The Calvinist International
Originally published in 1908, Herman Bavinck’s book The Christian Family was only just translated into English in 2012. Throughout the book, Bavinck lays out a Christian theology of the family, and he gives practical advice on how families can withstand modern challenges and temptations. At one point Bavinck interacts with “modern” attempts to reinvent the family. For […]
Martin Luther’s Large Catechism, the current text for Reformed Theological Seminary’s Paideia Center reading groups, is a wonderful source of simple, practical, straightforward exposition of the essentials of the Christian faith, covering the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the two sacraments, baptism and communion. The Catechism consists of brief sermons–more powerful […]
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 […]
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 […]
My essay over at Mere Orthodoxy on the Spiritual Friendship conversation has generated a fair amount of discussion these past few weeks. Much of it has been very good. Some of it was of the predictable online partisanship variety, which, while inevitable, is still too bad. There was a sort of blind partisanship on the […]
There’s a deep irony with any attempt to lecture on masculinity. Throughout history, “manly men” have been men of relatively few words. Verbosity, on the other hand, has typically been considered effeminate. The leader of men is a man of action. He speaks when he must, but he is often reluctant. Every word matters. It […]
An article from The Nation was recently making the rounds having to do with a putative “scare tactic” employed by Republicans in the debate over abortion, and particularly the abortion of babies who test positive for genetic disorders such as Down syndrome. The article lacks a good deal of argumentative cogency in my view, but that’s not […]
In the last post we looked at Samuel Willard’s discussion of the first of the “mutual duties” husbands and wives owe to each other in the context of his exposition of Westminster Shorter Catechism Q/A 64, which he calls “conjugal love.” In today’s post, he proceeds to the next of these shared duties, which flows […]
After the death of Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy magazine, many people have been reflecting upon his cultural significance. Several of us recalled an especially powerful piece on Hefner from 2003 by Read Mercer Schuchardt. Christianity Today later published the piece here. Having read the original article, which can still be read here (I […]
As I noted last time, Samuel Willard’s next order of business in his exposition of Westminster Shorter Catechism Q/A 64 is to discuss the mutual duties of husbands and wives–those to which they are equally obliged–before discussing their peculiar or proper duties–those to which they are unequally obliged. The first of these duties is what Willard […]