We come to this Supper week after week, and it is tempting for us to start to assume, after a few years of it, that we are doing so as old hands. We know the ropes, we know the words, we know the theology. But one of the things we should know—if we know the …
Weak Sister Christianity
I have written on the distinction between jus ad bellum, conditions that justify going to war in the first place, and jus in bello, the standards required by God in the conduct of war. We have to keep these distinctions straight because, if we don’t, we are going to muddle just war theory hopelessly. But …
Life and Evidence
In the Greyfriars ministerial program, the systematics course is structured around the Westminster Confession of Faith. This means that last Thursday I was teaching through chapter 16, and I noticed a little something. “These good works, done in obedience to God’s commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by …
Downe in Yon Forrest
I mentioned this some time ago, but the DVD is now available here, just in time for Christmas. A web site for the album is here. And if you would like to read a bit about it before ordering, check here and here. And have a merry, contemedieveal eclectic Christmas!
East-Bound, West-Bound, Hide-Bound
In this post, I want to concentrate, not on the need for doctrinal integrity in the abstract, but on the need for men of doctrinal integrity in the leadership of the Church. Doctrinal integrity is not a self-enforcing ideal. Men must hold to the standards of the church, understand them, love them, and defend them. …
Multiplied Mercy
One of the curious ways that Scripture expresses the mysteries surrounding God’s kindnesses to us is with the word multiply. He put us into this world to multiply in fruitfulness, and when He brought us out of the darkness of sin, it was with multiplication in mind. In the early days of the Church, the …
Am I Missing Something?
Thus far I have seen that Bishop Tutu has called for Mugabe’s ouster in Zimbabwe, as President Sarkozy of France has also done. Well done for both those gents. I would call for it too if anybody cared. But I have not yet seen that Bishop N.T. Wright has taken this necessary step, although I …
A Large Part of Acts
“The sermons of the apostles, of which there are so many fine examples in Acts (they make up one-fifth of the book), are not therefore, incidental additions to the account, chosen arbitrarily for the purposes of narrative ‘color’. These sermons are cited to emphasize the central role preaching played in the witness of the apostles …
Not the First Time We’ve Been Here
“Although it began at a time when the older idealistic view was already being replaced by a sensate mentality, the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century reasserted an ideational worldview, placing great emphasis upon God, his will, and his Word . . . The Protestant Christianity of the Reformation represented a far-reaching effort to reverse …
Vile Affections/Romans 5
INTRODUCTION: Recall that we have learned that the wrath of God is revealed in the world, and it is revealed as God “lets go”of a culture, allowing them to run headlong into various suicidal and fruitless practices. In this text, we find a deepening expansion of the point Paul has already made. THE TEXT: “For …