"One of the most resilient and cherished myths of parenting is that parenting creates the child…Many Christian writers and parents have…drifted into what could be called spiritual determinism. We have absorbed the cultural belief in psychological determinism but spiritualized it with Bible verses, and one verse in particular." --Leslie Fields

So the eclipse of Presbyterians in the evangelical world's adoption of the term 'Reformed' is probably in large part a function of the transformation of the term's meaning by the contemporary evangelical scene. This is not something I myself will lose any sleep over.

In the 1980s and 1990s when I was first introduced to Reformed theology three names dominated the seen were James Montgomery Boice (Senior Minister at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia), Sinclair Ferguson who was teaching full-time at the time at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, and R.C. Sproul. They are all Presbyterians. In those days "Calvinism"/"Reformed" and Presbyterian were synonyms.

Paige Benton Brown is like the gospel on drugs. Now I have a better picture of what those at Pentecost must have been like when accused of being drunk. I’ll have what Paige is having, please.

"Hell is not filled with people who are deeply sorry for their sins," Carson stated. "It is filled with people who for all eternity still shake their puny fist in the face of God almighty in an endless existence of evil, and corruption, and shame, and the wrath of God."

Five years ago, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America took issue with an action of Northern California Presbytery and Philadelphia Presbytery in a matter related to deaconesses. The result was two years of debate about whether or not we should study the issue, and the PCA said that it did not want to do so.

This is a topic with a long history of discussion in Reformed circles, and I have long sensed that the term synergism is less than helpful in this particular context

Word, Sacraments and Prayer will change the world, one soul at a time. And these saved souls will have a leavening influence in every sphere of their lives, as God blesses. And then, when all is said and done, and our Lord returns in glory, we shall see that which was built upon Christ alone and His Gospel, and that which burns up to no reward.

The medieval Roman church claimed that since all things should be directed to the love and obedience of God, all power should be exercised subject to the lordship of the papacy. Both swords – the spiritual sword and the temporal sword – belong to the pope, who then delegates one such sword to the magistrate on the condition that the magistrate exercises it obediently to the pope.

I’m moving toward finishing the story partly previewed Thursday (see “Strange bedfellows”) and scheduled to go to press in the next issue of WORLD on Tuesday.   Earlier last week I asked to speak with National Association of Evangelicals President Leith Anderson, but NAE communications director Sarah Kropp asked me to submit questions in writing,... Continue Reading