Monthly Archives: January 2010

(More) This and That

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 31, 2010

Even republication deniers wind up affirming republication. For them the Covenant of Works is gracious, and so is the Mosaic covenant. So at Sinai there was a republication of grace. (In fact, the way some Federal Visionaries can’t distinguish grace from works, I wonder if they actually think the Covenant of Grace was a republication… Read More→

Posted in Miscellany | 22 Comments

John Murray on the Priority of the Forensic

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 29, 2010

The basic question is: How can man be just with God? If man had never sinned the all-important question would have been: How can man be right with God? He would continue to be right with God by fulfilling the will of God perfectly. But the question takes on a radically different complexion with the… Read More→

Posted in The Hinge | Tagged , , | 158 Comments

When 2k Is Needed

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 27, 2010

(Thanks to our southern correspondent.)

Posted in New World Presbyterianism | Tagged , , | 29 Comments

For What Do We Pray?

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 27, 2010

Reformed Protestants are generally dismissive (or worse) of prosperity gospels. They know, at least intuitively, that suffering is part of the Christian life and that calculating God’s favor on the basis of material well being is not good theology. Max Weber, the sociologist who interpreted capitalism as the republication of the covenant of works, never… Read More→

Posted in Shock and Awe | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

This and That

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 24, 2010

David Strain makes a very good point about the doctrine of the two thingies: If the Kingdom is not advanced by ‘the sword’, that is, by means of physical coercion, but the God ordained role of the civil magistrate is to use the sword to enforce the rule of law, how can the Christian’s work… Read More→

Posted in Wilderness Wanderings | Tagged , , , , | 100 Comments

The Philonomian Temptation

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 21, 2010

Since some readers consider me clueless about the law to the point of being antinomian, the following essay, originally printed in the October 2002 issue of the NTJ, may be useful for clarifying the concerns of Oldlife. Ever since the sixteenth century Protestants have had to bear the accusation of being antinomian. The logic was,… Read More→

Posted in Second Hand Smoke | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

Right Chronology, Wrong Westminster Professor

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 18, 2010

The controversial Kerux review of The Law Is Not of Faith is now available on line. I cannot get past the first sentence: “For the past thirty years, a shift in Reformed covenant theology has been percolating under the hot Southern California sun in Escondido.” This is an amazing opening because for thirty years the… Read More→

Posted in The Hinge | Tagged , , , , , | 204 Comments

The Spirit of Machen Lives at Westminster California

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 16, 2010

To honor and mark the thirtieth anniversary of the seminary where police do enforce jaywalking laws, to offer some encouragement to the faculty and staff who labor and the students who study there, and to remind readers about the point of Westminster Seminary come the following paragraphs from the institution’s first convocation. Of course, J.… Read More→

Posted in Westminster | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Brit Hume, Pat Robertson, and the Grandstanding Faithful

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 15, 2010

Okay, another post from the netherworld of oldlife contrarianism. But could there be an easier target than Pat Robertson and his comments about the earthquake in Haiti? The gist of Robertson’s gaffe seems to be that the recent catastrophe is God’s payback for the country’s “pact with the devil” during the revolution in 1791 against… Read More→

Posted in Wilderness Wanderings | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

How Radical was Margaret Thatcher?

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 15, 2010

Actually, according to some British academics I know, very, but that’s another story. Thanks to Scott Clark via Martin Downes via Cranmer comes the text of the Iron Lady’s speech before the 1988 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Here are some of the highlights: Perhaps it would be best, Moderator, if I began… Read More→

Posted in spirituality of the church | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments