I have linked here before, but please allow me do so again. My daughter Bekah has a business named Amoretti, and she has just rolled out a new web site for it. Even if you clicked all through the old web site, check out all the nooks and crannies of this one. There will be …
David Wells
I haven’t been posting much because I am on the road, visiting the Auburn Avenue Pastors’ Conference. But just a quick note — on the plane ride here, I finished David Wells’ latest book, The Courage to Be Protestant. Magnificent book, and I love that man. Pretension after evangelical pretension is mercilessly dissected. Over against …
Dual Knowledge
Knowledge of Self (section 1) 1. In what sense can we say that Calvin’s epistemology has dual starting points? 2. Does Calvin argue for God’s existence, or does he assume it? 3. Would Calvin agree that in order to know God a man must know himself as knowing? 4. Would Calvin agree that this means …
Prayer for the King
Prefatory Address to King Francis 1 of France Tumults Alleged to Result from Reformation Preaching (7) 1. When the Word of God is active, what is the response of Satan? 2. What did Satan try first to oppose the Reformation? What was his second move? 3. What examples from Scripture does Calvin produce with regard …
Walking Like a Two-Year-Old With His Chin Up and His Chest Out
Lane does a good job summarizing my views on law/gospel applications, and my rejection of a law/gospel hermeneutic. Now I have no problem in accepting that the historic Reformed, particularly in early years, accepted the law/gospel distinction. As do I. But where is the distinction? In my view, it is not to be found in …
Within Walking Distance
Our Lord was fond of a fortiori, “how much more” arguments. Not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the will of the Father. That being the case, He urged, His disciples ought not to fret over whether they were going to be cared for. We can reason the same way here, at this …
Friends With Susan
“Mom, you told me once that I didn’t have to be friends with Susan, right?” “Actually,” her mother replied, “I told you that I would rather you not be friends with Susan. But basically, yes.” “Well, in the last couple weeks she has asked me to two different events. A get together at her place …
Back to the Fathers
Prefatory Address to King Francis I of France Charges of Antogonists Refuted: Newness, Uncertainty, the Value of Miracles (3) 1. How does Calvin respond to the charge that the teaching of the Protestants is a novelty? 2. If it is new, in what way is it new? 3. In response to the charge that this …
Thou Shalt Play With Cobras
The Old Testament prophecies of the glories of the new covenant era teach us to look forward in faith to a stupendous pileup of grace at the culmination of human history. God’s goodness to us has already been overwhelming, and much more is on the way. But in order not to get tangled up in …
Their Rule Intact or Belly Full
Prefatory Address to King Francis I of France Circumstances in Which the Book Was First Written (1) 1. What was Calvin’s first intention in writing the first edition of the Institutes? 2. What made it necessary to expand the work so that it also became a defense to the king on behalf of the Protestants? …