This Lord’s Day we are commemorating the beginning of the great Reformation of the 16th century. It is fitting, therefore, that we take this opportunity to begin our study of the book of Galatians, that great charter of Christian freedom. We need to stand fast in the liberty Christ brought to us, and we must …
Suicidal Syncretism
As Deuteronomy provides commentary on the ten commandments, the fifth commandment is next. We see here the teaching of the law on all questions of human authority. And we should notice first that the common Puritan practice of ordering all questions of law under the heading of the ten commandments is here supported (e.g. the …
A Second Battle of Tours (7)
Introduction: The Bible teaches us that God’s ways are not ours, and that God’s wisdom is folly to man, and that man’s wisdom is folly to God. Worldliness is therefore not to be thought of as shot full of vice (although in the long run it always is), but rather as something shot full of …
Vantage Theology
For creatures, there is no such thing as a “view from everywhere,” and this is especially true in theology. One of the problems that happens with people who do decretal theology all the time is that this can be forgotten, and we begin to assume that we do have the ultimate vantage point for our …
Future Plans
The next critical book on Federal Vision, due out soon, is By Faith Alone, edited by Gary Johnson and Guy Waters. I have it on order, but there has apparently been some delay according to the good folks at Amazon. The current plan is to review it thoroughly in this space. By “review it” I …
The Bubble Bath of Orthodoxy
Scott Clark is at it again on his blog, and since he disabled the comments feature there, it is not possible for me to comment in that venue. So I will comment in this one. My comments are bold. “How I am redeemed from all my sins and misery.” The Heidelberg Catechism was written not …
One Last Thing
Not a lot of complaints about the last essay in this volume, a chapter on justification and pastoral counseling by Dennis Johnson. Like some of the the others, this chapter was just great also, with a sub-standard federal-visiony footnote jury-rigged into the argument. Like I said, not a lot of complaints about the text proper. …
Stuff I Heard in the Hallways
The next chapter in CJ&PM (should’ve done that before) is by Julius Kim and is entitled “The Rise of Moralism in Seventeenth-Century Anglican Preaching.” What might this have to do with the current federal vision controversy? Well, nothing, but that doesn’t keep it from being a fine and instructive article. A very good article, in …
Do This and Live, or Live and Do This
The next chapter by Scott Clark begins oddly, but the latter part is just a standard discussion of the law/gospel issues. First the oddity. We have heard a great deal about how the gospel itself is under attack in this controversy. This is because certain settled Reformed shibboleths have been pronounced funny, and anyone who …
Recapitulation Drives Out Grace
The next two essays in Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry are by Hywel Jones, and are tightly related, and so I will treat them together. As with Robert Godfrey’s contribution, there is not a lot to disagree with here. The bulk of what is written here is good, sturdy Reformed stuff. At the same time, …