David F. Wells. The Courage to Be Protestant: Reformation Faith in Today’s World. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2017. Pp. xiv + 218. $22.00.
In
J. H. Bavinck. The Riddle of Life.Translated by Bert Hielema. Grand Rapids, MI. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2016. Pp. 94. $20.00.
For fallen man, life is a riddle that
“And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us…”—so penned Luther in his famous hymn A Mighty Fortress is Our God. But on what epistemological basis could
The great Dutch theologian of the Nadere Reformatie, Petrus van Mastricht (1630-1706), has only recently been introduced to the English-speaking world with the publication of his Theoretica-practica theologia (Theoretical and Practical
Part of a good transcendental critique must be drawing the lines between the dots for people to see clearly.
If I have any critique of Van Til, it
As we read about in Matthew 3, John the Baptist breathed in an “atmosphere surcharged with the thought of the end.”[1] In his mind his baptism was the final opportunity
Matthew often speaks of Christ as fulfilling the Scriptures (e.g., Matt. 1:22; 2:23; 8:17). When the Scripture referenced is a promise or a prediction, the idea of fulfillment is relatively
Matthias Konradt, Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew. Translated by Kathleen Ess. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2014. Pp. xii + 485. $79.95 (hardcover).
Konradt provides
The proper goal of every apologist is not to win arguments or build a reputation, but to glorify God through the faithful defense (ἀπολογία) of Christ. Our Lord doesn’t need
“Yet the Aristotelianism of Rome, with its idea of potentiality, offers, we are bound to think, a point of contact with the underlying philosophy of Dialecticism. Rome occupies an
Snow is the humblest weather.
I have the quiet joy of watching it right now, during my favorite time of the day: dawn. The latest nor’easter has shouldered its way
The Hebrew-English Old Testament: BHS/ESV. Stuttgart, Germany/Wheaton, IL: German Bible Society/Crossway Books, 2012. pp. 3148.
The Greek-English New Testament: N-A28/ESV. Stuttgart, Germany/Wheaton, IL: German Bible Society/Crossway Books, 2012. pp. 1674.
The eschatological life of the believer requires the legal restitution of sin’s guilt by means of an imputed righteousness for justification—a kingdom benefit received only in union with Christ by
Paul was a redemptive-historical preacher of the highest order. His theology was founded not on timeless or idealistic truths, but concrete historical events in accordance with their order, progression, and
The garden was a kingdom that the Lord fashioned by divine fiat in which he would reign in life with his holy people. Within the garden-kingdom of God, Adam, the
True life is the enjoyment of the covenant communion bond in face-to-face fellowship with God in his holy kingdom. This is no invention on man’s part, but the God-given reality
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Tim 2:3).
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12).
I always remember Leviticus 17:11, probably for personal reasons. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to
Mary was not so green when she mistook Jesus for a gardener (John 20:15). God is a gardener: he sows; he waters; he grows (Gen. 1:11; 2:6; Ps. 104:14; 1
In The New Modernism Van Til identifies the Theology of Crisis with “dialectical theology.” But what is dialectical theology? Van Til explains that dialectical theology is
Moving on from Van Til’s first published criticism of Barth (see the previous six posts entitled In The Beginning) we now consider his first published monograph
Currently, amidst the Reformed discussion concerning God’s simplicity and immutability, there has been repeated references to the anthropomorphic language of Scripture. It is commonly understood that language attributing human emotions
At long last we have come to the end of the beginning (see parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). We have reviewed Van Til’s opening salvo against Barth’s theology
“We are living in a time when being ordinary is the worst thing that can happen to a person, and nothing screams ordinary like at-home work.” (p.41)
Thus says Courtney
The Lord does not breathe into man the breath of life for him to exist in the abstract, nor for him to struggle to find purpose through some existential crisis;
Van Til now turns to Barth’s doctrine of creation.
