, Present, and Future .” One of the more controversial aspects of that paper was my claim that Calvin held to a very high view of baptismal efficacy. Indeed, he was a…

by Rich LuskMay 30, 2002

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Trampling Blood

Hebrews 10:29 warns about those who tread underfoot the Son of God and count the blood of the covenant “wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing.” This clearly presents a problem for Owen’s argument for definite atonement in The Death of Death in the Death of Christ . If Christ…

April 22, 2013

Sheep and non-sheep

Engaging his opponents on the interpretation of John 3, Owen ( The Death of Death in the Death of Christ ) insists God’s love for the world is emphasized because God’s love in the new covenant is extending to “as they are poor, miserable, lost creatures in the world, of…

April 22, 2013

Faith’s Regress

In The Death of Death in the Death of Christ , John Owen argues that the benefits of redemption are purchased by Christ on the cross. They are not simply made possible, but actually acquired. And among these benefits of Christ is the gift of faith: “the effectual and infallible…

April 22, 2013

What Advantage the Jew?

Mark Horne’s sermon on Romans 3:1-8 is up at the Trinity House site this morning.

April 22, 2013

Eucharistic meditation

Luke 22:19: When Jesus had taken bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, Take, eat. This is my Body, which is given for you One of the central things I have taught over the last decade is that worship is the Lord’s service. It…

April 21, 2013

Baptismal meditation

Galatians 3: As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. I arrived in Moscow just after finishing a PhD dissertation on baptism. Shortly after we moved here, I was called as an expert witness in a Presbytery trial that centered on baptism. When I got home…

April 21, 2013

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