James K. A. Smith has an interesting post at CT: Teaching a Calvinist to Dance. In this post he says he longs for a “a kind of ‘Pentecostalized’ Reformed spirituality.”
practice
Turretin Summarizes the Reformed Faith
Thanks to David for posting Turretin’s brilliant summary
Recovering the Reformed Confession: The Interview
Thanks to the CTC guys for inviting me to play with them on the most recent CTC podcast to discuss Recovering the Reformed Confession. We had a wide-ranging discussion (because it’s a wide-ranging book) and it was good clean fun. This is . . . Continue reading →
Are Reformed "Evangelical" or "Evangelicals"?
Lee Irons raises the question of the relations between Reformed Christians and American evangelicals. Much of this discussion comes down to definitions and I don’t recall that Lee offered a definition. In the immortal words of President Nixon, ” let me say . . . Continue reading →
Audio: Darryl Hart on "Deconstructing Evangelicalism"
The fellows at CTC provide an excellent interview with WSC’s own Darryl Hart on the nature and deconstruction of contemporary evangelicalism and the differences between evangelicalism and Reformed theology, piety, and practice. Is it possible that evangelical-ism doesn’t really exist? It’s a . . . Continue reading →
Ames on the Heidelberg Catechism is In!
If you love Reformed theology (whether from Europe or from the UK) you will love this book. William Ames was probably the greatest student of William Perkins. If you identify with the Heidelberg Catechism, if you are looking for resources for understanding . . . Continue reading →
Ames Available at the Bookstore at WSC
It’s volume 1 in the Classic Reformed Theology series and it’s $27.78 + shipping (hardcover, 288 pages). There are not many primary sources by William Ames available in English. That alone makes this volume important and interesting to everyone interested in Puritan . . . Continue reading →
Godfrey: Real Calvinism is A Head and Heart Religion
“Strong on doctrine and scholarship, but weak on life, evangelism and passion.” Too frequently this is the popular image of Calvinism. Contemporary Calvinists may sometimes be responsible for perpetuating this image. In their eagerness for theological precision some Calvinists seem to want . . . Continue reading →
The Gift of Confessional Elders (2)
Part 1 Before we can see how and why our elders need to be confessional we needed to understand, in the first place, what an elder is. Next, we need to understand what it means to be “confessional” and then, in the . . . Continue reading →
What Pastors Shouldn’t Tell Their Wives
The Dangers of Too Much Transparency
Megan Hill, a Presbyterian pastor’s wife, has been writing about what pastors tell their wives and what they should tell them. I can answer that question in one word: nothing. By nothing, I mean “no confidential information.” A pastor may tell his . . . Continue reading →
We Just Do Surgery
The other day I was talking with a student at a local coffeehouse in beautiful downtown Escondido. He was telling me about his experience in seminary. He said he began at another seminary, even though his pastor recommended WSC, because he was . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Is Enough Or Why I Wrote RRC
David J. Miller published a lengthy account yesterday of his journey out of the OPC to Eastern Orthodoxy and to Anglicanism of different sorts and back to confessional Presbyterian and Reformed theology, piety, and practice. It’s a long-ish piece but it’s a . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Is A Confession More Than A Culture
These arguments often come down to definitions. If we define culture as the sum of a series of factors including language, a web of relationships (family, community), that shapes the way we think about food, clothing, and work then culture is one . . . Continue reading →
Calvin On The Proper Practice Of The Lord’s Supper
43. But as for the outward ceremony of the action — whether or not the believers take it in their hands, or divide it among themselves, or severally eat what has been given to each; whether they hand the cup back to . . . Continue reading →
Reformed And Pentecostal?
In view of the controversy over the recent Strange Fire conference up the road, it seemed like a good time to re-post this HB classic from 2008. § James K. A. Smith has an interesting post at Christianity Today, Teaching a Calvinist to Dance. . . . Continue reading →
Progress Or Regress?
So, since our 1973 founding, the PCA has “progressed” from “committed without reservation” to our Standards, to a “good faith subscription” approach that has opened the PCA’s door to paedocommunion, intinction, female pseudo-officers, Federal Vision, theistic evolution (e.g., Biologos), et al, all . . . Continue reading →
Calvin To The King Of Poland On The Scope Of Reformation
But the chief thing is, that Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, has so irradiated your mind with the light of his Gospel, that you understand that the true way of governing the Church is no other than what is to be derived . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Piety And Practice
When Martin Luther (1483–1546) entered the Augustinian convent at Erfurt in 1505, it was a considered decision and the fulfillment of a vow he had made when he cried, “St. Anne, help me! I will become a monk.” So he did. Luther . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck: Prayers For The Dead Undermine Christ’s Intercession
If the doctrine of purgatory is untenable, all offerings and prayers for the dead automatically fall with it. Veneration of the dead by sacrifices and prayers was common among pagans. Intercession for the dead became a practice among the Jews later (2 . . . Continue reading →
The “Opium Of The People” And The Opioid Crisis (2)
The late-modern period is a a time of disillusionment in the West and perhaps nowhere else is that disillusionment more acute than in America where, since at the least the early 20th century, the false promises of Modernity (human perfectibility, the universal . . . Continue reading →