Theology

“As long as he believes in something, that is what’s important.” With those words the man in front of me simultaneously dismissed the authority of God and justified a younger relative who had embraced an animistic system of belief. For the older gentlemen, it was the act of believing in something...
This is the second part of James Renihan's essay on the scope of theology. To read part one, click here . The Scope of the Whole We have already cited the common language of the great English Protestant Confessions, Presbyterian, Independent and Baptist; we are now prepared to consider their...
According to the Westminster Confession of Faith, “The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof….neither doth Christ, in the Gospel, any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation” (WCF, 19.5) Obviously, the Westminster Divines were not...
Robert Barnes – Early English Reformer The early 1500’s was an exciting time for young intellectuals. Scholars such as Desiderius Erasmus and Jacques Lefèvre and religious Reformers such as Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli fueled many stirring discussions in the European universities. The growing...
Divine Knowledge Jonathan and James share an informal conversation about the knowledge of God. What are we really saying when we claim that God knows all things? What’s the scope of God’s knowledge? Is God continuously learning everything at the moment it happens? James affirms that God is “...
Theology on Target The Scope of the Whole (Which Is to Give All Glory to God) Part 1 On October 16, 1845, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote these familiar lines in a poem titled "The Arrow and the Song": I shot an arrow into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where; For, so swiftly it flew, the...
One afternoon a group of bored boys decided to bother an old man working in his yard. After causing the man a little trouble they moved on. However, the town wherein they lived was a small one and so having recognized one of the boys the old man called on the father of that particular boy. When the...
For Christians, there are proverbial perennial questions that are, well, perennial. Every May graduating Christians seek the will of God for where they will take further education. Every college student wonders who God has for them on campus. And after boy meets girl and both graduate they labor to...
Anne Dutton and Her Reasons for Writing From the time of her youth in 17 th -century Northampton, England, Anne was described as a lively and outspoken girl. Over the course of her life, she combined this zeal and candor with her natural clarity of thought and expression in order to provide...
Recently, I've had three conversations that all circle around one significant topic: Christianity as a mere intellectual exercise . In the first, a seminary student told me of a conversation with his son: "Dad, I believe in the Christian faith. I have sat under your teaching and under mum's...