I do have a couple of things to say about David VanDrunen’s contribution to By Faith Alone. First, he is guilty of continued misrepresentation of those he is debating with. “Although recent criticism of the traditional Reformed doctrine of justification has taken many forms, nearly all critics seem to concur in dismissing the idea of …
Picking Up Feathers
Gene Veith comments on Worldmagblog here. A friend drew my attention to this post of a few days ago. I have included below a comment which I posted at his site, but I also need to say something here. Given the climate in the Reformed world today, and given how many people go to Worldmagblog, …
Geronimo!
The next chapter, “Reflections on Auburn Theology,” is by T. David Gordon, and I would like to return a compliment in the same words he uses. My father used to quote this poem when I was a kid, and Gordon applies it to us. I, not surprisingly, think that it is more apropos when swiveled …
And the Winner Is . . .
You should recall that some time ago, I invited contributions to a federal vision haiku contest. Rather than apologize for my tardiness in announcing the winners, let me just say that we all know that time is one of the tests of a classic. First prize is 15 clams off any purchase at Canon Press, …
Advanced Stages of Endustment
I don’t have a lot to say about the next chapter of By Faith Alone, other than that I enjoyed it. It was written by C. Fitzsimmons Allison, who also wrote a very good book that I also enjoyed entitled The Cruelty of Heresy. Allison is the retired Episcopal bishop of South Carolina, and so …
The Visible Part of the Invisible Visible Church
On an earlier post, Green Baggins posted a link to his blog, marking a place where Andy Gilman had responded to something I had written on Scott Clark’s blog. Andy had responded to it on yet another blog, and then sent a copy of it over to Green Baggins, and so GB came over here …
The True Church Within the Church
This must be national Green Baggins Day. I want to post just a few comments about an article posted at that blog by the Rev. Wes White. In this article, he critiqued what he thought to be my take on the visible/invisible church distinction. My position on the visible/invisible church distinction is represented thusly: “We …
Still No Debate
Green Baggins recently posted a call for repentance for those in the FV camp. Not surprisingly, this elicted quite a few comments (279 to be exact), and among them I noticed the following comment by Gary Johnson. Gary is one of the editors of the book I am currently reviewing (By Faith Alone), and because …
What Abraham Saw
Frank Turk has made a reasonable request in the comments section of the previous post. He has asked for 200 words on why I believe that Abraham believed the expansive promises, and whether this is in tension with Christ’s statement that Abraham rejoiced to see His day. So here it is, in brief compass. Remember …
A Mousetrap Gospel
I’ll explain the title shortly. Promise. The next chapter in By Faith Alone is by Rick Phillips, and in it he tackles two different challenges to the Reformed doctrine of imputation. The first is on the part of contemporary Arminians, who say that God accepts our faith in lieu of righteousness, and the second is …