“John Witherspoon and the Connecting of American Presbyterians” from the Bible Presbyterian Synod
Theology
As … So (in the New Testament)
In using Old Testament figures for comparisons, the authors of the New Testament considered each of them as historical as the next. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jonah, Moses, and David were each real people who lived and died on this earth as the Old Testament speaks of them. [1Co 15:22 ESV] 22 For as in Adam …
On the Requirement of Being a Member of an Evangelical Church to Take Communion
There are a number of requirements to take communion in a Reformed or Presbyterian church. While specifics may vary from church to church, before participating in communion a person must be baptized, must be of sufficient maturity to “examine yourself,” must not be under church discipline, and must be a member of an evangelical (or …
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Fault Lines and Flimsy Theologians
Voddie Baucham names names in his recent book, Fault Lines, The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe. He identifies a number of theologians with evangelical or even once-conservative credentials who have bought into at least some of the errors of Wokeism. These theologians include Tim Keller, Russell Moore, David Platt, Mark Dever, J. D. …
The Pauline Corpus of Modern Scholars and Marcion
Modern bible “scholars” claim that certain Pauline epistles were not written by Paul but were later pseudepigraphal works. The seven letters they “consider genuine” are: First Thessalonians (c. 50 AD) Galatians (c. 53) First Corinthians (c. 53-54) Philippians (c. 55) Philemon (c. 55) Second Corinthians (c. 55-56) Romans (c. 57) (This leaves out Second Thessalonians …
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How many resurrections will there be?
The question of the number of resurrections of man is central to the question of millennial eschatology positions. The chiliast or premillennial position argues for two separate resurrections, one (the first) for the just and another (the second) for the unjust typically said to have an interval between them of a literal 1000 years. The …
The Consent of MOST of the Parts
Many who follow the theology of Cornelius Van Til also support strict subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith. Examples include Morton H. Smith1and R. Scott Clark.2 Even a whole denomination, the recently-defunct RPCUS (1983-2020) was committed to both Strict Subscriptionism and Van Tillian Apologetics.3 But for all the support of the Westminster Confession among …
Mail Bag: Lutheranism and Reformed Theology
[I recently received an email that gave me a chance to write on this subject of Lutheranism and Reformed theology which has been on my mind for many years. I figured I’d share my response here in case it might be of value to others] The email reads in part: “You have mentioned that you …
There are no Briggs-ites
There are no Briggs-ites, no Janssen-ites, no Fosdick-ites, and no DeWulfites. When liberals are removed from the church, it is done so under the category of heresy. Having no ground to stand on, they are unable to produce movements. Error, like a parasite, cannot exist on its own, but requires a large church organization to …
The Only Truth
One of Francis Schaeffer’s greatest contributions was to warn Christians about what we now call Postmodernism, that truth-denying relativistic philosophy which in the last fifty years has had considerable and increasing sway over society. Schaeffer did well to warn us of it. For at least two hundred years the rationalistic philosophy of Modernism plagued the …
A Terror to Good Works
Christian ministers and theologians commonly note that our obligation to obey the magistrate ends whenever morality is concerned. That is, while the Christian is to “be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1), this is limited by the necessity to “obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) But recently I’ve been considering whether there are …
1948 OPC Minority Report on the Free Offer of the Gospel
[This is the text of the minority report on the free offer of the Gospel written by William Young and Floyd Hamilton in 1948 in opposition to the Majority Report on that subject written by John Murray, Ned Stonehouse, and Arthur Kuschke.] On the free offer of the gospel, the undersigned find themselves unable to …
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Review of To Think Christianly by Charles E. Cotherman
To Think Christianly, A History of L’Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement by Charles E. Cotherman, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020, 301 pp. Charles E. Cotherman has provided a valuable study on the “History of L’Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement.” While this might seem like an eclectic …
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Nash on Van Til
From The Word of God and the Mind of Man by Ronald H. Nash. “For twenty years or so, as a friendly critic of Van Til’s views, I have maintained that Van Til’s position entails scepticism. …” (p. 100) “Only recently, however, have I come to understand that Van Til had developed his own version …
Compatible or Derived?
It is critical in theology to consider whether the view one defends is actually derived from Scripture or is only, at best, compatible with Scripture. Consider, for instance, applying the question “compatible or derived?” to the various positions held on the topic of origins. While atheistic evolution is immediately rejected by Christians — and rightly …
Scripturalist Hermeneutics and Extra-Biblical Information
Despite covering a wide and deep swath of theology in his numerous books and articles a lacuna remains in the writings of Dr. Gordon H. Clark in that he never wrote a piece specifically addressed to the topic of hermeneutics or Biblical interpretation. Though indeed no individual writing of Clark’s was dedicated to this topic—and …
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The Cause and Not-Cause of Sin
There are four terms commonly used in the discussion of the relationship of God and sin. In a sort of continuum from hard to soft (or heavy to light, etc.) these terms are “author,” “cause,” “permit,” and “bare permission.” The Reformed Faith, as exemplified in the Westminster Confession of Faith, strongly opposes using the word …
A Quandary for Proponents of the Well-Meant Offer
Sinclair Ferguson is perhaps today’s leading proponent of the “well-meant offer of the Gospel,” the teaching that God desires the salvation of all men, elect and reprobate as well. Proponents of the well-meant offer land into particularly difficult quandaries as the inherent unlimitedness of the position presses up against the limitedness of the Calvinist view …
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What is a Reformed Theologian?
Reformed theology has been growing in popularity. More and more churches and pastors are applying the term to themselves. Like Junior says to Pappy, “people like that reform. Maybe we should get us some.” Consequently I’ve noticed that people often come to hear of Reformed theology through some popular preacher or author who has embraced …
Calvin on Faith and Belief
Calvin on John 7:38 – He who believeth in me. “He now points out the manner of coming, which is, that we must approach, not with the feet, but by faith; or rather, to come is nothing else than to believe, at least if you define accurately the word believe; as we have already said …
Apostasy by the numbers in the PCUSA
An article on “Surveying Presbyterian Beliefs” by Michael D. Bush in Theology Matters notes the results of a recent survey of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) members and ministers. For Bush “This survey makes it clear that while there are many faithful in the church, the PC(USA) remains ecclesia reformanda, a church needing to be reformed.” No …
Not So Fast! – Comments on Keith Mathison’s “Christianity and Van Tillianism”
First there was J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism. Then there was Cornelius Van Til’s Christianity and Barthianism. And now there is Keith Mathison’s “Christianity and Van Tillianism.” Machen’s contention was that Liberalism is not Christianity but an entirely different religion. Van Til was making the same point regarding Barthianism when he likewise contrasted it …
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Letters of William Jennings Bryan to Bible Presbyterian minister Roy T. Brumbaugh
My favorite source of historical information is letter collections. I’ve recently found these letters from William Jennings Bryan to Bible Presbyterian minister Roy T. Brumbaugh in the collection of the latter’s papers owned by Brumbaugh’s grandson, David Sinding. Whenever I find letters like these I wonder if there is some scholar, like a William Jennings …
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Schaeffer the Particularist
In a previous post (Francis Schaeffer, Pseudo-Calvinist) I criticized Francis Schaeffer’s apparent lack of conformity with Reformed soteriology later in his life. But I also referenced there a 1948 publication of his indicating that he did hold to a Calvinist view early in his career. Now I’ve found something of his from earlier (1942) and …
The Christian Observer in 1987-1989
I recently acquired a set of issues of The Christian Observer running from 1987-1989. This paper has a long history reaching back over 200 years and has at times been a prominent publication. I skimmed through these issues and thought it might be interesting to note some of what I found. At this period of …