Barth denies that creation as it came forth from the hand of God was good, and was to have
Life—understood biblically as the enjoyment of the covenant communion bond with God in a holy kingdom—is brought into close association with God’s word from the beginning. It was Adam’s response
As we continue to unpack Van Til’s review of Zerbe’s book we come to the second part of the review, which concerns Barth’s epistemology. Van Til opens with an
As a pastor of a church that confesses a Reformed and Presbyterian view of the fourth commandment, I often encounter questions as to how to observe it. The fourth commandment—to
When I first heard about Barth’s concept of the “wholly other” God, it sounded perfectly orthodox. Barth’s emphasis on the qualitative difference between God and man struck me as
In the last post we began to consider Van Til’s first published criticism of Barth. It was set in the context of a book review.[1] There we
The word “life” (ζωή) or “eternal life” (ζωή αἰώνιος) is no general term for Paul to describe all people with beating hearts on earth, but the “most frequent mould into which
God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom are often thought to be in competition with one another in a sort of zero-sum game: either God is sovereign or I am free. This has
It is often assumed that The New Modernism (1946) is Van Til’s first published writing in which he evaluates Barth’s thought. Actually Van Til first
This year marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. On Oct 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg. We typically
For Van Til no form of unbelief escapes the charge of rationalism. Irrationalism is only a disguised form of rationalism. But before getting to that, it might help to
Teaching on the eternal state of the world to come may sound from the outset to be speculative and useless for practical living in the present. How can heavenly contemplation
Last week we talked about Barth’s “absolutely other” god. There we noted how Barth begins with an unknown and unknowable god. In other words, he begins with the god
It is often said that Barth believed in a god who was “wholly other.” It’s an oft repeated phrase, but rarely understood. Van Til would say “absolutely other.” By that
In chapter 3 of Christian Apologetics Van Til addresses the issue of the “point of contact” (Anknüpfungspunkt). That is to say, the point at which the believer may make contact
The Reformation restored the holistic nature of faith to include both knowledge and trust in keeping with the organic unity of the whole person and our union with the whole
Both Van Til and Barth rejected all forms of bare theism. That is, they denied a generic view of God. Both believed this “god” was an idol. This is the
The Westminster Larger Catechism defines justifying faith as
a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God, whereby he, being convinced of
Saving faith is the instrument by which the whole person is united to the whole Christ in the unbreakable bond of the Holy Spirit. I am not my own, confesses the believer,
Now we begin to make a definite turn toward Barth in Van Til’s writing. Thus far this blog series has been a smattering of topics arising from my rereading
Van Til used the word “scholasticism” (or its other variations) as shorthand for Thomistic dualism (and with it the medieval synthesis of Christian and pagan thought). In short Thomistic
The doctrine of the covenant, in the words of Anthony Hoekema, is “the vertebrate structure which holds all the doctrines of Reformed theology together.”[1] The structural importance of the covenant for
This post is a kind of follow-on from a previous post about “as-suchness.” In The New Synthesis Van Til writes:
Paul does not discuss
There is still a great deal of confusion out there concerning the difference between orthodox Reformed theology and the theology of Karl Barth. Are they not the same? Is
The more I read orthodox theology, the more apparent it becomes that a fundamental tenet of Christian belief is either embraced or ignored (to various degrees) by any given author.
The triumph of the eternal decree of God over history is just as much a problem as the triumph of history over the eternal decree.
In an attempt
It is often assumed that Karl Barth’s thought is the antithesis of medieval scholasticism. It is true that Barth is exceedingly critical of Aquinas. But does Barth offer us
I am always edified when I read Van Til. I am also always challenged to conform my thinking to the Holy Scriptures and the Reformed faith. But I am
Who says Van Til is impractical? I would argue that Van Til in all his writing always has an eye towards the church. All of his theologizing, all of
In his writings, Van Til used what has now become a defunct moniker to describe an early 20th century theological movement surrounding Karl Barth and
Geerhardus Vos wisely observed that “on the line of historical progress there is at several points already a beginning of correlation among elements of truth in which the beginnings of
Going hand-in-hand with what we said in a previous post about rendering God not God, Van Til points up how unbelieving thought assumes a neutral view of reality, and
The below observation is not a criticism of the PCA or the 2017 Assembly. I watched much of the Assembly on-line and was greatly blessed by so many of
In a previous post, we considered the way in which Geerhardus Vos’ doctrine of Christ impacted his redemptive-historical hermeneutic for reading the Old Testament. In the triune God’s eternal counsel
Van Til is a master at exegeting unbelief. This is helpful for apologetics. If we do not understand the unbeliever in a biblical way, inevitably our approach to defending the
I have been working through the third volume of Geerhardus Vos’ Reformed Dogmatics on Christology and have appreciated the implications he draws throughout for properly understanding the Old Testament revelation. This, however,
We at the Reformed Forum have a burning desire to see Christ as preeminent in all things. We believe that the Scriptures reveal to us Christ, from Genesis to Revelation.
There is no event in all the world that you can attend (no matter how expensive or exclusive the tickets are) that compares to the preaching of God’s Word every
Following Kuyper and Bavinck, Van Til so emphasized the antithesis between believer and unbeliever that many have concluded that Van Til cuts the unbeliever off from
The Anchor of our Soul
The author of Hebrews speaks of our hope as an anchor that has dug itself deep into heavenly ground behind the curtain where Christ has gone as
I’ve come again, afresh, to the writings of Cornelius Van Til. Lord willing, my plan is to compose a monograph on Van Til’s critique of Karl Barth over the
The doctrine of the Trinity is the architectonic principle of the whole theological and apologetic enterprise of Herman Bavinck. While it may be debated as to how consistent he was
The relationship between the kingdom of God and the church, in the words of Geerhardus Vos, is a “delicate and eminently practical question.”[i] In fact, different ecclesiologies have
The complexity revolving around the question of the relationship between the kingdom and the church is largely due to varying definitions. So before setting forth Herman Ridderbos’ formulation in his magisterial work on the
The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) embodies the commitment of the Reformation to non-speculative theology as it logically expounds core biblical truths along practical and pastoral lines for the Christian life. Beginning with belonging
The Covenantal Structure of the Westminster Confession of Faith
Written at the entrance of the temple of Reformed theology are the words: “God does not exist because of man, but
In the Old Testament, the altars of the patriarchs, the tabernacle constructed under Moses, and the temple built by Solomon were all sufficient and efficacious means by which the people of God experienced
The apostle Paul teaches that “the Jerusalem above,” that is the eschatological Jerusalem, “is our mother” (Gal. 4:26). Likewise the author to the Hebrews exclaims, “You have come to Mount
Jesus Christ is Isaiah’s prophesied Suffering Servant who took upon himself the iniquities, transgressions and sins of his people as their substitute, so that they might be reconciled to God
James Ussher (1581-1656) was one of the most influential Reformed theologians of the seventeenth century. He adroitly contended throughout his life against Roman Catholicism on various platforms, whether writing, preaching or
We are embarrassed by a wealth of riches in this age in which we live. Books are not only available in print but in electronic form as well. We can
All heresies with respect to the Trinity may be reduced to the one great heresy of mixing the eternal and the temporal.
