Can justification be lost?
I have a work in progress, defending the Reformed doctrine of justification by faith alone. In this work I am trying to make it as pastoral as possible for the average layman in the church to benefit from in his…
Category Reformation21
Defending Substitution
Simon Gathercole, Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul. Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2015. pp. 128. $14.99 Gathercole’s introduction begins by asking the question raised by the old spiritual: “Were you there when they…
Defending Substitution
Simon Gathercole, Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul. Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2015. pp. 128. $14.99 Gathercole’s introduction begins by asking the question raised by the old spiritual: “Were you there when they…
Did Jesus Have a “Gospel-Centered” Ministry?
We often read today of a “gospel-centered”TM ministry as opposed to a legalistic or otherwise sub-Christian approach to salvation. When used in this trade-marked sense, “gospel-centered” usually means that we must exclusively present God’s forgiveness for sinners through faith alone in…
Against Hotels: Calvin on Gen. 18.1-8
Somewhat curiously, Calvin judged “the great number of inns” populating the landscape of his day to be rather obvious “evidence of our depravity” — the “our” in question being, in the first instance, early modern Europeans. What prompted such disapproval…
Knowing Christ and J.I Packer’s Forewords
J.I. Packer is undoubtedly one of the great theologians of our age. His books are, quite simply, outstanding. I’ve never met him. I heard him speak once for an hour and 40 minutes and it felt like a lot longer; but the…
Dogmatics and doxology
I have the delightful day job of teaching systematic or dogmatic theology. The study and teaching of systematic theology is delightful because systematic theology is preeminently concerned with the Bible, the living and loving address of the Most High God…
Defending Piper (Again) from “The West Coast Offense”
Never say “never”, and never say “always” when making a claim about the Reformed tradition. That’s rule number one, and it can save you from a lot of embarrassment. I plan to post on this in the future and bring…
Is the atoning blood of Christ central?
Inter Varsity Press (UK) have made this announcement in the last couple of weeks regarding a merger with SPCK. It’s pretty depressing news, which appears, in many ways, to be driven by market forces and the need to survive. The…
Gospel of Glory
Richard Bauckham. Gospel of Glory: Major Themes in Johannine Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015. xvii + 237 pp. $24.99 The author dedicates this book to six great British Johannine scholars of the past. The reader should not expect, however, to…