“We do not like the idea of requiring a man to be baptized down in front of the church before we call him a professing Christian — although Jesus commanded such baptism. In lieu of this, we offer a substitute of our devising. Instead of being baptized in front of the church, we say he …
Teeming With Metaphor
“There are only two established sacraments in the Christian Church, which are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. But the whole world is sacramental, teeming with metaphor. To come to a fuller understanding of this, we should seek to grow in our knowledge of the two formal sacraments that have been placed within the Church. Baptism …
Maybe They Can’t See for the Same Reasons We Couldn’t
“The temptation associated with this is forgetting what it was like not to be able to see. Everything is now so clear to us that anyone who does not immediately assent to what we see in the Word seems either theologically perverse or a chucklehead . . . (2 Tim. 2:24-25). . . [But] to …
Not By Knowledge, Lest Any Should Boast
“If an ‘Arminian’ is elect and chosen, then his election is not imperiled through his failure to understand the ninth chapter of Romans. Paul did not say, at the end of the eighth chapter, that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ except for shoddy exegesis. And if a ‘Calvinist’ is reprobate, then …
When God Has Low Standards
“Should ‘Calvinists’ seek unity of fellowship with Christians who differ with them on this issue? Absolutely. Why? Because election depends upon the good pleasure of the Father. And if he has bestowed His unmerited pleasure upon ‘Arminians’ (which He most certainly does), then it makes no sense for a ‘Calvinist’ to magnify the prerogatives of …
Along the Fence
“The Christian faith has a center. When Christians gravitate to the periphery in order to conduct their fights along the fence, it betrays a lack of love for the center, and perhaps reveals a desire to get over the fence entirely” (Mother Kirk, p. 85).
Will That Be On the Test?
“‘Ah,’ we say, ‘but our doctrinal hobby horse isn’t in view in Romans 14. The Greek indicates . . . ‘ Whatever the secondary issue we use to harass our brothers may be, we must guard our hearts. ‘But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for …
Some Other Food Group
“We must consequently know our Bibles, because sometimes doctrinal issues of the greatest moment can hang on apparently trivial matters. Paul faced down Peter at Antioch because the gospel was at stake in Peter’s avoidance of certain dinner companions. Other issues are apparently trivial because they are, well, trivial. When forbidden to destroy our brother …
A Slight Improvement
“The Bible contains a great deal about doctrinal priorities. Some of the most withering criticism leveled by our Lord was directed at religious meatheads who did not know that the altar was more important than the gold placed on it, and honoring parents was more important than contributing to the current pledge drive for the …
Purity Circling the Drain
“Some perfectionists look at this dismal state of affairs and conclude that what we need is an additional splinter group — and presbyterian denomination of three people, not counting the stated clerk. The stationery proudly proclaims that they are a continuing presbyterian church, that they sing Psalms through the left nostril, unlike those hardy blasphemers …