The church of Corinth in Greece comprised in it also more congregations than one, as may be justly concluded from, 1. The multitude of believers. 2. The plenty of ministers. 3. The diversity of tongues and languages. 4. And the plurality of churches at Corinth. Let all these be well compared together. 1. From the… Read More Was the Church of Corinth a Single Congregation or a Presbytery?
Natural Theology is the knowledge of God, as sovereign creator and judge, from nature, without special revelation. Man cannot know God as redeemer or discern the gospel from nature, nor many of His attributes, but man can know that God exists, is holy, righteous, wrathful against sin, etc. without having special revelation (Rom. 1:19-21). Therefore, all men are… Read More The Four “Books” of Natural Theology
The True Bounds of Christian Freedom Samuel Bolton (ii) Against Antinomians We look next at the case of those who are called Antinomians. Just as the Papists set up the law for justification, so the Antinomians decry the law for sanctification. We claim to be free from the curses of the law; they would have… Read More Against Antinomians | Samuel Bolton
While it is true that there is some diversity of opinion and practice on the Sabbath in the Continental Reformed tradition, ranging (in the Netherlands, for example) from the loose position of Cocceius, to the strict view of Voetius, Koelman and a’Brakel, the views of the Reformers regarding the Sabbath are much more Sabbatarian than… Read More The Myth of the “Continental View” of the Sabbath
National Sins and National Judgments A sermon by John Owen Preached April 11, 1679. “For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory. The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they… Read More National Sins and National Judgments
Adding on to our last post summarizing a few scholastic concepts: Causality: Five Metaphysical Distinctions, this post briefly considers another important principle often used in Reformed Theology and gives a few examples of the principle in practice. Principle of Proportionate Causality. “The logic of causality also dictates that proximate or closely related causes produce only proximate or… Read More What It Does Not Have, It Cannot Impart
In our previous post, the duties required in the Ninth Commandment, as summarized in the Westminster Larger Catechism, were discussed. This post will deal with the sins forbidden in the Ninth Commandment. The focus of this post will be on aspects of this commandment that require special explanation, terms that require definition, sins generally prevalent… Read More Taming the Tongue: Sins of the 9th Commandment
This paper is not meant as a complete treatment of the Ninth Commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor,” (Exodus 20:16). However, how we speak about and to one another, whether in politics or in human relationships, often neglects certain aspects of the Ninth Commandment. The intention of this paper is not… Read More Taming the Tongue: Speaking with Grace, Listening with Charity
King Solomon had penned 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), but there is one that is greater than all of them; it is the Song of Songs. It is so great that God included this in the canon of Scripture as an entire book. The Song of Solomon was never questioned by Jews or Christians as… Read More The Allegory of the Song of Solomon
Many Evangelicals today see the divisions among Christians, the many denominations, and the sometimes heated rhetoric between brothers, and rightly desire to see unity among Christians. Indeed, many modern Evangelicals even want to see unity between Protestant Christians and Roman Catholics.1 While such a desire may seem well-intentioned on the surface, we need to examine whether… Read More 6 Reasons Protestants and Roman Catholics Can Never Unite
Purely Presbyterian 