In 1610, followers of Jacobus Arminius, who died in 1609, presented a “Remonstrance,” an official state protest, to the civil government of Holland and Friesland. They were seeking political toleration to continue as ministers in Dutch churches. In five theological articles their protest outlined substantial divergence from the far more commonly held Calvinistic beliefs found... Continue Reading

The Holy Spirit uses the Ten Commandments to drive even Christians back to Christ so that we will learn again and again to flee to him for righteousness and salvation. By hearing them read week and after week and by meditating on them, we are also driven to our knees and thence to Christ for... Continue Reading

Compromises in the name of political liberalism are at best short-lived and at worst preferential towards modern paganism. Any worldview that finds meaning and purpose and epistemological grounding in this world rather than another will always marginalize the transcendent religionists to the outer periphery of society.   Can political liberalism and religious liberty (accommodation) coexist?... Continue Reading

All too often, those who would cause division and dissent can neither substantiate their criticism nor, sometimes, even articulate what their actual criticism is. Yet many churches routinely expect their leaders to take a “humble” stance (for which read, conciliatory and submissive) to accusations that are both unjust and untrue.   A few weeks back,... Continue Reading

It is clear that both sets of sacraments share the same already/not yet realization: the OT sacraments were signs of what was and what would be; the NT sacraments are signs of what is and what will be. Moreover, in both sets of sacraments, promises and warnings of the age to come attend their external... Continue Reading

The Apostle Paul instructs Christians in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “Test all things, hold fast what is good.” We all need to develop that ability—and it takes time and effort.   A reader recently forwarded to us an email from a fine Christian ministry that bemoaned the proliferation of “fake news” and other bad thinking on... Continue Reading

The office of the Christian ministry, rightly understood, is the most honourable and important, that any man in the whole world can ever sustain; and it will be one of the wonders and employments of eternity, to consider the reasons, why the wisdom and goodness of God assigned this office to imperfect and guilty man!... Continue Reading

One of the most important approaches to the problem of evil is that set forth originally by Augustine and then later by Aquinas, in which they argued that evil has no independent being. Evil cannot be defined as a thing or as a substance or as some kind of being. Rather, evil is always defined... Continue Reading

In identifying himself as a slave of Christ at the very beginning of the letter, Paul intended that the Philippians—who had been struggling with issues of steadfastness amidst conflict (Phil. 1:27–30; 4:1), unity amongst believers (Phil. 2:1–2; 4:2–3), humility (Phil. 2:3–9), and joy amidst persecution (Phil. 2:17–18; 3:1; 4:4)—would be reminded that they too are... Continue Reading

The laws will always reflect the law-giver. If you want to know about the character of Boris Johnson, Justin Trudeau, or Donald Trump, you will learn something of it by studying the laws they have advocated. And if you want to know about the character of God, a great place to begin is with a... Continue Reading