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Archive Authors E.J. Hutchinson Ecclesiastical Polity Nota Bene Reformed Irenicism Sacred Doctrine

Melanchthon on the Church and the Word (5)

In today’s selection, Melanchthon affirms both that the church has never ceased to exist, from its establishment in the time of Genesis all the way up to the present, and that it nevertheless has often been quite small. This he proves from, for example, the case of Noah. Still, God does not let the church […]

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Archive Authors E.J. Hutchinson Early Church Fathers Ecclesiastical Polity Nota Bene Reformed Irenicism Sacred Doctrine

Melanchthon on the Church and the Word (4)

In today’s post, Melanchthon cites one more patristic source (Origen) as an example of how the church’s authority is rightly deployed.  He then proceeds to sketch his understanding of the relation of the church to the Word and to give his definitions of what the church (1) is not, and (2) is. The church at […]

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Archive Ecclesiastical Polity Ian Mosley

The Historical Untenability of Apostolic Succession

One of the most common procedural grounds on which Protestant churches can be critiqued is their lack of Apostolic Succession. It is very common for anti-Protestant apologists to argue that Protestants lack authentic ministerial orders because they cannot lay claim to this succession, and hence their churches can be dismissed without needing to engage with […]

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Archive Ecclesiastical Polity Reformed Irenicism Sacred Doctrine Steven Wedgeworth

Beginning to Explain The Theology of Federal Vision

I must apologize for the month-long delay in completing this series on the Federal Vision. Seasonal travels and other obligations interfered. Nevertheless, I will begin to lay out a summary description of the theological issues involved in the Federal Vision and offer some critical observations. Before attempting this, a few caveats have to be given. […]

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Archive E.J. Hutchinson Ecclesiastical Polity Reformed Irenicism

“That Clearer and More Blessed Vision”: Machen and Vos on Festival Seasons

At various points, we’ve discussed the celebration of Christmas and other holidays in various sectors of the Reformed tradition, including among some conservative Presbyterians in the nineteenth century, as well as time-keeping more generally. The same favorable attitude we see in Hodge continues into the twentieth century. J. Gresham Machen Thus J. Gresham Machen, the […]

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Archive Ecclesiastical Polity Reformed Irenicism Sacred Doctrine Steven Wedgeworth

A Federal Vision History

I recently introduced a series on the Federal Vision. In the first installment, I explained why people are still talking about it and promised follow-up articles explaining the history and development of FV. In this post I would like to give something of a survey history of the personalities and controversy and explain some of […]

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Archive Ecclesiastical Polity Mark Jones Reformed Irenicism

Writing for the Church

Many of us have come to see the reality of something called “Big Eva” and the way in which it seems to shape much of our modern church culture. You might think this is mostly a problem for Baptist and broader Evangelical churches, but something very much like it can be present in Reformed Church […]

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Archive Ecclesiastical Polity Reformed Irenicism Steven Wedgeworth

Charles Hodge and a 19th Cent. Presbyterian Christmas

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 majority of even conservative Presbyterians think Christmas is at least permissible. […]

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Archive Ecclesiastical Polity Mark Jones Reformed Irenicism The Natural Family

Shall Children Listen to Sermons?

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 children belong to the kingdom of God […]

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Archive Ecclesiastical Polity Natural Law Philosophy Steven Wedgeworth The Natural Family

Male-Only Ordination is Natural: Why the Church is a Model of Reality

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 verses command it. Worse yet, it might […]