The Calvinist International
This is the second part of Hemmingsen’s discussion of the church from his Enchiridion Theologicum. In this installment, he gives two definitions of the word “church,” one longer and one shorter. Text and Translation Hinc iam plenam definitionem elicere, non erit difficile, qualis haec esse poteris: ECCLESIA est coetus hominum, evocatus e regno Satanae, ut Christum […]
In the Enchiridion Theologicum Niels Hemmingsen includes a discussion of the church that is remarkable for both its lucidity and its brevity. Several important Reformation emphases emerge, and he avoids the mistake of identifying the church with her hierarchy or institutional structure. I plan to serialize it here, because it has not been available in English […]
It has become increasingly popular of late to make use of the motif of “exile” in describing the church. (Pretend there are a bunch of links here.) This can take a couple of forms: (I) The church on earth is, by definition, always an exile community. (II) Due to adverse cultural circumstances, the church becomes an […]
After preaching an excellent sermon on a difficult text (Genesis 1:1-2), John Chrysostom encourages his congregation to keep the sermon going, so to speak, in the home: Perhaps our first reaction is to submit our minds immediately to a whole range of intricate questions. So it’s better to conclude our sermon at this point, exhorting […]
For Augustine, the City of God cannot be identified with “the Church” for the simple reason that the City of God contains angels as part of its membership (likewise, the City of Man contains demons). One place in which he discusses this is City of God 12.9 in his treatment of angels. Part of the City of God, then, […]
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. […]
The four adjectival modifiers of the word “church” in the Creed (one, holy, catholic, apostolic), though sometimes confused with the “marks” (notae) of the church, are not “marks.” They are attributes. That is to say, oneness, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity as they are used in the Creed are not things we use to distinguish one body […]
C. S. Lewis has been the subject of many posts at TCI, and with good reason. He ranks with the best apologists of the 20th century, if not as the best. But he did not write only as an apologist, at least not if we conceive that term narrowly. He did not contend only for […]
The famous Huguenot tract Vindiciae, Contra Tyrannos attempts to delineate the proper rules regulating the behaviour of rulers and subjects. At one point in its argument it discusses the matter of “the two kingdoms” (the term does not appear at this point in the document, but the idea is clearly recognizable): Lest they should slip […]
Does Church or Word come first? For Calvin, the answer is clear. Here are his comments on Psalm 22:30 (“Their seed shall serve him”): 30. Their seed shall serve him. The more to exalt the greatness of the benefit, he declares that it will be of such a character that posterity will never forget it. And he […]