Heidelcast

This is part 2 of a two-part episode on the fifth commandment: "Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you." In Heidelberg Catechism 104 we interpret this commandment to require . . . Continue reading →

With episode 84 we are taking a brief hiatus from our series on the moral law to talk with one of my favorite authors, Stella Morabito, about an article she published in The Federalist, "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to . . . Continue reading →

In this episode we consider the fifth commandment: "Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you." In Heidelberg Catechism 104 we interpret this commandment to require "that I . . . Continue reading →

That there is a Sabbath is evident in the first chapter in God's Word. According to Scripture, Almighty God "worked" for six days, six mornings and evenings, and rested the seventh. Have you ever stopped to wonder why Scripture says that God "rested"? Was . . . Continue reading →

God's holy law says, "You shall not take the name of the Yahweh your God in vain; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." The first thing we need to say about the name of the . . . Continue reading →

All the commandments are challenging to us sinners. In the first commandment we saw that God will not share his glory with another. In the 2nd commandment we read and hear that we must worship the true God truly. We do not . . . Continue reading →

The first commandment says: "You shalt have no other gods before me." The Hebrew text says literally, "You shall not have any other Elohim before my face." Elohim is the generic word for God in the Hebrew Bible. When Genesis 1:1 says, . . . Continue reading →

This is part 2 of the series God's Holy Law. In order to use the law rightly we need to make some important distinctions. One of the most important of these is the distinction between law and gospel. Historically, confessional Reformed theologians . . . Continue reading →

With this episode we begin a new series: God's Holy Law. In this episode we consider what the law is, how the moral law is distinguished from the civil and ceremonial aspects of the law, the universality of the law, its expression . . . Continue reading →

This is 13th and final part of the our series, nomism, antinomianism and The Marrow of Modern Divinity. If you're just joining us, you can start at the beginning with episode 58. Why this series? Because The Marrow was an important classic . . . Continue reading →

What worship is and how it should be done is one of the most difficult questions with which confessional Reformed and Presbyterian churches are presently faced. Few things will cause trouble in a congregation more quickly than making changes in a worship . . . Continue reading →

Before I began this series my intent was to do a series of episodes on the Reformed understanding of the Christian use of the moral law as the norm or rule of the Christian life. Confessional Protestants (Reformed and Lutheran) call it . . . Continue reading →

Last time we considered what some folk mean by the expression "the law of Christ" and, in contrast, what the Bible means by it. It's neither a new covenant of works, as if we could obey our way into acceptance with God . . . Continue reading →

If you've been near social media or a television recently you probably know about the troubles in Ferguson, Missouri. It's a predominantly African-American suburb of St Louis where, around Noon on Saturday August 9, 2014 a Mike Brown, a young, 18-year old, . . . Continue reading →

We've come to the 3rd part of the Marrow, "Of the law of Christ." This is a phrase that occurs frequently in this discussion. Neither the antinomian nor the neonomian are satisfied with the law of Christ the way it is. The . . . Continue reading →

The issue before this week is this: The nomist (i.e., the legalist) will frequently deny that he is a legalist. We can even get the nomist to profess orthodox things about the doctrine of justification but here's an acid test—by the way . . . Continue reading →

The Heidelcast is a broadcast about history and theology and recovering the Reformed confession but one of my great concerns in recent years has been the potential and actual loss of religious and other civil liberties. It's not unusual for Reformed ministers . . . Continue reading →

It's widely thought that science, the modern study of nature, is the product of the rejection of Christianity, as if science and Christianity are naturally at odds. As part of this narrative it is said that Christianity was anti-intellectual and disinterested in . . . Continue reading →

Before there was Recovering the Reformed Confession, there was Recovering Mother Kirk a seminal book for all Reformed confessionalists who are looking for a way between revivalism and fundamentalism or between QIRC and QIRE. Darryl Hart published Recovering Mother Kirk just over . . . Continue reading →

We're resuming the series on antinomianism and we're talking with Nick Batzig, pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in the Savannah area. Nick blogs at Feeding On Christ. He's also on Twitter. He recently wrote a provocative essay on the third . . . Continue reading →

We're talking a break from the series on nomism and antinomianism to talk about science. Not long ago there was a debate between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Ken Ham the Creationist Guy that garnered a considerable amount of attention. Why did . . . Continue reading →

The nomist wants to know whether the works he did before coming to faith are of any value. He asks, "why then, sir, it would seem that all my seeking to please God by my good works, all my strict walking according . . . Continue reading →

The Heidelcast is working through The Marrow of Modern Divinity (1645). Last time we began looking at the doctrine of the covenant of grace. We saw that the principle of the covenant of grace is fundamentally different from that of the covenant of works. . . . Continue reading →

The Heidelcast is working through The Marrow of Modern Divinity (1645) as a model for how to account for justification and sanctification, how to keep them together, without losing either and without confusing them. The circumstances in which The Marrow first appeared were . . . Continue reading →

The first major section of the Marrow of Modern Divinity was a defense of the covenant of works. It is fascinating to see how, already in the 1640s, the covenant of works came under criticism from the nomists (legalists, moralists). Nothing really . . . Continue reading →

With this episode I had intended to begin a survey of The Marrow of Modern Divinity but Chris Gordon, my friend, colleague, and pastor at Escondido URC put in my hands a terrific little volume from 1831, which was an assessment of the Marrow . . . Continue reading →

