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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In Galatians 1, Paul twice says things happen “in him.” God reveals His Son “in me” (1:16). The phrase could mean “through me,” suggesting that Paul is an instrument of God’s unveiling of the Son. It’s just as possible, though, that Paul is himself the locus of that revelation; he…
According to Paul’s summary, the gospel is about Jesus’ self-gift, which plucks us from this present evil age (Galatians 1:4). What is that evil age? Paul’s use of “then/now” shows in the chapter shows what it means for him. The Galatians have heard about his zeal for the ancestral traditions…
Paul uses the noun “gospel” or the verb “evangelize/preach the gospel” twelve times in the first two chapters of Galatians. It is good news for the twelve tribes. While we can’t rest too much on grammatical forms, it is interesting to note the objects of the verb euaggelizo in these…
INTRODUCTION Jesus arrives in Jerusalem like a king (21:5) and immediately goes to the temple. It is His first visit to the temple in Matthew’s gospel, and He is not impressed. He condemns it as a robbers’ den, and then sets up His own ministry of healing in the house…
An English friend who knows whereof he speaks assures me that the statistics that I cited about the Royal Navy last week were off. The Royal Navy has 90 vessels, not 35 as I claimed (following Thomas Madden). Madden’s point still stands: The Royal Navy is only a fraction of…
The outgoing President has taken a lot of shots, some plausible but many preposterous. Madden notes that the claim that Bush has turned himself into a kind of American Augustus is historically naive: “Claiming that President Bush or any other American presidence is a new Pompey or Augustus is simply…
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