— Cornelius Van Til
Cornelius Van Til cut
In our previous article I discussed section I of the Canons of Dort, to show how it presents and prescribes the proper way to teach about election. In this final
Herman Bavinck, reflecting on the all-important impact of Christ on history, writes in The Philosophy of Revelation,
“[R]evelation gives us a division of history. There is no history without division of
Introduction
In a previous article I pointed out that the Canons of Dort not only define the content of Reformed doctrine, but also direct the way in which it is
Introduction
The Canons of Dort are one of official standards of the Reformed churches. They were written in the early 1600s, when the young Reformed Church in the Netherlands had
The author of the letter to the Hebrews makes explicit in the prologue that there is an organic progression to God’s revelation[1] and that the content and mode of
With a smirk befitting someone about to deliver the authoritative word on a subject long puzzled over, the apostle John reaches for his pen to begin inscribing his gospel account (or so I can at least imagine).
Following the apex of Israel’s glory with the construction of the Solomonic temple, the biblical drama enters a period of sustained decline with the occasional righteous Davidic king temporarily suspending its ultimate
Introduction
The Garden
The Patriarchs
The Tabernacle
Israel’s history progresses and time and time again they prove to be an unholy people unworthy to have the Holy One, the Lord
We continue our expedition through the biblical drama of the triune God’s pursuit of union and communion with his people in joy-full fellowship (Ps. 16:11). The promise, “I will be your God and you
Where can I find joy that is full and pleasures that are everlasting? This is the one great pursuit of men in every age. In the words of Pascal, “All
If someone were to ask you to write a short book about Jesus, who he was and what he did, what would you write? If paper and ink were very expensive,
The other day the song “Mary Did You Know?” came on the radio. Someone in the car remarked, “Uh oh, Dan doesn’t like this song.” True, I had mentioned my dislike of it
Matthew opens his gospel account with these words: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1). We find the same wording
Mary is twice mentioned as a “virgin” (παρθένος) in Luke 1:27. “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to
The drama of the biblical story is driven by God’s desire to dwell with his people in joy-full (Ps. 16:11) fellowship. In our previous article we referred to this as the
One of the remarkable things about the writings of the Apostle John is the way he combined great simplicity in his style and vocabulary with immense depth and significance of
There are certain passages in Scripture that effortlessly rocket our thoughts and affections into the heavenlies where Christ is. Paul’s letters are brimming with such passages: Colossians 1:15-20, Ephesians 1:3-14, 1 Corinthians 15:42-49, Philippians
“Image-bearing means becoming fully human, not becoming divine.”
In the opening chapters of her book None Like Him, Jen Wilkin gives us two lists:
Only God Is
God Is (and
We know that on October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, igniting a continent-wide reformation of the church. But what was he thinking?
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. These were dark, dark days; the gospel had been shackled by the superstitions and idolatries
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. These were dark, dark days; the gospel had been shackled by the superstitions and idolatries
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. These were dark, dark days; the gospel had been shackled by the superstitions and idolatries
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. These were dark, dark days; the gospel had been shackled by the superstitions and idolatries
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. These were dark, dark days; the gospel had been shackled by the superstitions and idolatries
After a hiatus we are back to our reading through and engaging with the text of Lewis Ayres’ Nicaea and its Legacy. We come now to the third point of
While ministering at the church in Corinth, Paul resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). The tactic sounds admirable and rings as worthy of imitation
Joshua 3-4 takes us on a journey with Israel as she undergoes that monumental transition from the wilderness into the promised land of Canaan by crossing the Jordan River. For three
Ralph Cunnington. Preaching With Spiritual Power: Calvin’s Understanding of Word and Spirit in Preaching. Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Mentor/Christian Focus, 2015. pp. 126.
A controversy has been going on for some time among generally
The doctrine of man’s creation in the image of God has received considerable attention in the history of the Reformed churches. Zacharias Ursinus provides a reasonably full statement of the
This is the fifth and final installment in our series on reading the Bible as literature. We first considered what a literary approach looks like and provided a few examples.
Geerhardus Vos speaks of the Christian as “a peculiar chronological phenomenon.”[1] As is often the case with Vos, we need to reflect for a moment on what he means—especially
Cornelius Van Til concludes his chapter on Scripture in his Introduction to Systematic Theology with a note of pastoral wisdom.
It is not sufficient … to instruct the church in certain
Is Origen the Root of All Kinds of Hermeneutical Evil?
