Free Republic

The town where J. Gresham Machen, the founder of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, last preached before his death has shown up again in the news, this time in a horrible way. While Machen's direct denominational influence was fairly narrow, as the key leader of the secession from the Northern Presbyterians and founder of Westminster Theological Seminary, Machen has a lasting role in American Calvinism that is far larger than the Orthodox Presbyterian Church which he founded. In his own lifetime, however, Machen's role was even more important and went well beyond Reformed circles. As a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary,...

David Virtue's website, VirtueOnline, www.virtueonline.org recently reprinted a blog post by Joel Wilhelm, entitled "FiFNA vs. Anglicanism." http://tinyurl.com/n5soffq Readers of Anglican blogs may remember that, in June, the Stand Firm website ran an article: "What is Going on With the ACNA and the Filioque?" which cited another post by Wilhelm, entitled, "ACNA Vs. the 39 Articles," in which he challenges the ACNA for considering returning to the original form of the Nicene Creed, which does not contain the Filioque. I don't know about you, but I am beginning to sense a theme with these "versus" articles: Take an organization that...

Sunday, June 21, marked the 90th anniversary of the Scopes Monkey Trial decision. The questions surrounding evolution—meaning, in particular, the origins of humans—still raise large and important questions for how we understand human nature and the doctrine of original sin. But Jason Stellman thinks that the obsession with our physical origins, though understandable, is perhaps theologically off-kilter. Where we've come from biologically is not as important as where we're heading. It's not the beginning of the journey, man—it's the destination. Stellman's The Destiny of the Species (Wipf and Stock, 2013) is a brief, rollicking, and readable apologetic, notable not...

Though primarily a theologian, the famous Reformation figure John Calvin had much to say about the application of biblical principles to politics. His focus on the sovereignty of God in all aspects of Creation led Calvin to believe in God’s ordinance not only in the spiritual realm, but also in civil government. Citing Scriptural passages such as Proverbs 8:15-16 – “By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth” – Calvin demonstrated that all governments are ordained by God. In Calvin’s mind, therefore, the rule of civil authority...

Today is the 504th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin (July 10, 1509) — and the 497th anniversary of misunderstanding Calvinists. To commemorate the event, let’s look at a recent notable example provided by The Economist. The article is out-datedly titled, “Dippers divided” and the subhead is “Where evangelicals disagree.” Where evangelicals disagree, apparently, is on whether to maintain, the “theocon” alliance in American politics between Catholics and evangelicals, who have set aside their doctrinal differences (over the Virgin Mary, for example) to take a joint stand against abortion and in favour of the traditional family. What could be...

Over at Kevin DeYoung’s blog, Jason Helopoulos asks “Does Calvinism Kill Missions?” and answers with a resounding historical ‘no.’ I agree, and want to put a little finer point on it: from the perspective of Baptist history, Calvinists birthed the missions movement. I’ve recently been reading Jason Duesing’s fascinating volume Adoniram Judson: A Bicentennial Appreciation of the Pioneer American Missionary, which has a great deal of fresh information on the celebrated Baptist missionary Judson and his context. I was particularly intrigued by Robert Caldwell’s essay on the “New Divinity” theology and Judson’s preparation as a missionary. The New Divinity theologians,...

The commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of the great Geneva Protestant Reformer, John Calvin, took place this past July 10, 2009. Without question, Calvin was a giant among men used by God to rediscover and expound on biblical truth that long had been forgotten and rejected by Rome. His influence on all spheres of life is immeasurable, and today, his understanding of theology is making a huge comeback within certain quarters of the Christian community. However, what Americans do not realize immediately is that the birth of the American republic is steeped in Calvinist presuppositions, and perhaps...

As Christians continue to process the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s supreme arrogance on the same sex mirage issue, one of the things we must continue to remember to do is review the basics. This of course will include constantly reviewing what the Scriptures explicitly teach on the matter of same sex sexual activity, but it is also important for us to go a layer beneath all that. We also need to keep reviewing what the Bible teaches about the nature of man’s nature, and the nature of man’s choices. A hidden driver in a lot of what is going...

Years ago...I had lunch with a conservative Protestant clergyman and his wife...Personally friendly and pleasant, they were nonetheless outspoken critics of Mormonism who frankly considered its claims about God “blasphemous.” Our conversation...turned to the ultimate fate of the unevangelized...To make the question specific, I proposed the hypothetical case of a medieval Chinese peasant who...had never traveled more than perhaps 20 miles from his home and who had never so much as encountered the name of Jesus. “He’s damned,” the clergyman said...I responded that such a fate seemed terribly unjust, since this Chinese peasant had never had a fair chance —...

