As we deal — as we all must do — with troubles, affliction, difficulties and so on, the toughest thing to remember is that God is handstitching these problems for us, and He is doing this so that they will fit us perfectly. We don’t grasp this because we are victims of a metaphor. When …
Only Blood Can Answer
One of the central things we have to remember about accusation is that condemnation has a point. “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56). It will not do for us to say that the devil accuses the brethren day and day (Rev. 12:10), and the …
My Sunny Ecumenical Side
One last post on the whole issue of Protestantism, and then I will give it a rest. But this time I want to give things a push from the other direction. In this post, I want my little ecumenical self come out to play in the sunshine. In my last post I mentioned that at …
With Hair Ablaze
Now I know that I have some Roman Catholics readers of this blog, and I know that when I get on a jag like this you must feel like I do when I read Chesterton writing about Calvinism. That feeling being an approximation of something like epistemic anguish and head-wrenching, I can only assure you …
Some Doctrinal Triage
Okay, one last follow-up post to the Future of Protestantism discussion. Again, I am grateful for the entire discussion, and to the folks who arranged it, and also grateful for the opportunity to participate here in the nickel seats — even if the only thing I do is throw a little popcorn. Most of what …
Two Cheers for Tribalism
I initially thought I was going to post just a couple of times on The Future of Protestantism, but as I wrote, the thing grew on me. So look for at least one more after this one. This particular set of concerns involves the matter of tribes and tribalism. I think we have to be …
Keeping the Cathedral
I was not a player in the live stream experience of The Future of Protestantism, but had a chance to finish watching it today. My views are best described as an amalgam of the best from each of the gentlemen there — Trueman’s confessionalism, Sanders’ loyalty to the evangelical center, and Leithart’s postmillennialism. In cases …
How the Pinning Works
I want to spend a few moments on why the penal substitution of Christ is the only possible ground of human happiness. My point is not to defend the doctrine here — that has been ably done by others — but rather to show one of the many glorious outworkings of the doctrine. In our …
An Odd Credo
I believe that God is God, and that we are not. I believe that Jesus is our Savior, and that we are not. I believe that the Holy Spirit is our wisdom, and that we are not. I believe that Jesus died under the wrath of God for our sin, and that He was raised …
Total Depravity
This was originally published in Antithesis (Vol. II/No. 2), April/May 1991. Pride and Prejudice Before I came to understand and embrace the Biblical doctrine of resurrecting grace, I was kept away by a combination of factors. One reason, of course, was my own prejudices and ignorance. Certain truths tend to rub our theological fur the …