Renaming the Series
This week we rechristen this blog series Standing on Giants’ Shoulders since that reflects more the character of
Paul’s letter to Philemon is the gospel in street clothes; it’s the gospel on the ground and at work in real life. It’s for this reason we need this personal,
Last week we began a series on reading the Bible as literature. In our first article we summarized and gave some examples of a literary approach to Scripture. In this
The book of Acts is filled with stories of missionary exploits that can excite us to bold acts of faith. But at times it can unfortunately become a heavy club to
Introduction
At the beginning of every school year, my Literature teacher would give each student an index card to write down the works of literature we read that year. The
The Lord’s Supper is a profound mystery, and yet it’s so simple that anyone who has taken a bite of food and a gulp of water can understand it. Some may
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested
Lewis Ayres begins his consideration of the four points of departure in his Nicaea and Its Legacy by looking at the circumstances which obtained in the church from the time
In Revelation 5 the apostle John beholds a spectacular vision of worship before the throne of God. He hears the voices of heaven (vv. 11-12) and earth (v. 13) unite
So often we read events in Jesus’ life as mere examples from which we can draw principles for common experiences, rather than as once-for-all accomplishments that he underwent in our
The garden of Eden was not just some Mesopotamian farmland, but an archetypal sanctuary or a temple-garden.[1] Though we often speak of “the Garden of Eden” as a
St. Gregory of Nyssa, Anti-Apollinarian Writings. The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation, vol. 131. Translated by Robin Orton. Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 2015. Pp. xxiii
A New but Classic Text
We are reading through Lewis Ayres’s Nicaea and its Legacy (Oxford University Press, 2004). Our goal is to read this relatively new but still classic
Tomorrow, Lord willing, I’ll be completing a four-sermon series on the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-20. It’s been a rewarding challenge and great joy to have camped out here in God’s
In Peter’s first letter to those of the Dispersion (1:1) he intentionally utilizes language that once characterized the nation of Israel in the Old Testament to now describe the New
“The covenant is neither a hypothetical relationship, nor a conditional position; rather it is the fresh, living fellowship in which the power of grace is operative.”
– Geerhardus Vos
There
Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren (played so well by Ralph Fiennes in the movie Quiz Show) argue in their very useful How to Read a Book that we ought
The connection between historia salutis and ordo salutis, that is, between salvation as it has been accomplished in redemptive history and salvation as it is applied in the life experience of
I Am Not Normal
I love to read. I have been doing it for years. I cannot claim to read with pen in hand in the way Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
The evangelical Internet is abuzz with discussion about ad intra relations within the Trinity. Bruce Ware and Wayne Grudem have been recognized as presenting forms of Eternal Functional Subordination (EFS) of the Son
Hezekiah is one of the handful of “good” kings that ruled over Judah. The book of Kings speaks of him in superlative terms: “He did what was right in the
It has been rightly observed by many that there is an eschatology—a goal of higher, escalated life that the creation is to move toward—already in Genesis 1–2. While everything was “very good,”
We all wish we could have been one of the two disciples who walked with the resurrected Christ on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. We know that beginning
Recently the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia released a book entitled Seeing Christ in All of Scripture. The book’s intent is to help people understand the beautiful, Christ-centered
I’m so thankful that Christopher Ash wrote Zeal without Burnout. It’s a much-needed book, and I’m confident many ministers will be just as encouraged by reading it as I have been.
In a context of impending judgment, Yahweh issued a command to his people: prepare to meet your God, O Israel (Amos 4:12). A similar burden, though in quite a different
The relationship between nature and grace has been deemed the central thought of the theology of Herman Bavinck (1854–1921). Getting the relationship right is important for a proper understanding of
We are pleased to announce the paper selections and program for the Covenantal Apologetics Colloquium, which will be held online on Saturday, December 5th, at 7pm (eastern). We’ll be streaming the
You’ve seen them. They’ve taken over your Facebook timelines and Twitter feeds. They get forwarded to you on chat or through email. They’re called “listicles.” The unfortunately-named listicle is at
I regularly preach lectio continua. When we start a new series at my church, we open to verse one of that book and work through it week by week, passage by
Looking forward to the Covenantal Apologetics Colloquium, I thought I might share some reflections on the uniqueness of Covenantal Apologetics (CA) and, in that sense, on what makes it worthy
For close to two years, we have been privileged to have Barry Waugh writing short biographies on various Presbyterians in church history. Some have been well-known, others have been forgotten. In
Introduction
The following is a response to Scott Swain’s post at Reformation21, “Theses on Natural Theology.” But it is more than that. I take the opportunity, in interaction with
Tertullian is famous for saying, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” (Apologeticus, Chapter 50). The persecution of Christians isn’t an objectively good thing, yet in God’s
In our previous post, part 1, we introduced our thesis and opened with the beginning of Barth’s life. We pick up here with his years from the beginning of his
“Christ is All: An Introduction to the Life and Thought of Karl Barth”1
Part I
Introduction and Thesis
A. Introduction
You are reading the first installment of
Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. recently sat down with FaithLife, makers of Logos Bible Software, to speak about the efforts to translate Geerhardus Vos’s Reformed Dogmatics. Watch the video at
In an article discussing the theology of Albert Ritschl, Herman Bavinck writes that throughout history Christian theology “fashioned for herself a philosophy or appropriated an existing one such that as that
In our last post we concluded that juxtaposing Bonhoeffer against himself might not be the most useful way to determine whether the man was a pietistic evangelical or a German
President Obama may some day, if not already, rue the day he compared the Crusades to the current terror tactics of ISIS. But, was his comparison completely off-based?
Several well-circulated
Within a year of my profession of faith I came into contact with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The owner of the local Christian bookstore gave me a copy of The Cost of
In his book Worship Reformed According to Scripture, Hughes Oliphant Old orients Christian worship toward the right end using the proper means. This is a significant undertaking indeed, because sadly,
David F. Wells. The Courage to Be Protestant: Reformation Faith in Today’s World. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2017. Pp. xiv + 218. $22.00.
In
J. H. Bavinck. The Riddle of Life.Translated by Bert Hielema. Grand Rapids, MI. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2016. Pp. 94. $20.00.
