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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A student, Luke Nieuwsma, pointed out several references to Ahab in the prophecy of Micah. Micah 2:1-2 condemns those who covet fields and take them by violence, as Ahab did to Naboth; 6:15 is an explicit allusion to Omri and Ahab; and the “she” who is trampled like mud sounds…
INTRODUCTION Modern Christians instinctively spiritualize the story of the gospel. When Jesus is called “King of the Jews,” we think that refers to His “spiritual” kingdom. Herod didn’t think so. Herod knew that Jesus’ birth was a threat to his power. THE TEXT “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem…
Psalm 23:1: The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. At Jesus’ birth, shepherds come to worship Him because He is the chief Shepherd. He is Shepherd Yahweh in human flesh. He is the Shepherd of Israel. He is the Davidic king who will shepherd His people with skillful…
As we’ll see in the sermon this morning, in the Bible a “shepherd” is a king. Shepherds lead, guide, rule, control, feed, discipline, and judge their sheep. To say that Jesus is the Good Shepherd is to say He’s king of His people, king of all. Jesus’ kingship is not…
Terry Eagleton puts it this way: “for Lacan all discourse is, in a sense, a slip of the tongue: if the process of language is as slippery as he suggests, we can never mean precisely what we say, or say precisely what we mean. Meaning is always in some sense…
Terry Eagleton puts it this way: “for Lacan all discourse is, in a sense, a slip of the tongue: if the process of language is as slippery as he suggests, we can never mean precisely what we say, or say precisely what we mean. Meaning is always in some sense…
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