Reformation21

The opening sentence of John Calvin's The Institutes of the Christian Religion alone is worth a lifetime's contemplation: 'Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.' What is it about Calvin that so inspires...

Over the years it has been my practice, learned from others, to offer up praises and petitions framed by a passage of Scripture. Some of these passages were read in preparation for preaching, others offered material for meditation in daily devotion; still others were plundered specifically for the...

In 2011, the session of the church that I pastor sought to educate and assist the members of the church regarding proposed changes that we had decided to make to an important aspect of our corporate worship services. Prior to these changes, unordained men would regularly lead the congregation in...

I've been preparing a talk on Luther and education for a conference this summer, and so have been reviewing Luther's 1524 " To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany, That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools ." In examining this work, I've been especially struck by Luther's plea for a...

I recently happened across a picture online, in which a group of young adults were linking arms at a well attended Christian Conference. The person who had posted the picture wrote a caption underneath it that said something along the following lines: "I don't just believe in these young men and...

In the previous post in this series, I made some remarks upon the meaning of the term κεφαλή, especially in the context of 1 Corinthians 11:3. Challenging the supposed meaning of this term among certain advocates of the eternal subordination of the Son (ESS) position is important. Not only does it...

With the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, the issue of government sanctioned torture has been revived. From 2002-2006, military and intelligence interrogators made use of waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning, in their "enhanced interrogations." Since then, torture has been banned...

"The work of creation is, God's making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good." Thus the Westminster Shorter Catechism summarizes the Christian doctrine of creation (WSC 9). What response should this doctrine elicit from us? Too often, I think,...

Corey Latta. C. S. Lewis and the Art of Writing . Cascade Books, 2016, 250 pages. $30.00. Could there be any two people more different than George Orwell, an atheist and socialist who worked as a policeman in Burma, spent a year living as a hobo in Paris and London, and fought in Spain on the...

A few years ago, while on sabbatical, I attended an Edinburgh Hearts F.C. soccer match at Tynecastle Stadium with my seven year old son, Hans. We were excited to watch a live Scottish First Division fixture, and to cheer on the home side. The game was enjoyable until the Hearts' defense broke down...