I am currently on the road, and so my turnaround times are not what they ought to be. But I hope to have more on the whole RHE deal later today. I would tell what I am thinking now, but I don’t want to do that with my thumbs from the back seat of a …
Rachel Held Evans Denies the Cat
In the aftermath of the Oklahoma tragedy, Rachel Held Evans took John Piper to task for claiming, right in line with the Bible, that if disaster befalls a city, it is from the hand of God (Amos 3:6). Not only is it from the hand of God, but it is from the hand of a …
Federal Vision Controversy, R.I.P.?
For those who have been following the case, Peter Leithart was tried and exonerated by his presbytery (Pacific Northwest). There was a complaint about it, and so now the SJC of the entire PCA heard the case, and Peter Leithart was found to be teaching within the boundaries of the Westminster Standards. There is a …
The Chewy Porter of Reformation Evangelicalism
As I never tire of saying, the new birth is not an optional add-on extra. It is absolutely essential, but since we tend to get gummed up on this kind of thing, it is also important to fill that statement in. Essential to what? If we say “essential to salvation,” which is the correct answer, …
The Authenticity Jive
Carl Trueman recently had a podcast conversation with Todd Pruitt on “Coolvinism,” which you can listen to here. Thanks to those who helped me find it. I agreed with all the concerns they were discussing — about potential abuses and so on — and I am not writing here to take issue with anything they …
11 Theses on Believing God
1. Born as we are in a fallen race, we need to begin with the recognition that unbelief is our default setting (Matt. 13:58). Unbelief is abnormal, but not really unusual. 2. This means that we are in a state of perpetual tension, because everything in the world around us declares the faithfulness of God …
All the Condemnation You Could Ever Want
In a fallen world, there must be an antithesis. But since the devil is the accuser, we should therefore see that his power rests in accusations that misplace the antithesis. Seeing this is the heart of all spiritual wisdom, and the beginning of all spiritual life. The only liberation from accusation is to accuse the …
A Work of High Harmony
I recently received a question from an old acquaintance, a question that keys off a video clip answer I gave about Eastern Orthodoxy. So here is the question: “On what grounds do you reject the authority of the 7th Ecumenical Council? As Christians, we consider the JW’s (for example) outside the church, because they reject …
Dry Bones Born Again
My friend Peter Leithart tags to an argument by Alan Kerr on the Spirit in John 3. Kerr’s argument, in sum, is that in the gospel of John, the Spirit is not given until later in the gospel (John 20:22). This means, on this reading, that whatever Jesus was talking about with Nicodemus could only …
No Hope Without It
In an oral exam yesterday for one of our grad students, the phrase “faith of Jesus Christ” came up (Gal 2:16; 3:22), along with the question/debate of whether this refers to Jesus Christ’s faith or to our faith in Him. I have generally taken it as the former, but that is not my point here. …