For fallen man, life is a riddle that
“And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us…”—so penned Luther in his famous hymn A Mighty Fortress is Our God. But on what epistemological basis could
The great Dutch theologian of the Nadere Reformatie, Petrus van Mastricht (1630-1706), has only recently been introduced to the English-speaking world with the publication of his Theoretica-practica theologia (Theoretical and Practical
Part of a good transcendental critique must be drawing the lines between the dots for people to see clearly.
If I have any critique of Van Til, it
As we read about in Matthew 3, John the Baptist breathed in an “atmosphere surcharged with the thought of the end.”[1] In his mind his baptism was the final opportunity
Matthew often speaks of Christ as fulfilling the Scriptures (e.g., Matt. 1:22; 2:23; 8:17). When the Scripture referenced is a promise or a prediction, the idea of fulfillment is relatively
Matthias Konradt, Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew. Translated by Kathleen Ess. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2014. Pp. xii + 485. $79.95 (hardcover).
Konradt provides
The proper goal of every apologist is not to win arguments or build a reputation, but to glorify God through the faithful defense (ἀπολογία) of Christ. Our Lord doesn’t need
“Yet the Aristotelianism of Rome, with its idea of potentiality, offers, we are bound to think, a point of contact with the underlying philosophy of Dialecticism. Rome occupies an
Snow is the humblest weather.
I have the quiet joy of watching it right now, during my favorite time of the day: dawn. The latest nor’easter has shouldered its way
The Hebrew-English Old Testament: BHS/ESV. Stuttgart, Germany/Wheaton, IL: German Bible Society/Crossway Books, 2012. pp. 3148.
The Greek-English New Testament: N-A28/ESV. Stuttgart, Germany/Wheaton, IL: German Bible Society/Crossway Books, 2012. pp. 1674.
The eschatological life of the believer requires the legal restitution of sin’s guilt by means of an imputed righteousness for justification—a kingdom benefit received only in union with Christ by
Paul was a redemptive-historical preacher of the highest order. His theology was founded not on timeless or idealistic truths, but concrete historical events in accordance with their order, progression, and
The garden was a kingdom that the Lord fashioned by divine fiat in which he would reign in life with his holy people. Within the garden-kingdom of God, Adam, the
True life is the enjoyment of the covenant communion bond in face-to-face fellowship with God in his holy kingdom. This is no invention on man’s part, but the God-given reality
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Tim 2:3).
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12).
I always remember Leviticus 17:11, probably for personal reasons. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to
Mary was not so green when she mistook Jesus for a gardener (John 20:15). God is a gardener: he sows; he waters; he grows (Gen. 1:11; 2:6; Ps. 104:14; 1
In The New Modernism Van Til identifies the Theology of Crisis with “dialectical theology.” But what is dialectical theology? Van Til explains that dialectical theology is
Moving on from Van Til’s first published criticism of Barth (see the previous six posts entitled In The Beginning) we now consider his first published monograph
Currently, amidst the Reformed discussion concerning God’s simplicity and immutability, there has been repeated references to the anthropomorphic language of Scripture. It is commonly understood that language attributing human emotions
At long last we have come to the end of the beginning (see parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). We have reviewed Van Til’s opening salvo against Barth’s theology
“We are living in a time when being ordinary is the worst thing that can happen to a person, and nothing screams ordinary like at-home work.” (p.41)
Thus says Courtney
The Lord does not breathe into man the breath of life for him to exist in the abstract, nor for him to struggle to find purpose through some existential crisis;
Van Til now turns to Barth’s doctrine of creation.
Barth denies that creation as it came forth from the hand of God was good, and was to have
Life—understood biblically as the enjoyment of the covenant communion bond with God in a holy kingdom—is brought into close association with God’s word from the beginning. It was Adam’s response
As we continue to unpack Van Til’s review of Zerbe’s book we come to the second part of the review, which concerns Barth’s epistemology. Van Til opens with an
As a pastor of a church that confesses a Reformed and Presbyterian view of the fourth commandment, I often encounter questions as to how to observe it. The fourth commandment—to
When I first heard about Barth’s concept of the “wholly other” God, it sounded perfectly orthodox. Barth’s emphasis on the qualitative difference between God and man struck me as
In the last post we began to consider Van Til’s first published criticism of Barth. It was set in the context of a book review.[1] There we
The word “life” (ζωή) or “eternal life” (ζωή αἰώνιος) is no general term for Paul to describe all people with beating hearts on earth, but the “most frequent mould into which
God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom are often thought to be in competition with one another in a sort of zero-sum game: either God is sovereign or I am free. This has
It is often assumed that The New Modernism (1946) is Van Til’s first published writing in which he evaluates Barth’s thought. Actually Van Til first
This year marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. On Oct 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg. We typically
For Van Til no form of unbelief escapes the charge of rationalism. Irrationalism is only a disguised form of rationalism. But before getting to that, it might help to
Teaching on the eternal state of the world to come may sound from the outset to be speculative and useless for practical living in the present. How can heavenly contemplation
Last week we talked about Barth’s “absolutely other” god. There we noted how Barth begins with an unknown and unknowable god. In other words, he begins with the god
It is often said that Barth believed in a god who was “wholly other.” It’s an oft repeated phrase, but rarely understood. Van Til would say “absolutely other.” By that
In chapter 3 of Christian Apologetics Van Til addresses the issue of the “point of contact” (Anknüpfungspunkt). That is to say, the point at which the believer may make contact
The Reformation restored the holistic nature of faith to include both knowledge and trust in keeping with the organic unity of the whole person and our union with the whole
Both Van Til and Barth rejected all forms of bare theism. That is, they denied a generic view of God. Both believed this “god” was an idol. This is the
The Westminster Larger Catechism defines justifying faith as
a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God, whereby he, being convinced of
Saving faith is the instrument by which the whole person is united to the whole Christ in the unbreakable bond of the Holy Spirit. I am not my own, confesses the believer,
Now we begin to make a definite turn toward Barth in Van Til’s writing. Thus far this blog series has been a smattering of topics arising from my rereading
Van Til used the word “scholasticism” (or its other variations) as shorthand for Thomistic dualism (and with it the medieval synthesis of Christian and pagan thought). In short Thomistic
The doctrine of the covenant, in the words of Anthony Hoekema, is “the vertebrate structure which holds all the doctrines of Reformed theology together.”[1] The structural importance of the covenant for
This post is a kind of follow-on from a previous post about “as-suchness.” In The New Synthesis Van Til writes:
Paul does not discuss
There is still a great deal of confusion out there concerning the difference between orthodox Reformed theology and the theology of Karl Barth. Are they not the same? Is
The more I read orthodox theology, the more apparent it becomes that a fundamental tenet of Christian belief is either embraced or ignored (to various degrees) by any given author.
