Since its inauguration in 1974, the Philadelphia Conference of Reformed Theology has hosted some of the most gifted and trustworthy pastors, theologians and speakers from around the world in order to teach God’s word and sound doctrine. Among the celebrated…
Throughout much of the history of the church, theological discourse was largely an in-house project. A broad house to be sure, but even during the upheaval and turmoil of the Reformation, both sides agreed with the basic tenants of historic…
In addition to modeling and teaching submission to the Word of God, Petrus van Mastricht–in the recently translated prolegomena of his Theoretical-Practical Theology–powerfully corrected my thinking on the relation of reason and theology. Reason is incorporated into theology. First and foremost, Mastricht taught…
Books are marvelously powerful. Thomas Aquinas is said to have feared the “man of one book,” and no wonder: a great book has great power to transform the soul. And in my own life, the recently translated prolegomena volume of…
Quite a number of contemporary theologians have made the observation that J. Gesham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism is every bit as relevant today as it was when it was first released in 1923. Machen explained that he had written this…
I arrived on Faculty at Westminster in the summer of 2001. I had only been on campus for a couple of months before a group of students approached me one lunchtime and tried to recruit me to a most sinister…
I was a junior in high school when the Roseanne episode featuring a lesbian kiss aired on network television, and I can remember well the controversy that surrounded that episode. Recent conversations surrounding the presence of a nine-year-old character named…
This summer has been no different than those which proceded it. At this time of year, you are possibly continuing to see references to the usual litany of ‘Summer Reading recommendations for Pastors.’ As end-of-summer vacations loom, men in the…
Being fully committed to the Protestant Reformed tradition–especially as it is represented at Westminster Theological Seminary–I have developed a basic understanding of natural law theories over the years. If by “natural law” we mean a moral order that is (a)…
“We keep our preaching basic because we have so many new believers. If we give them too much doctrine, they won’t be able to understand it.” I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard church planters and pastors say such things.…
