Some have been wondering what I am up to in this recent jag about the absolute necessity of the new birth, and some are happily wondering if at last I have come to my senses and am returning to my evangelical roots. Well, I would be happy to return to them had I ever left …
Spitting Sixteen Penny Nails
An evangelical newspaper in the UK has printed an excerpt from a book entitled Risking the Truth in which Ligon Duncan says some creative things. I am quoting the section that deals with me by name, and my commentary is interspersed. “Douglas Wilson of Moscow, Idaho (perhaps the best-known advocate of the FV), highlights the …
For the Most Part
For those who still care about these issues, allow me to point out what Calvin says in the course of today’s reading. He says that in order to understand the biblical phrase “many are called but few are chosen” we have to realize that there are two kinds of call, general and special. The general …
Fair Minded Criticism
This is what fairminded criticism of the Federal Vision looks like. I have some (fairminded) quibbles here and there, but in the main I think the criticisms are accurate. FV men need to take these criticisms seriously, and if they prayerfully decide there is something to them, take them to heart.
Taking the Bubble Wrap off True Faith
I am going to file this one under Auburn Avenue Stuff, even though it is part of my paedocommunion discussion with Lane. This is because in the second half I am going to address a few things that came up in the comments over at Green Baggins. But first let me address Lane’s questions about …
All I Have Around Here is Kindling
Not sure what the cause of my lollygagging was, but I just now got around to reading Scott Clark’s gentle rebuke of John Piper, for the sin of having anything to do with me. You can read that rebuke here. If you want, you can slog through all the comments (which I didn’t quite get …
Look Away, Martin Says
“In Torgau a wretched little woman once came to me and said, ‘Ah, dear Doctor, I have idea that I’m lost and can’t be saved because I can’t believe.’ Then I replied, ‘Do you believe, dear lady, that what you pray in the Creed is true?’ She answered with clasped hands, ‘Oh, yes, I believe …
Covenant Sunglasses and the Decretal Sun
My thanks to Lane for working through our Federal Vision statement. This response of mine should tie that one off with a bow, and so it will be off to the next thing. Perhaps paedocommunion if we can work out a system. I agree with Lane that IAOC is not the same thing as imputation …
Westminsterian Assurance
In his most recent post on assurance and apostasy, Lane frames the question of assurance this way: “Can a believer be absolutely assured of his own salvation in knowing that he is decretally elect?” In this, as with so many other details of our controversy, what Lane says is suspect when you hold it next …
Keeping Works and Grace Distinct
I need to get caught up with Lane, being two behind. This is a response to his post here. Three points: The first is that Lane points out an apparent contradiction between me and my friend Steve Wilkins, and asks “which one is correct?” The answer, of course, is that I am. Seriously, the quote …