“As the Puritans came to America, certain changes were inevitable. It was not possible to build a new ‘nation’ without building a new national identity as well . . . The character exhibitied by intrepid explorers and hardy settlers is a type of character that cannot be content with mere duplication of old forms in …
Walls and Bridges
“But this is a time for building walls, wall that will keep this error out of our churches. Bridges are good when you want to cross. Walls are good when you want to keep the freezing rain out of your living room” (“Sola Scriptura, Creeds, and Ecclesiastical Authority” in When Shall These Things Be? p. …
Scriptural Authority Incarnate
“The Scriptures are the final and infallible authority in this fallen world, but the carrier of this Word is the church. As we add our witness to his, we are doing what he has called us to do in those Scriptures. As we preach sermons, compose confessions of faith, examine ministerial candidates in terms of …
The Romance of Orthodoxy
“Another problem that people have with creeds is the problem of ‘stifling orthodoxy,’ what I call orthdusty . . . At the same time, the truths contained in the great creeds can be compared to theological prerequisites. A student is not going to get on very well in fifth grade if he has to restudy …
Ultimate Truth Has Hair on His Arms
“Another common objection to the early creeds is their supposed ‘Hellenism.’ The early church was limited by its Greek cultural surroundings, so the argument goes, and so of course it is understandable that they unwittingly imported Hellenistic concepts into the Hebrew world of Scripture. This objection is tiresome because of the ignorance manifested by it, …
While Remembering that No Human Authority is Absolute
“But against Rome, classic Protestants have a higher view of authority than the Roman Catholics do. Suppose a woman embraces her duty to be respectful and submissive to her husband. But suppose further that in order to make this painful duty a little easier, she adopted the view that her husband could never make a …
Double Irony
“Because many have understood the magisterial Reformation’s phrase, sola Scriptura, in terms of the Anabaptist solo Scriptura, it is easy for modern Christians to think that a return to the original understanding of sola Scriptura is an abandonment of it. This is simply the result of historical and theological ignorance. It would be very esay …
Those Who Love Must Fight
“To show love to wolves is just another way of hating sheep. To love sheep, as all good shepherds must, is to hate wolves” (“Sola Scriptura, Creeds, and Ecclesiastical Authority” in When Shall These Things Be?, p. 273).
Which It Does
“The boundaries of Scripture are an infallible truth confessed by a fallible church. The triune nature of God is an infallible truth confessed by a fallible church, and so on. At this point, the advocate of Rome might want to chime in and say that we can have no confidence in the infallibility of the …
The Truth is Right, As It Turns Out
“The church is always fallible. The truth she confesses is always infallible. The error she stumbles over is always false” (“Sola Scriptura, Creeds, and Ecclesiastical Authority,” in When Shall These Things Be? p. 269).