If I estimate it correctly, most of the churchist attacks on sola scriptura are based on the thesis that without an authoritative church, it is every man with his Bible and his own private interpretation Continue reading
Category Archives: Church
Protected: 2022 GA oy veh
OPC elders propose replacing Mt. 18 with public hectoring
There is a blog in which one Aimee Byrd successfully summons a posse of OPC cavalry to round up and arrest some boys that allegedly said some mean things about her on a private Facebook chat group. Apparently there was a spy that took a bunch of screenshots of the mean things and broadcast them. Now Miss Aimee is on the warpath and wants people to lose their jobs and/or be ecclesiastically disciplined. Continue reading
Greenville Seminary ready to recommend closing churches to beat on pots and pans
The first response of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary to the Corona virus on Apr 3, 2020 (later they posted several others, some much better) shows just how weak the modern church has become: indeed, the shuttering of the churches can well be modeled as us being hoist on our own petard in allowing such leaders. Continue reading
Luther and the canon
This month our thoughts should return continually to that prince Continue reading
Exceptions to Matthew 18?
On Matt. 18:15ff. See also first post on the “natural law” aspect.
Our Lord’s words are not such that we are allowed to trump them Continue reading
Matthew 18 as Natural Law
Matt. 18:15-17 Continue reading
Coffin on Confessionalism
This is an essay in The Practical Calvinist (festschrift to Clair Davis, detailed info at end). It was written in connection with a discussion in the PCA Continue reading
Brief Intermission: Tribute to Greg Bahnsen
A brief side-bar is needed in this autobiographical sketch of life-changing books. Spanning the interval 1983-1993, no single book stands out, but that was the period of my association with my dear friend and mentor Greg Bahnsen. Though I am avoiding mentioning names in this bookish auto-biography, his needs to be mentioned as the greatest single personal influence on my life in adulthood.
In view of that, it will perhaps be thought odd that I do not count any of his books as life-changing. Indeed, I found many of his books pedantic, even annoying. We had opposite tendencies at the aesthetic level. It is hard for me to imagine anyone becoming a Theonomist through reading Theonomy or its sequels. Then again, he may have felt the same way. Theonomy was actually a comparatively small part of his life, less in fact (by way of negation) than for many of his vitriolic opponents.
One of his teachings that drove deeply into my soul was the ramified implications of Matt. 18. Beyond the obvious three-fold “method” taught there for correcting offenses, Greg taught that even if you have a legitimate grievance, if the way you got to this point was via gossip, slander, tale-bearing, or prevarication, then you had to first go back and fix those errors before “continuing.” The putative grievance had to be left on the table until those errors were dealt with properly. Often, it turned out that the grievance all but vanished by the time those steps were taken — or at least, could be covered in love. What this taught me was that Matt. 18 is not some bureaucratic “manual of discipline,” but something much deeper: an insight into what it means to be human, and to be a human with integrity. The requirements of privacy and caution are not just little nuisances, but go to the heart of the matter. I have continued to develop this theme and hope to write on it anon.
Twice I turned against him. Both times, God gave me the heart to seek reconciliation, and Greg was gracious in a way that was itself life-changing. When I came to him the second time, I was moved to the core by his statement that the whole purpose of his ministry for the previous ten years may well have been, in God’s providence, just to set the stage for that moment. And afterwards, my offenses were never mentioned or remembered.
I will not try to summarize all the many ways he changed my life. That has come out before and will continue to do so. In summary, I will simply say he was a man of a great heart. Indeed, in the divine comedy, the literal heart ailment that killed him well before the age of 50 can be taken as a metaphor for his life. Like our Lord, he can be said to have died of a broken heart.
Wrap on Wilson
The Wilson saga continues. It would be a full-time job Continue reading
Constitution of Wilson McKirk
Turning now to the constitution of the mother assembly, Christ McKirk of Moscow, Continue reading
Is This the End of Douglas Wilson?
Douglas Wilson’s defense of Sitler the pedophile and Wight Continue reading
The CREC Constitution
This report analyzes the constitutional document of the Doug Wilson Continue reading
The Battle For Wittenberg 2017 Begins
Yesterday, at the big state “evangelical” church in the center Continue reading
Confessionalism Type B: The Case of the RPCUS
The RPCUS provides an interesting case study Continue reading
The Federal Vision: Not Catholic At All
It seems clear that one of the motivations for the Federal Vision (FV) movement Continue reading
Book: T. David Gordon on Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns
The surprising thing about this contribution to the debate on worship is Continue reading
The Covenanters in America: A Brief History
This is a review of the mimeographed history by D. Carson Continue reading
The Proposed OPC Directory for Worship
The OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church) is in the process of ratifying a new “Directory for Worship.” It is available on-line by clicking an appropriate link here. The purpose of this essay is to bring some arguments against the proposed revision to the church. Continue reading
Introductory criticism of Wilson’s “‘Reformed’ is Not Enough”
The book “Reformed” is Not Enough created quite a stir a few years back Continue reading
On Deacons Serving Communion
At issue here is a practice, reported in some quarters, of Deacons assisting in Continue reading
Keys of Church and Presbyterial Succession
Attached is an mp3 of a Sunday School on Heidelberg Catechism 83-85, Continue reading
Heidelberg Catechism and Paedo-communion
Attached is the mp3 of a Sunday School lesson I taught yesterday on Heidelberg Catechism 81-82, including a discussion of Wilson’s (and others’) paedo-communion doctrine Continue reading
MacGregor on the Future of the Catholic Church Reformed (HCC #4)
The author was a prominent Church of Scotland man Continue reading
Westminster Seminary and Pete Enns: Ten Observations
It behooves us to take an opening stance on the volcano Continue reading
Buchenwald Inmate #2491: Christian martyr
Paul Schneider was a German Reformed minister whose early ministry coincided with the ascendancy of the National Socialist movement in the 1930s. His critique of the folk’s movement in view of the Word of God as well as a series of stands for the independent rights of the church vis-à-vis the state led to continual conflicts with Party functionaries, and penalties of increasing severity. At length, the conflict culminated in consignment to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, where his life ended. Continue reading
Why I am not a Methodist
Everyone expects me to say “Predestination” or something. But that’s so far down the list that I’ll forget to even mention it.
There are three things that prevent me from becoming a Methodist. Continue reading
Roger Williams, Independent (HCC #3)
Roger Williams, because of his views of freedom of conscience and Continue reading
Is Independency possible? (HCC #2)
Whenever I meet a Baptist or other Independent in a context where Continue reading
The Holy Catholic Church (HCC #1)
In many traditional discussions of the church, a host of definitional distinctions are brought out right away: the church invisible vs. visible; triumphant vs. militant; representational vs. lay; and so forth. All of these distinctions have their place, and in their place are very important. Here, however, I propose to start with the primary lexical meaning of the Hebrew qahal or Greek ekklesia as “the called,” which, in the biblical context, connotes a people called out of the sinful mass of humanity to be the people of God, to worship him in truth, and be constituted as the corporate body identified with the living and true God. Continue reading