The Reformed confess that we were justified in order that we might be progressively sanctified, i.e., gradually and graciously conformed to the image of Christ. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead, who united us to him through faith, is . . . Continue reading →

With this episode we begin a series on the proper understanding and use of the law in the Christian life. We'll be talking about both two of our least favorite relatives, uncle nomism and antinomianism. In contrast to these two errors we'll . . . Continue reading →

Revisionism isn't always a bad thing. I am a revisionist myself. I've been trying to help people see the history of Reformed theology rather differently from the way it was often presented from the middle of the 19th century through the 1970s. . . . Continue reading →

Sometimes it might have seemed that we haven't had to contend for the gospel but the historical reality is that we were kidding ourselves. In every case where the gospel has been seriously challenged, whether by Pelagius, medieval semi-Pelagianism, Trent in the . . . Continue reading →

There is a certain amount of pressure within the NAPARC world to "move on" from the Federal Vision. In the next three episodes we're going to consider why that is and how Reformed folk, particularly ministers and elders (but laity too), should . . . Continue reading →

For those who are outside the Reformed churches, the so-called (and self-named) Federal Vision movement probably seems like a tempest in a teapot. For those of us, however, who worship in Reformed churches, the FV is no theoretical discussion. There have been . . . Continue reading →

The self-described and so-called Federal Vision movement has been troubling the confessional (NAPARC) Reformed and Presbyterian denominations since before it had a cool name. It presents itself as Reformed theology but is only Reformed in the way that Arminius was Reformed. He . . . Continue reading →

In some Reformed quarters to it is considered clever to argue that to reject images is to deny the humanity of Christ. That Reformed writers should make such an argument would shock our Reformed forefathers, who were convinced that images of Christ . . . Continue reading →

According to the Heidelberg Catechism there are three great heads of the Christian faith: guilt, grace, and gratitude. There may be other motivations to godliness but the catechism isn't structured by them. It is structured by gratitude. Yet, there are those who . . . Continue reading →

Beginning at least in the 1560s, it was non-controversial for Reformed theologians to teach that God, before the fall, entered into a legal, probationary covenant with Adam, who was the representative of the whole human race, the condition of which was perfect . . . Continue reading →

Parts of the confessional Reformed world in North America are in the midst of a controversy over whether it is biblical, confessional, and historically Reformed to teach that the Mosaic covenant was, in some sense, a republication of the covenant of works. . . . Continue reading →

Parts of the confessional Reformed world in North America are in the midst of a controversy over whether it is biblical, confessional, and historically Reformed to teach that the Mosaic covenant was, in some sense, a republication of the covenant of works. . . . Continue reading →

On today's Heidelcast, part 2 of our discussion about conditions in the covenant of grace. In episode 46 I tried to establish a distinction between two kinds of conditions in the covenant of grace: antecedent and consequent. An antecedent condition is a work, . . . Continue reading →

In Reformed theology we speak of three covenants, the pre-temporal covenant of redemption, the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace. In the covenant of redemption there are two aspects, works for the Son and grace for the elect. The Son was . . . Continue reading →

In this episode, part 2 of 2, we look specifically at what is new in the new covenant. Here's part 1. Jeremiah 31:31–34 looks forward to four future blessings in the new covenant. The New Testament takes up those categories and elaborates . . . Continue reading →

We speak often about the old and new covenants or Old and New Testaments but what are they and especially what is the Old Testament or the old covenant? What is the relationship between the Old and New Testaments and what is . . . Continue reading →

Denial is the refusal to believe what our senses are telling us, of seeking an alternate explanation. Thomas wanted didn't trust his eyes. One of the earliest heresies faced by the apostolic church was the claim that Jesus humanity was only apparent . . . Continue reading →

The Heidelcast considers the case of Fiona, who was raised in a broadly evangelical congregation. In that tradition, the emphasis was on unity over diversity. The congregation tolerated different approaches to the sacraments and to the doctrine of salvation. What bound them . . . Continue reading →

David Hall and the good folks at Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Powder Springs, GA are hosting the fifth annual Reformation Worship Conference next month (Oct 17-20, 2013). David joined me by phone this afternoon to talk about the conference and about . . . Continue reading →

We confess that Christ is Lord but what does that entail for the way Christians relate to the broader culture? Are we Christians because the culture is Christian? Do Christians separate themselves completely from the culture? Are we called to transform the . . . Continue reading →

An important part of recovering the Reformed confession is calling the churches back to our theology, piety, and practice. Church planting is a part of that practice. We've always been "missional." We were missional before there was a cool word for it. . . . Continue reading →

The law of God is always relevant but the ninth commandment seems particularly relevant right now. We live in a time when truth seems to be out of fashion. I can't remember a time when there has seemed to be so little . . . Continue reading →

The Heidelcast answers a phone call asking about NAPARC and what distinguishes the various confessional Reformed denominations and federations from each other. Thanks to the Rev Dr David Hall, Sr Pastor of Midway Presbyterian Church, (PCA) in Powder Springs, GA, the Rev Mr . . . Continue reading →

If you've been following the HB, the Heidelcast has been in re-runs for several months. Today, however, the Heidelcast is back with a brand new episode. Earlier this week I talked with Zeke Piestrup about his new documentary, "Apocalypse Later: Harold Camping . . . Continue reading →