The Calvinist International
The question of whether Protestants should regard Roman Catholic churches as “true churches” is very important to all ecumenical endeavors. Usually in reaction to those hardened Protestants who simply say that Rome is apostate and thus “no church at all,” the ecumenically-minded Protestants, who usually call themselves “catholic” in one degree or another, want to […]
I’ve been following with some interest the recent exchange between Doug Wilson and Peter Leithart on his “End of Protestantism” post at First Things, in conjunction with the publication of his book of the same title (here, here, and here). I’m not going to comment on the whole exchange, in which I think Pastor Wilson […]
Below is the second section (“On Baptism”) of the Wittenberg Concord, the first part of which treats the Lord’s Supper and which I translated here. It is a strong affirmation of the propriety and necessity of infant baptism and was subscribed by all those listed in the previous post, though some of its particulars would not […]
Over the years we have said a number of things about what it means to be a “Reformed Irenic” thinker. In one of our very first essays, Peter Escalante laid out some guiding principles. A bit later we applied this to eccesiological matters. A little later we also examined the way in which one can […]
In my very brief and never altogether promising time as a Soccer player, I was taught that physical contact with the opponent was allowed so long as one was “playing the ball.” Shoulder bumps and even slide tackles were permitted, as long as contact was made with the ball. “Playing the man,” by contrast, was […]
Denominationalism defines the modern church. By denominationalism is meant the social existence of the church as a congeries of groupings (congregations) invested by private law with a certain degree of collective or “moral” personality, grouped together voluntarily in associations of greater or lesser geographic extent, whereby these associations are separated the one from the other […]
It’s a commonplace to point to the “division” among Protestants and especially Reformed and Presbyterians. Some of this is true, and some of it, I believe, comes from a mistaken understanding of what constitutes division and proper unity. Still, we shouldn’t miss the fact that things have gotten better, much better in fact, over the […]
TCI contributor Dr Littlejohn has recently published two posts on the life of the Italian Reformer which are well worth the time. See here for the long version, and here for the short version with more directly explanation of how Vermigli can serve as an example today. To quote Littlejohn: We should welcome such opportunities, […]
A month after the Future of Protestantism discussion at Biola, I think it is fair to say that by all accounts it was a great success. I am honored to have been part of it. The discussion was very well attended— the chapel was packed, in fact, and thousands watched the live stream— but most […]
Fred Sanders posted a short introduction to Martin Bucer here. Reading it reminded me that I once wrote a not-so short introduction to Martin Bucer, and you can read that over here. Over the past 6 years, my own views have developed (or should I say “organically matured”?) somewhat, and so my take on Bucer […]