The triumph of the eternal decree of God over history is just as much a problem as the triumph of history over the eternal decree.
In an attempt
It is often assumed that Karl Barth’s thought is the antithesis of medieval scholasticism. It is true that Barth is exceedingly critical of Aquinas. But does Barth offer us
I am always edified when I read Van Til. I am also always challenged to conform my thinking to the Holy Scriptures and the Reformed faith. But I am
Who says Van Til is impractical? I would argue that Van Til in all his writing always has an eye towards the church. All of his theologizing, all of
In his writings, Van Til used what has now become a defunct moniker to describe an early 20th century theological movement surrounding Karl Barth and
Geerhardus Vos wisely observed that “on the line of historical progress there is at several points already a beginning of correlation among elements of truth in which the beginnings of
Going hand-in-hand with what we said in a previous post about rendering God not God, Van Til points up how unbelieving thought assumes a neutral view of reality, and
The below observation is not a criticism of the PCA or the 2017 Assembly. I watched much of the Assembly on-line and was greatly blessed by so many of
In a previous post, we considered the way in which Geerhardus Vos’ doctrine of Christ impacted his redemptive-historical hermeneutic for reading the Old Testament. In the triune God’s eternal counsel
Van Til is a master at exegeting unbelief. This is helpful for apologetics. If we do not understand the unbeliever in a biblical way, inevitably our approach to defending the
I have been working through the third volume of Geerhardus Vos’ Reformed Dogmatics on Christology and have appreciated the implications he draws throughout for properly understanding the Old Testament revelation. This, however,
We at the Reformed Forum have a burning desire to see Christ as preeminent in all things. We believe that the Scriptures reveal to us Christ, from Genesis to Revelation.
There is no event in all the world that you can attend (no matter how expensive or exclusive the tickets are) that compares to the preaching of God’s Word every
Following Kuyper and Bavinck, Van Til so emphasized the antithesis between believer and unbeliever that many have concluded that Van Til cuts the unbeliever off from
The Anchor of our Soul
The author of Hebrews speaks of our hope as an anchor that has dug itself deep into heavenly ground behind the curtain where Christ has gone as
I’ve come again, afresh, to the writings of Cornelius Van Til. Lord willing, my plan is to compose a monograph on Van Til’s critique of Karl Barth over the
The doctrine of the Trinity is the architectonic principle of the whole theological and apologetic enterprise of Herman Bavinck. While it may be debated as to how consistent he was
The relationship between the kingdom of God and the church, in the words of Geerhardus Vos, is a “delicate and eminently practical question.”[i] In fact, different ecclesiologies have
The complexity revolving around the question of the relationship between the kingdom and the church is largely due to varying definitions. So before setting forth Herman Ridderbos’ formulation in his magisterial work on the
The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) embodies the commitment of the Reformation to non-speculative theology as it logically expounds core biblical truths along practical and pastoral lines for the Christian life. Beginning with belonging
The Covenantal Structure of the Westminster Confession of Faith
Written at the entrance of the temple of Reformed theology are the words: “God does not exist because of man, but
In the Old Testament, the altars of the patriarchs, the tabernacle constructed under Moses, and the temple built by Solomon were all sufficient and efficacious means by which the people of God experienced
The apostle Paul teaches that “the Jerusalem above,” that is the eschatological Jerusalem, “is our mother” (Gal. 4:26). Likewise the author to the Hebrews exclaims, “You have come to Mount
Jesus Christ is Isaiah’s prophesied Suffering Servant who took upon himself the iniquities, transgressions and sins of his people as their substitute, so that they might be reconciled to God
James Ussher (1581-1656) was one of the most influential Reformed theologians of the seventeenth century. He adroitly contended throughout his life against Roman Catholicism on various platforms, whether writing, preaching or
We are embarrassed by a wealth of riches in this age in which we live. Books are not only available in print but in electronic form as well. We can
All heresies with respect to the Trinity may be reduced to the one great heresy of mixing the eternal and the temporal.
