We come now to a law which strikes modern ears as somewhat odd. The law, considered in itself, is clearly a kind one, but the occasion that gave rise to the law is not one we encounter every day. Or do we? At this point, we should discover that the more things change, the more …
The Church Is Like . . .
You have perhaps heard the old saying that the church is not a rest home for saints, but rather a hospital for sinners. Like everything else that is true, we must guard against holding this truism falsely. We are the covenant people of God, and we should want to live faithfully before Him over the …
Thanks for the Opportunity to Respond
Editor, In your last issue of The Confessional Presbyterian, I read an article by R. Scott Clark entitled “Baptism and the Benefits of Christ.” There are many issues here, but I would like for reasons of space to limit myself to two. The first has to do with Dr. Clark’s straw man representation of the …
Popularity Fable
Once there was a young girl who desperately wanted to be popular, but who knew in her own heart that she would never be. She was constantly afraid that the other girls were talking about her in catty ways, and that whenever they were friendly, they must be only pretending. Her parents were dimly aware …
The Glory of Ham for Easter
How we bear the name of the Lord your God is closely related to how we eat. Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves . . . (Deuteronomy 14:1-21a). This passage begins the commentary in Deuteronomy on the third commandment, which prohibits bearing the name of the Lord …
Outside Gallio’s House
Someone over at Reformation21 thought of a funny, and twisted it like a washcloth until it was dry enough to serve as pulpit supply in some churches that could be mentioned. But in the course of his excursus into humor, the writer developed a new accusation that merits some response, however brief. Speaking in the …
Goodness to God; Gladness to Man
We are here because we believe the Word of God. We are here because God has summoned us. We are here because God promises to forgive us our sins as we confess them in Jesus’ name. We are here because God is dealing with us; God is at work in our midst. But there are …
Westminster XXIX: Of the Lord”s Supper
1. Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein He was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of His body and blood, called the Lord’s Supper, to be observed in His Church, unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of Himself in His death; the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, …
A Second Battle of Tours I
Introduction: We have noted before that we have a responsibility as Christians to understand the times. We do not seek to do so infallibly, but we do want to live our lives in wisdom. This said, there are many good reasons for believing that the conflict between the Christian faith and Islam will occupy in …
Layered Definition
One undercurrent beneath the Federal Vision business is a hidden difference in epistemological assumptions. The Hellenistic method strips accidents away from the thing, looking for essences. The Hebraic way of definition adds layer upon layer, looking at the thing from as many different angles as possible, and in as many situations as possible. Peter Leithart …