The report sets out liturgy for a civil partnership blessing, along with the traditional view of marriage. A report for the Church of Scotland on same-sex relationships has suggested an order of service for a civil partnership blessing.The liturgy contains ideas for scripture readings, including passages about David and Jonathan, and Ruth and Naomi. The report by the special Theological Commission, which was appointed in 2011, also presents the traditional view of marriage as between a man and a woman.Opinion The Church of Scotland said the report described the breadth of theological opinion that existed and did not represent...

Romans 9:15-24 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom...

Even though I embrace reformed theology (aka “Calvinism”) now, I understand the thinking behind articles such as Dan Delzell’s recent “Infant Baptism and 5-Point Calvinism are Limited”. I grew up under an Arminian pastor who I still deeply respect and admire that would nod in agreement with all the points Delzell makes in his post.When I first went to seminary, I studied systematic theology under a very well know theologian who espouses what he calls “moderate Calvinism”, which is really an inconsistent form of Arminian theology. At the time, that framework seemed logical to me.But when I started my Ph.D. studies,...

Those who know me well know my penchant for Great Tradition theology, by which I mean that we need to recover true catholicity, the faith of the early, undivided Church. I believe that the methodology that best gets us there is an embrace of the Vincentian Canon, the product of St. Vincent of Lerins (died c. AD 445). It is tempting to want to reproduce all four paragraphs of this Canon, which come from Chapter 4 of the Vincent's Commonitorium, and I encourage you to click on the link and read the four fairly short paragraphs, because a great many...

As Baptists Prepare to Meet, Calvinism Debate Shifts to Heresy Accusation Hundreds, including seminary presidents, have signed a statement on salvation criticized by both Reformed and Arminian theologians. Weston Gentry [ posted 6/18/2012 ] A statement by a non-Calvinist faction of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has launched infighting within the nation's largest Protestant denomination, and tensions are expected to escalate Tuesday as church leaders descend on New Orleans.

If you're a Free Republic participant, I already know you're a political conservative. If you're a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Church in America, or United Reformed Churches, and if you don't know what "two kingdoms" theology is, you need to read this post. What follows is the CO-URC version of posts I made today on the United Reformed and Orthodox Presbyterian listserves run by Christian Observer magazine. It responds to this thread on the Green Baggins blog owned by Rev. Lane Keister: http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/review-of-_the-escondido-theology_-general-considerations/#comments You can find the OPC and URC versions of my posts here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/co-urc/message/25024 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/presbyterians-opc/message/44787...

According to the Guardian:“Leading Palestinian officials have rounded on the Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for his description of Palestinians as an ‘invented’ people and ‘terrorists.’ During a candidate debate the Republican frontrunner insisted that ‘these people are terrorists. They teach terrorism in their schools. They have textbooks that say, if there are 13 Jews and nine Jews are killed, how many Jews are left?’”In response, Presbyterians for Middle East Peace (PFMEP)..have called Gingrich out for his comments. The group has publically disagreed with the recent comment by Gingrich when he declared the Palestinian people to be “invented." ...PFMEP calls...

Cochrane's Knox Presbyterian Church held its last service Sunday.The membership of the Church has declined over the years to now only being a handful, most of which commute from out of town.The lack of members resulted in difficulties with maintaining the building regularly, which lead to the collective decision to relocate.Although a snowstorm lefts road conditions difficult to drive, over a dozen people were present for the emotional and historical time.Members of different churches were present for the service in support of their fellow Christians.Speaker Clint Sheehan gave a sermon about 'Great and Sovereign Grace', sharing personal memories and related...

I have been listening to a lot of Christian talk radio lately, and reading web sites of evangelicals that lean towards the Arminiasm view, and it seems like the talking heads are almost unanimous that they want a true conservative to go up against Obama next November. But when I listen to the callers and read comments by their readers on their web sites, I am learning that a vast majority will stay home and not vote if Romney is the Republican nominee. A sentiment I am quickly learning here at FR that many evangelicals who lean towards the...

Four of 60 Presbyterian churches in the Miami Valley recently left their national denomination. Their ministers pointed to changes in the denomination’s constitution that paved the way for openly gay people to become ministers or church leaders, as well as changes to the way the church is governed that could provide for a more top-down leadership in the future. ..“We were concerned,” said Peter Larson, head pastor at Lebanon Presbyterian Church, “that some might see this move as creating a church that’s anti-gay people, or homophobic.” Larson’s church voted to leave the denomination. “That’s just not true. Every person is...

Next Thursday, as the rest of us tuck into our turkey feasts, hundreds of needy families in Southern California will open "Boxes of Love." Delivered by several churches led by Pacific Crossroads in Santa Monica, Calif., the boxes contain ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal for six. They allow impoverished families to skip food lines and neighborhood pantries and enjoy the holiday in their own homes. What's unusual about the Pacific Crossroads congregation—and what underpins efforts such as Boxes of Love—is its theologically conservative raison d'être. A member church of the Presbyterian Church in America, Pacific Crossroads is committed to Reformation...