— Cornelius Van Til
Cornelius Van Til cut
In our previous article I discussed section I of the Canons of Dort, to show how it presents and prescribes the proper way to teach about election. In this final
Herman Bavinck, reflecting on the all-important impact of Christ on history, writes in The Philosophy of Revelation,
“[R]evelation gives us a division of history. There is no history without division of
Introduction
In a previous article I pointed out that the Canons of Dort not only define the content of Reformed doctrine, but also direct the way in which it is
Introduction
The Canons of Dort are one of official standards of the Reformed churches. They were written in the early 1600s, when the young Reformed Church in the Netherlands had
The author of the letter to the Hebrews makes explicit in the prologue that there is an organic progression to God’s revelation[1] and that the content and mode of
With a smirk befitting someone about to deliver the authoritative word on a subject long puzzled over, the apostle John reaches for his pen to begin inscribing his gospel account (or so I can at least imagine).
Following the apex of Israel’s glory with the construction of the Solomonic temple, the biblical drama enters a period of sustained decline with the occasional righteous Davidic king temporarily suspending its ultimate
Introduction
The Garden
The Patriarchs
The Tabernacle
Israel’s history progresses and time and time again they prove to be an unholy people unworthy to have the Holy One, the Lord
We continue our expedition through the biblical drama of the triune God’s pursuit of union and communion with his people in joy-full fellowship (Ps. 16:11). The promise, “I will be your God and you
Where can I find joy that is full and pleasures that are everlasting? This is the one great pursuit of men in every age. In the words of Pascal, “All
If someone were to ask you to write a short book about Jesus, who he was and what he did, what would you write? If paper and ink were very expensive,
The other day the song “Mary Did You Know?” came on the radio. Someone in the car remarked, “Uh oh, Dan doesn’t like this song.” True, I had mentioned my dislike of it
Matthew opens his gospel account with these words: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1). We find the same wording
Mary is twice mentioned as a “virgin” (παρθένος) in Luke 1:27. “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to
The drama of the biblical story is driven by God’s desire to dwell with his people in joy-full (Ps. 16:11) fellowship. In our previous article we referred to this as the
One of the remarkable things about the writings of the Apostle John is the way he combined great simplicity in his style and vocabulary with immense depth and significance of
There are certain passages in Scripture that effortlessly rocket our thoughts and affections into the heavenlies where Christ is. Paul’s letters are brimming with such passages: Colossians 1:15-20, Ephesians 1:3-14, 1 Corinthians 15:42-49, Philippians
“Image-bearing means becoming fully human, not becoming divine.”
In the opening chapters of her book None Like Him, Jen Wilkin gives us two lists:
Only God Is
God Is (and
We know that on October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, igniting a continent-wide reformation of the church. But what was he thinking?
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. These were dark, dark days; the gospel had been shackled by the superstitions and idolatries
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. These were dark, dark days; the gospel had been shackled by the superstitions and idolatries
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. These were dark, dark days; the gospel had been shackled by the superstitions and idolatries
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. These were dark, dark days; the gospel had been shackled by the superstitions and idolatries
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. These were dark, dark days; the gospel had been shackled by the superstitions and idolatries
After a hiatus we are back to our reading through and engaging with the text of Lewis Ayres’ Nicaea and its Legacy. We come now to the third point of
While ministering at the church in Corinth, Paul resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). The tactic sounds admirable and rings as worthy of imitation
Joshua 3-4 takes us on a journey with Israel as she undergoes that monumental transition from the wilderness into the promised land of Canaan by crossing the Jordan River. For three
Ralph Cunnington. Preaching With Spiritual Power: Calvin’s Understanding of Word and Spirit in Preaching. Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Mentor/Christian Focus, 2015. pp. 126.
A controversy has been going on for some time among generally
The doctrine of man’s creation in the image of God has received considerable attention in the history of the Reformed churches. Zacharias Ursinus provides a reasonably full statement of the
This is the fifth and final installment in our series on reading the Bible as literature. We first considered what a literary approach looks like and provided a few examples.
Geerhardus Vos speaks of the Christian as “a peculiar chronological phenomenon.”[1] As is often the case with Vos, we need to reflect for a moment on what he means—especially
Cornelius Van Til concludes his chapter on Scripture in his Introduction to Systematic Theology with a note of pastoral wisdom.
It is not sufficient … to instruct the church in certain
Is Origen the Root of All Kinds of Hermeneutical Evil?
Renaming the Series
This week we rechristen this blog series Standing on Giants’ Shoulders since that reflects more the character of
Paul’s letter to Philemon is the gospel in street clothes; it’s the gospel on the ground and at work in real life. It’s for this reason we need this personal,
Last week we began a series on reading the Bible as literature. In our first article we summarized and gave some examples of a literary approach to Scripture. In this
The book of Acts is filled with stories of missionary exploits that can excite us to bold acts of faith. But at times it can unfortunately become a heavy club to
Introduction
At the beginning of every school year, my Literature teacher would give each student an index card to write down the works of literature we read that year. The
The Lord’s Supper is a profound mystery, and yet it’s so simple that anyone who has taken a bite of food and a gulp of water can understand it. Some may
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested
Lewis Ayres begins his consideration of the four points of departure in his Nicaea and Its Legacy by looking at the circumstances which obtained in the church from the time
In Revelation 5 the apostle John beholds a spectacular vision of worship before the throne of God. He hears the voices of heaven (vv. 11-12) and earth (v. 13) unite
So often we read events in Jesus’ life as mere examples from which we can draw principles for common experiences, rather than as once-for-all accomplishments that he underwent in our
The garden of Eden was not just some Mesopotamian farmland, but an archetypal sanctuary or a temple-garden.[1] Though we often speak of “the Garden of Eden” as a
St. Gregory of Nyssa, Anti-Apollinarian Writings. The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation, vol. 131. Translated by Robin Orton. Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 2015. Pp. xxiii
A New but Classic Text
We are reading through Lewis Ayres’s Nicaea and its Legacy (Oxford University Press, 2004). Our goal is to read this relatively new but still classic
Tomorrow, Lord willing, I’ll be completing a four-sermon series on the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-20. It’s been a rewarding challenge and great joy to have camped out here in God’s
In Peter’s first letter to those of the Dispersion (1:1) he intentionally utilizes language that once characterized the nation of Israel in the Old Testament to now describe the New
“The covenant is neither a hypothetical relationship, nor a conditional position; rather it is the fresh, living fellowship in which the power of grace is operative.”
