1. The Lord Jesus, as King and Head of His Church, hath therein appointed a government, in the hand of Church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate (Isa. 9:6–7; 1 Tim. 5:17; 1 Thess. 5:12; Acts 20:17–18; Heb. 13:7, 17, 24; 1 Cor. 12:28; Matt. 28:18–20). The Lord Jesus is the Head of the Church, …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
A Response to Rick Phillips
As the Wilkins controversy continues to give off fumes, I would like to refer you to three places before we begin our next installment of comments. The first is to reiterate that Steve’s written responses to his presbytery exam can be found here. The second is a response to that, written by Rick Phillips, found …
Faith Is Mediated
When someone says that God foreordained the conversion of Smith, and that the conversion of Smith was therefore made necessary, a denial of this would include the view that the conversion of Smith was contingent, not necessary, and that God’s foreordination took up some percentage of the whole deal that was less than 100%. In …
A Target Rich Environment
Obviously, since I am in Monroe (still) for the now finished Auburn Avenue Pastors’ Conference, the “situation” in the PCA has been much on my mind. And the guys have talked about it in various ways, and from various angles. As I was reflecting on it this morning, I thought that I should write about …
Auburn Avenue 2007 In the Can
Sorry for the paucity of posts, and the reason for this is that I have been on the road. More specifically, I have been delighted to have been (once again) a guest speaker at the Auburn Avenue Pastors’ Conference. Just finished at noon today. As always the singing was stupenderous, the hospitality top drawer, and …
The Postmill Culprit?
In a discussion this morning at breakfast, some of the men in our gathering were talking (not surprisingly) about the federal vision controversy that has recently heated up again. One of the things that was noted is that there are some issues that are not currently part of the controversy, but which are real indicators …