Rebirth of the Gods
When I moved to the United States from Great Britain in 1964, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. America seemed so Christian then. The only dark blot on the landscape was that people feared the rise of Marxism…
Category Reformation21
Interpreting Scripture with Scripture
We cannot properly interpret what God does, as He has recorded it for us in Scripture, unless we know something about the God who effects what is recorded for us in Scripture. In other words, there must be a hermeneutical (i.e. interpretive)…
A Soul-Refreshed Life
On a spring day in 1747, twenty-nine-year-old David Brainerd rode horseback into the yard of a Northampton parsonage. It was the home of eminent New England pastor and theologian, Jonathan Edwards and his wife Sarah. Edwards and Brainerd, prior to…
The Works of John Flavel: A New Edition
A nonconformist, unifier, husband of three deceased wives, victim of religious persecution, and author of what has been collected into six volumes of reprinted Works, John Flavel (c.1630-1691) of Dartmouth, England not only had an immense following during his own lifetime,…
Human Dignity, Justice and the Death Penalty
Pope Francis’ recent and much-publicized change of the Catholic church’s position on the death penalty presents a challenge in the realm of theological and ethical reasoning. His rationale for denouncing the death penalty, according to the Vatican statement, is that…
A Prayer for Persecuted Brethren
Dear Father in heaven, you know all things; you know of the great persecution which your church faces, the scattering of your people in regions of the world, and the lamentations of devout men and women over the loss of…
A Bored Generation?
Ours is the first generation of Christians that has seriously asked the question, how much time can I spend on entertaining myself? In all the reading I have done in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, I have never once come…
Understanding Opponents
Of the numerous regrets I have in life, not having been more understanding of others ranks high on the list. I have, many times, drawn hasty conclusions about others without having considered all that may factor into their lives. Many…
Critiquing Art and Music
In Art and the Bible, Francis Schaeffer offered four necessary categories that we need to consider if we are seeking to adequately critique a work of art. He wrote: “What kind of judgment does one apply, then, to a work of art?…
Equal in Power, Unequal in Authority?
During the Trinity debate two summers ago, there were a handful of attempts to reconcile orthodox teaching on the Trinity with the eternal subordination of the Son (ESS). One approach was to make a distinction between divine power and divine…