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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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History

Repetition

Whitehead said, “Everything of importance has been said before by someone who did not discover it.” I know Whitehead said this because J. Samuel Preus quotes him in an article about Spinoza. That’s not quite right, though: Preus doesn’t quote Whitehead, but quotes a quotation from Whitehead in a book…

May 13, 2008
History

Dutch liberty

J. Samuel Preus recounts this incident to illustrate the freedom Jews enjoyed in the 17th-century Netherlands: “A Jew is mugged and stabbed by a German, who then runs off. The victim gets up and chases him. Christians help him catch the perpetrator, who is summarily tried and executed. The Jew…

May 13, 2008

Great reversal

Pneumatology was at the heart of what George Marsden describes as the “Great Reversal” in American fundamentalism. A stress on the significance of Pentecost as the beginning of a new dispensation hardened the contrast between old and new covenants, and the contrast of Spirit and law also worked to undermine…

May 12, 2008

Pentecost Homily

Revelation 1:4: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne. What do we have when we have the Spirit? We have everything. This is no exaggeration. He is the sevenfold Spirit…

May 11, 2008

Eucharistic meditation, Pentecost

John 7:37-39: Now on the last day of the feast, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost being shall flow rivers…

May 11, 2008

Exhortation, Pentecost

Pentecost is culturally invisible. There are no Whitsunday sales at the department stores, no gift-exchanges around lighted trees, no jolly elf, no crèches, no heart-warming Hollywood holiday films with Jimmy Stewart, no Bing Crosby crooning about rushing mighty winds. There are no eggs or bunnies either, no jelly beans or…

May 11, 2008

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