The Calvinist International
Martin Bucer admits that it is true, in some sense, that the church came before the scriptures. It is true that the church was established before the canon of the New Testament was closed. This does not mean, he insists, that the church had (or continues to have) the authority to make or change God’s word. […]
In the prolegomena (as it were) to the Summa, Aquinas distinguishes between the kinds of authority proper to (1) divine revelation as present in Scripture, (2) reason, and (3) tradition (that is, the kinds of authority proper to (2) the philosophers and (3) the doctores ecclesiae): But sacred doctrine makes use even of human reason, not, indeed, to […]
The About page of TCI describes one aspect of our activity, which we aim to continue: Working from the political philosophy of the Reformers, we have begun to turn the conversation from “high church” to “high commonwealth,” caring for the city and providing for non-apocalyptic solutions to civic concerns. One recent book on what one […]
I’ve noted in previous posts the way in which Irenaeus connects “Scripture” and “tradition” by means of the Gospel, the content of the plan of salvation. This allows him to say that the Gospel is the ground and pillar of the truth without violating what Paul means when he calls the Church the ground and […]
Let us return to Irenaeus again, for a brief addendum to last week’s post. In Against Heresies 3.1, Irenaeus writes this: We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed […]
Friend and associate Alastair Roberts has posted some great thoughts on the question of leadership, what it is and how we should define it, here. I have personally asked this very question of myself for years, and so Mr. Robert’s contribution is of more than academic interest. Here is a snippet which illustrates his primary […]
Apparently there have been grumblings of late in some quarters regarding TCI’s too appreciative assessment of certain aspects of the Greco-Roman heritage. There will be more on this particular topic on this site in due course. For the time being, I want to post a citation that gets at this issue from Book 3 of […]