H.C. Q & A 54 on “the holy catholic church”

     The Heidelberg Catechism is well known for its devotional tone, and for this reason many inside and outside of the Reformed community have come to appreciate it.  Most people who are familiar with confessions and catechisms end up having their favorite parts.  For me Q & A 54 has been one of those.  It [...]

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Quote from Fools For Christ by Jaroslav Pelikan

After surveying the relationship between the True and the Holy, the Good and the Holy, and the Beautiful and the Holy using 6 historical figures – Kierkegaard, Paul, Dostoevsky, Luther, Nietzche, and Bach – Pelikan concludes: Yet, that Holy which men have vainly tried to grasp with their systems of thought, their categories of ethics, [...]

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Historical Election: A Few Quotes from John Barach in The Federal Vision

     The Federal Vision has received its share of criticism in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), and as a student in a seminary where that is the predominate denomination represented I am forced to deal with the issues of the PCA.  One of the aspects of the Federal Vision is their emphasis on historical election [...]

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Church Planting: A Foundation for Methodology to Compliment a Critique

     Yesterday I offered a very short critique of church planting methodology, and the next question that naturally follows is, “Well what is your methodology?”  It is one thing to critique, and it is another to offer one’s own perspective (unfortunately I get the sense that in conservative Reformed circles we are quick to pick [...]

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The Culturally Established Church in a Rapidly Changing World…Questions and Concerns About Current Church Planting Stategies

     It seems everytime I see a new church plant celebrated in a denominational magazine or paper I am often torn between excitement that a church has been birthed to reach the lost and unease concerning the name or picture or their goal or philosophy of ministry.  Of course, this doesn’t happen all of the [...]

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Preaching and some of its aspects: the Word, the Canon, the Holy Spirit

(This post is an adaptation to a take home exam question from last semester.)  Martin Luther’s high view of preaching closely linked the “Preached Word” with the “Written Word.”  What is your view of the value, the power and the mandate of preaching?  What about the authority of the Bible and its connection to preaching? [...]

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