Welcome to Ref21!
Welcome to Ref21! It probably sounds strange to be welcomed to a page that you have read for nearly twenty years! Ref21 has been a staple of daily Christian reading for literally thousands of believers. So, why act as if…
Tag Theology
Anthropologetically Speaking
Thanks to Dr. Scott Swain, President of Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando for his recent contribution to the current conversation / debate / fight over the doctrine of man, or biblical anthropology. Given the new controversies surrounding issues like gender and…
Paul, or Jesus?
Through sophisticated statements on social media, certain prominent voices in the evangelical wing of Christendom have revealed their penchant for pitting Jesus’ ethical teaching against that of the Apostle Paul. To elevate what Jesus taught over against what His apostles…
Reading It Rightly
This is the final part of James Renihan’s essay on the scope of theology. Read part one here, and part two here. Scope as a Theological Tool There is another function of scopus, already alluded to, but which now deserves at least brief…
The Whole and the Parts
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…
Theology on Target
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…
Salvation by Ideas? God Forbid!
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…
Dogmatic Art
As I’ve been reading through G.K. Chesterton’s book Heretics, I was interested to happen upon his treatment of dogmatism and the arts. Reflecting on his consideration of the life and work of Rudyard Kipling, Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells, Chesterton…
Rhyme Thee to Good
In the first post in this short series on the theology of the seventeenth Anglican poet, George Herbert, we considered the centrality of salvation by grace in the altar poem. It shows up throughout his other poems as well. But…
How Can We Know God?
In my first article on the topic of theology proper, I discussed why we must know the God who created us. I will now explain how we can know that God whose ways are higher than our ways, and his…