Israel was to be a place of freedom and justice, a nation where the rights of the weak and oppressed, the fatherless and widow, would be defended. Israel was a nation of redeemed slaves, and Yahweh told her never to forget what it was like to be in bondage. Israel forgot, and repeatedly returned to Egyptian ways. Solomon imposed intolerable burden, so Jeroboam challenged Solomon’s son Rehoboam to lighten the weight. When Rehoboam refused, Jeroboam led out 10 tribes (1... Read more
Suetonius records that Augustus escaped a threat of death as an infant. A portent convinced the Romans that a king was about to be born, and in response the Senate planned to ban the rearing of male children for a year. Some of the Senators’ wives were already pregnant, and to protect these patrician children, some Senators prevented the decree from being filed with the treasury. Each was hoping his son would fulfill the prophecy. But Octavius won out. Read more
We are right before God because Jesus has obeyed perfectly, offered Himself on the cross, and received the verdict of righteousness in the resurrection, a verdict in which we are included by union with the Risen Christ. We come to share in this verdict by faith. But a question arises: Where do we ever hear this verdict? How is it communicated to us? We need to hear the verdict. What good is a verdict that’s never declared to us? We... Read more
The emperor invited Luther to speak for himself at the Diet of Worms. By that time, the Pope had already had a stack of Luther’s writings, enough to identify 41 errors that he wanted Luther to retract. Eck knew full well what Luther had written; he had a table full of books at the Diet itself. The Diet met to demand that Luther retract. But the Diet met with Luther, personally. For reasons that Paul Fowler’s convoluted explanation certainly did... Read more
The emperor invited Luther to speak for himself at the Diet of Worms. By that time, the Pope had already had a stack of Luther’s writings, enough to identify 41 errors that he wanted Luther to retract. Eck knew full well what Luther had written; he had a table full of books at the Diet itself. The Diet met to demand that Luther retract. But the Diet met with Luther, personally. For reasons that Paul Fowler’s convoluted explanation certainly did... Read more
Imagine you’re a sharp young NT scholar of Reformed conviction, who wants to engage the latest NT scholarship fairly, critically, and appreciatively where appropriate. Imagine you’re a theologian of Reformed inclinations who’s looking for a place to do creative theological work. Imagine you’re a Reformed Old Testament scholar who wants his OT scholarship to inform his understanding of systematic theology in a vigorous manner. Imagine you’re a theologian who thinks that there are still things to be discovered in Scripture... Read more
Of all the declarations of the PCA FV Study Report, the most mystifying is the one that reaffirms justification by faith and rejects final justification according to works. This became the central issue in the “debate” on the floor of GA, and this was likely the reason for the resounding support for the report. It’s mystifying first because, RC Sproul to the contrary, justification by faith is not being challenged. It’s also mystifying because the Confession clearly teaches judgment according... Read more
My previous couple of posts highlight the fact that paedocommunion lurks behind the whole Federal Vision debate. Paedocommunion disambiguates the ambiguous “God is/isn’t your God” that paedobaptism without paedocommunion declares to our children. Read more
The Federal Vision has been about a lot of things, but one of the central pastoral issues has to do with the status of our children, what we say to them, and how we say it. From one perspective, the Federal Vision is an effort to articulate a consistent paedobaptist theology. Doug Wilson said awhile ago that this is all about children; I agree. The pastoral import of the Federal Vision is that we can say to our children, without... Read more
The PCA Federal Vision report condemns the notion that some receive saving benefits of Christ and later lose them. But this runs contrary to the PCA’s own covenant understanding of infant baptism and the statements of its own Constitution. Consider: Children of believers, all Presbyterians confess, are covenant children. At PCA baptisms, Acts 2 is often read: The promise is to you and to your children. Presbyterians often say that God is a God to us and to our children.... Read more
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