Category Archives: Jure Divino Presbyterianism

Why Calvinism Is More than Five Points and Why the Young and Co-Allies Need to Know

soul patch

In my daily update from Google Alerts on Calvinism came a link to an Emergent dude (“minister” seems to be the wrong term) who comments on the recent further shenanigans at Mark Driscoll’s network (“church” seems to be the wrong term). I gather that another case of discipline has revealed another round of hip servant-leaders… Read More→

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Should We Catalog Sins?

ikea

Over at Greenbaggins the discussion goes on about 2k in the context of Frame’s latest. A number of 2k advocates are being pressed to say whether they, as ministers, would affirm a statement that declared a certain act to be a sin. This has been a repeated tactic to try to expose the dangers of… Read More→

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Comments Open and Closed

In-Treatment

Alliances close comments, churches open them. That conclusion is hard to avoid after recent developments in the PCA and at the Gospel Coalition. The PCA sponsored an enclave of fifty officers, a “Meeting of Understanding,” to discuss challenges and differences within the denomination. The rationale for the meeting was akin to marriage counseling. Spouses who… Read More→

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The Freedom of Ecclesiastical Vows

reformed-resurgence-tim-keller-and-redeemer-presbyterian-church_poster_img

In the question from the Christianity Today interview about Tim Keller’s new book on marriage, the New York pastor explains a notion of freedom that if applied to ecclesiastical vows and relationships might put a crimp in organizations like the Gospel Coalition. Q. One of the paradoxes you talk about is how the commitment of… Read More→

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Thinking Curmudgeonly Thoughts After the Curmudgeon

brilliant

The recent post about boundary-set and center-set distinctions, which only confuse rather than clarify the differences between the PCA and the Gospel Coalition, was not original. The Christian Curmudgeon notes that he published a piece in World magazine all the way back in 1996 that criticized these categories as the church growth movement was formulating… Read More→

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What’s The Difference Between the Gospel Coalition and the PCA?

coalition2

If this were a joke, the punchline might be, “only Tim Keller’s hair dresser knows for sure.” Ba dop bop! I understand that this question might wind up some readers, especially those who think the Gospel Co-Allies do no wrong. But it is one that need not be pejorative. It could say good things about… Read More→

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Why Does Mahaney Get More Slack Than Nevin?

The answer appears to be that if you I have spoken at conferences with C.J., shared a meal with him after one of those sessions, or sung Sovereign Grace Music songs on stage with him, then it is possible to stand in the gap with C.J. in the current difficulty that SGM is experiencing. But… Read More→

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When Private Goes Public

(TMI Alert!) Last Sunday my wife and I were publicly received by the OPC congregation in Hillsdale, Michigan. The reception took place during a public worship service on Sunday morning. Despite all the public matters transpiring, very few people noticed. Aside from members of session who decided to receive us by letter of transfer, the… Read More→

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Feed My Sheep — With Fast Food?

Over at Mere Orthodoxy a couple of posts have tried to identify two wings of the Young, Restless, and Reformed “movement” by applying the labels Old School and New School. Since many members of the PCA and OPC would even be unaware of this nineteenth-century division among American Presbyterians and what it meant, I was… Read More→

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Alliances, Ecumencity, and Being Reformed

The OPC’s 75th anniversary also coincided with the regular meeting of General Assembly. My pastor, whose energy consumes more calories in a day than I devour in the course of a week, wrote the daily report and perusing his summary reminds me of an important point about communions like the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The pastor’s… Read More→

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