– Geerhardus Vos
There
Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren (played so well by Ralph Fiennes in the movie Quiz Show) argue in their very useful How to Read a Book that we ought
The connection between historia salutis and ordo salutis, that is, between salvation as it has been accomplished in redemptive history and salvation as it is applied in the life experience of
I Am Not Normal
I love to read. I have been doing it for years. I cannot claim to read with pen in hand in the way Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
The evangelical Internet is abuzz with discussion about ad intra relations within the Trinity. Bruce Ware and Wayne Grudem have been recognized as presenting forms of Eternal Functional Subordination (EFS) of the Son
Hezekiah is one of the handful of “good” kings that ruled over Judah. The book of Kings speaks of him in superlative terms: “He did what was right in the
It has been rightly observed by many that there is an eschatology—a goal of higher, escalated life that the creation is to move toward—already in Genesis 1–2. While everything was “very good,”
We all wish we could have been one of the two disciples who walked with the resurrected Christ on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. We know that beginning
Recently the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia released a book entitled Seeing Christ in All of Scripture. The book’s intent is to help people understand the beautiful, Christ-centered
I’m so thankful that Christopher Ash wrote Zeal without Burnout. It’s a much-needed book, and I’m confident many ministers will be just as encouraged by reading it as I have been.
In a context of impending judgment, Yahweh issued a command to his people: prepare to meet your God, O Israel (Amos 4:12). A similar burden, though in quite a different
The relationship between nature and grace has been deemed the central thought of the theology of Herman Bavinck (1854–1921). Getting the relationship right is important for a proper understanding of
We are pleased to announce the paper selections and program for the Covenantal Apologetics Colloquium, which will be held online on Saturday, December 5th, at 7pm (eastern). We’ll be streaming the
You’ve seen them. They’ve taken over your Facebook timelines and Twitter feeds. They get forwarded to you on chat or through email. They’re called “listicles.” The unfortunately-named listicle is at
I regularly preach lectio continua. When we start a new series at my church, we open to verse one of that book and work through it week by week, passage by
Looking forward to the Covenantal Apologetics Colloquium, I thought I might share some reflections on the uniqueness of Covenantal Apologetics (CA) and, in that sense, on what makes it worthy
For close to two years, we have been privileged to have Barry Waugh writing short biographies on various Presbyterians in church history. Some have been well-known, others have been forgotten. In
Introduction
The following is a response to Scott Swain’s post at Reformation21, “Theses on Natural Theology.” But it is more than that. I take the opportunity, in interaction with
Tertullian is famous for saying, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” (Apologeticus, Chapter 50). The persecution of Christians isn’t an objectively good thing, yet in God’s
In our previous post, part 1, we introduced our thesis and opened with the beginning of Barth’s life. We pick up here with his years from the beginning of his
“Christ is All: An Introduction to the Life and Thought of Karl Barth”1
Part I
Introduction and Thesis
A. Introduction
You are reading the first installment of
Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. recently sat down with FaithLife, makers of Logos Bible Software, to speak about the efforts to translate Geerhardus Vos’s Reformed Dogmatics. Watch the video at
In an article discussing the theology of Albert Ritschl, Herman Bavinck writes that throughout history Christian theology “fashioned for herself a philosophy or appropriated an existing one such that as that
In our last post we concluded that juxtaposing Bonhoeffer against himself might not be the most useful way to determine whether the man was a pietistic evangelical or a German
President Obama may some day, if not already, rue the day he compared the Crusades to the current terror tactics of ISIS. But, was his comparison completely off-based?
Several well-circulated
Within a year of my profession of faith I came into contact with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The owner of the local Christian bookstore gave me a copy of The Cost of
In his book Worship Reformed According to Scripture, Hughes Oliphant Old orients Christian worship toward the right end using the proper means. This is a significant undertaking indeed, because sadly,
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Miracle of Spring A strange thing has taken place
A labor overnight—
That by the thousands apace
New births brought forth to light.
Till now my yard was winter,
The wind turns south, I wing
Back
Summer1
By Geerhardus Vos Translated by Daniel Ragusa
Though thousands of signs do brim
That he the land has graced,
How shall I ever find him?
Where do his
Autumn1 By Geerhardus Vos Translated by Daniel Ragusa Still lingers golden autumn, still stand harvest colors,
Ripening in field, still roams through woods and gardens
A lovely postlude
I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion on Danny Olinger’s excellent biography of Geerhardus Vos at the Presbyterian Scholars Conference, held at Harbor House, Wheaton College, on
