Archive for June 2023
Dependent Creatures
In his book, Dignity, Chris Arnade introduces his readers to Takeesha, who he had met in the neighborhood of Hunts Point, the Bronx. When asked how she wanted to be described she said, “As who I am, a prostitute, a mother of six, and a child of God.” Takeesha’s story and her context in Hunts…
Read MoreTheology I: New Course by Matthew Barrett
God created the world and He revealed Himself to the world. He did not remain silent, but He communicated His goodness to us. Do you know Him? Join Dr. Matthew Barrett in studying the doctrines of creation, humanity, revelation, and providence with the For the Church Institute. Don’t miss the latest course on some of…
Read MoreInferno, Canto 12
Dante’s Divine Comedy is a literary masterpiece that continues to captivate readers with its vivid depictions of the afterlife and its profound theological insights. As a work of Christian literature, it offers a unique vision of God’s justice and mercy as it invites readers to contemplate the ultimate destination of human souls. Through complex allegories…
Read MoreShould God’s providence affect the historian?
Join David Bebbington, a renowned evangelical historian, as he explores the profound interplay between divine providence and the historian’s outlook on history itself. In this thought-provoking video, Bebbington explores the ways in which God’s providence informs and shapes our understanding of historical events. With his historical expertise, David Bebbington offers a unique perspective on how…
Read MoreReformed Scholastics in the Pulpit?
To ask whether the Reformed Scholastics can serve our preaching today likely sounds to most pastors as absurd as the answer is obvious. Parading Latinate sentences, obscure jargon, and speculative theological abstractions with no practical relevance to the Christian life in the pulpit? Unfortunately, these caricatures of scholasticism misrepresent its goal, which was explicitly tied…
Read MoreAngels and the Local Church
Just what does the local church need to know about angels, Satan and demons is an intriguing question. In my experience, I have heard very little from the pulpit or in adult Sunday school on the topic. The question is intriguing because popular culture (movies and TV for example) teems with treatments, often fanciful, on…
Read MoreThe Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church
A holistic, eye-opening history of one of the most significant turning points in Christianity, The Reformation as Renewal by Matthew Barrett demonstrates that the Reformation was at its core a renewal of evangelical catholicity. In the sixteenth century Rome charged the Reformers with novelty, as if they were heretics departing from the catholic (universal) church.…
Read MoreInferno, Canto 11
Dante’s Divine Comedy is a literary masterpiece that continues to captivate readers with its vivid depictions of the afterlife and its profound theological insights. As a work of Christian literature, it offers a unique vision of God’s justice and mercy as it invites readers to contemplate the ultimate destination of human souls. Through complex allegories…
Read MoreNew Credo Podcast! What is Reformed Catholicity?
Despite its polemic again the Roman church, the theological structures which emerged in the Swiss Reformation stood firmly on the traditional teaching of he church. This was achieved through a deliberate appropriation of the early church and a good deal of the medieval church. The Swiss reformers were grounded on historical continuity.” These words by…
Read MoreWhat is Reformed Catholicity? Matthew Barrett and Ronni Kurtz
Despite its polemic again the Roman church, the theological structures which emerged in the Swiss Reformation stood firmly on the traditional teaching of he church. This was achieved through a deliberate appropriation of the early church and a good deal of the medieval church. The Swiss reformers were grounded on historical continuity.” These words by…
Read MoreWas John Calvin a Biblicist?
Nearly half a century after R. T. Kendall published “Calvin and English Calvinism to 1649,” the debate of “Calvin versus the Calvinists” rages on. Kendall’s was not the first attempt at pointing out supposed discontinuity between Calvin and his successors, of course. Years earlier, T. F. Torrance criticized the Westminster Confession for being too scholastic…
Read MoreDivine Reading of Divine Scripture
Lectio Divina is nothing out of the ordinary. It is what happens naturally when Christians wrestle with the biblical text. The Latin term divina may intimidate us into thinking it is something different from what we typically do in reading the Bible. But divina does not mean “esoteric”; it is more akin to our term holy. The…
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