18 Feb 2019
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
Augustine is well known for the degree to which he was influenced by Neoplatonism in the first phase of his career. (It is sometimes assumed--incorrectly--that this makes his early works insufficiently “Christian.”) In the preface to his first completed extant work, for instance--the De beata vita,...
Read more → 28 Jan 2019
Posted by Michael Lynch 
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dort. Thus, I was not surprised to come across another article on its Canons. I am always one who is encouraged to find popular Reformed authors defending the Reformed confessions of the 16th and 17th centuries. In fact, if there is one document which...
Read more → 24 Jan 2019
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
Anyone familiar with the Simpsons' Groundskeeper Willie, knows that old-fashioned Presbyterians did not celebrate holidays. Even Christmas was seen as illegitimate, and Christmas was not celebrated in early Puritan America. This stance has given way pretty decisively, and in the present day, the overwhelming...
Read more → 24 Jan 2019
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
In Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, the Pequod's journey gets underway on Christmas Day. Captains Peleg and Bildad accompany the ship out of harbor. Bildad takes the first watch. As he does so, he sings. Ishmael, the narrator, describes it, in Chapter 22 ("Merry Christmas"): Lank Bildad, as pilot, headed...
Read more → 22 Jan 2019
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
John Calvin was what you might call “a fan, bigly” of the proper use of the motif of the imitation of Christ. He mentions it in various places; but one that is particularly illuminating is found in his comments on 1 Corinthians 11.1, where Paul says, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (ESV). Calvin...
Read more → 18 Jan 2019
Posted by Mark Jones 
I’ve been pastoring in Vancouver for roughly twelve years now, preaching close to 1000 sermons, to over 50 nationalities, with people of various backgrounds and theological understanding in the pews. And 100s of children (ages 0-13) have been present. We are a Presbyterian church and, as such, believe...
Read more → 16 Jan 2019
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
One of the dangers inherent in "complementarianism" is the perception that ordination to ecclesiastical office is a matter of semi-arbitrary positive law and private zones of jurisdiction, that male leadership in church is only a question of ordination or specific church polity and only because a few bible...
Read more → 07 Jan 2019
Posted by Mark Jones 
On Social Media, I came across this article on Frank Reich, the former President at RTS Charlotte and now head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. The article was promoted by several men I know and respect. I do, however, have some questions I'd like to ask about how we are to view Frank Reich's remarkable...
Read more → 17 Dec 2018
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
A little over a year ago, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, I commented in a short piece on the salutary effect that event had on education. The general historical picture is clear enough without detailed statistical analysis; but statistical evidence can help to contribute...
Read more → 05 Dec 2018
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
Philip Melanchthon is nothing if not consistent in the way in which he handles the appropriation of classical, and particularly Aristotelian, thinking about virtue for the benefit of Christians (a topic treated recently at Mere Orthodoxy). Melanchthon finds Aristotle (or an eclectically ressourced...
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