Reformation21

The English Reformer, Hugh Latimer ( c. 1485-1555) is probably best remembered today for his stirring statement at the time of his Oxford martyrdom in the autumn of 1555 when he urged his co-martyr Nicholas Ridley, "Be of good comfort Master Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a...

This year we celebrate the 500 th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation when the German Augustinian monk Martin Luther nailed a long series of academic debating points about the medieval Roman Catholic penitential system (the 95 theses) to the door of the Wittenberg church. One...

This is a personal invitation to come to beautiful Greenville, SC in order to enjoy a new conference joyfully set in the Reformed tradition October 13-15, 2017. Joining me will be Rev. Dr. Harry L. Reeder III of Briarwood Presbyterian Church and Rev Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III of Reformed Theological...

Many of us have probably been led to think of the Reformed (and Presbyterian) tradition as being separate and parallel tradition to the Lutheran tradition. There have been those within the modern Reformed tradition and within the Lutheran tradition since at least the 1550s who want us to think of...

In its theological response to the teachings of the Reformation, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) maintained that a "believer's assurance of the pardon of his sins is a vain and ungodly confidence". More pointedly the Council declared in Canon 16 on Justification , 'If any one saith, that he will...

When Calvin speaks of sharing the Lord's Supper with Christ, covenantal concepts naturally arise, most notable when Calvin is discussing 1 Corinthians 10-11. Throughout his commentaries, Calvin frequently emphasizes that in the Supper we enjoy both the presence and the benefits of Christ. These are...

The recent NFL controversy--which has spread to other venues too--concerning the appropriate posture during the national anthem has had my mind running in so many directions. First, my mind went down the liturgical path. We are liturgical beings; and, therefore, we need structure, order and routine...

"I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, self." Martin Luther almost certainly never made this statement (though many have falsely attributed it to him). It is, however, an accurate and quite helpful statement, as far as it goes. We...

Reformed churches not only have the regulative principle worship (RPW) to guide them regarding elements and forms, but they also, throughout their history, have had liturgies and directories. The liturgies were the more restrictive ( e.g. Strasburg , Geneva , Amsterdam), the directories (...

"We...will be caught up" (1 Thes. 4:17) Soon after I was converted at age 17 my dad gave me three books--a King James Bible and two by a local pastor I had yet to hear of: Hal Lindsey's The Late, Great Planet Earth and The Rapture . For the next three years I was immersed in eschatology. I even...