Ron DiGiacomo
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Keith Mathison, Reformed Forum and, of course, Van Til
Keith Mathison’s views on Cornelius Van Til’s apologetic has been the topic of discussion on Reformed Forum (here, here and here). Here is Mathison’s most recent and second response. I will share just a couple comments about Mathison’s response and then provide links for further reflection. Abbreviations: Keith Mathison (KM) Reformed Forum (RF) Cornelius Van Continue reading
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Abandoning The Faith In College. “That’s Me In The Corner…Losing My Religion.”
R.E.M. released their hit single Losing My Religion in 1991. Although a great song in its own right, we probably don’t want to base too much theology on the provocative, even sometimes debated, lyric: “That’s me in the cornerThat’s me in the spotlight, losing my religion” But putting 90’s alternative rock aside, how many times Continue reading
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Theology, Philosophy and Worldview, A Relationship To Be Embraced
Whereas the Bible is the foundation for Christian theology, the theology we derive from the Bible should provide the basis for a Christian understanding of knowledge, reality and morality. In turn, a robust Reformed theology will not just be consistent with but, also, according to a distinctly Christian epistemology, metaphysic and ethic, which is to Continue reading
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Bringing Molinists And Calvinists Closer Together On Semantics, In Order That We Might Disagree With Understanding (If Not Agree On Calvinism!)
The intended purpose of this latest installment is found in the title. Sometimes we just talk by each other; so I offer five clarifying points, followed by some similarities, differences and implications of two opposing systems of thought. I hope it’s useful. And as always, chew on the meat and spit out the bones. 1. Continue reading
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A Very Few Thoughts On The Current Situation Facing The PCA
This brief piece pertains to events surrounding the Stated Clerk of the PCA, Bryan Chapell. My single hope is to bring some clarity in the spirit of peacemaking but not provide a solution that’s beyond my pay grade. Bryan Chapell’s primary wrong doing was not that he exposed people he thought ill of but rather Continue reading
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The CREC, Neither Catholic Nor Reformed, Just Muddled (Special Attention Given to Paedo-communion)
If a renegade Roman Catholic communion held to the Westminster standards, Roman Catholicism would still not be a Reformed communion. That’s because what defines Roman Catholicism is a blend of her official doctrine and practices the magisterium permits. So it is with The Communion of Reformed and Evangelical Churches (CREC). Although the CREC would like Continue reading
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Confessional Defection With Good Intention Is Still Confessional Defection (Ongoing Challenges In The PCA)
I’m afraid for a particular presbytery of the PCA. In the relatively recent past the Philadelphia presbytery of the PCA admitted a Teaching Elder who held to the continuation and practice of the charismatic gifts of prophecy* and tongues, which is strange doctrine that is either hostile to the Westminster standards or strikes at the Continue reading
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Kevin DeYoung On Free Will And Divine Foreknowledge
I’ve decided to interact with this article by Kevin DeYoung on free will and divine foreknowledge. Although the piece is over fifteen years old and the author may have possibly refined his views since then, I nonetheless believe the article typifies the uncritical handling of this Reformed distinctive among contemporary leaders in the tradition. Why Continue reading
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A Calvinist’s Hope And Behavior – Participating In God’s Purposes By Faith
The aim of this piece is to identify some key theological differences between Calvinism and Arminianism in order to draw out a few practical benefits of adopting a distinctly Reformed mindset that applies to hope and behavior in the midst of trials. Some initial theological spadework must occur before trying to unearth the practical usefulness Continue reading
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How is the symphonic prog-rock band Yes relevant to Christian apologetics? 🎶 🎤 🎸 ⛪️
Each time I listen to Wonderous Stories by Yes, my reflections turn toward the blessings of what theologians call common grace. The doctrine explains why secular music is often far superior to that which might feature a dove on the album cover. Perhaps more striking is that some secular music, particularly from the progressive rock Continue reading
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Evangelicalism and RINOs (Reformed In Name Only), A Different Religion?
Reformed theology and practice entails many different attitudes, beliefs and practices relative to Evangelicalism. In that respect the two faith communities can seem like different religions with respect to feel, creed and application. Highlighted below are some basic principles that distinguish Evangelicalism from the Reformed faith. Those differences are rooted primarily in how the two Continue reading
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Abusing The Abused Within The Church (Soul-Murdering In The Name Of Refuge)
There is danger in not defining sin in biblical terms. This secular practice has unfortunately infiltrated the church and led to much confusion. A related problem is reasoning by false disjunction. For instance, if one is a superior, which is to say of riper age, of greater grace, or more eminent in stature, his greater Continue reading
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Simplifying Simplicity (Parsing God’s Will And Attributes)
God is a simple being or he is not. If God is not a simple being, then he is made up of parts or a composite being, in which case God’s attributes would be what he has rather than is, making his attributes abstract properties that self-exist without ultimate reference to God. God would be subject to change Continue reading
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A Few Clarifying Words About Presuppositional Apologetics
A presuppositionalist claim is that the Christian worldview (CW) is necessary in order to make sense of human experience. However, even if the CW is consistent, coherent and explanatory, how would that prove that it is connected to how things truly are in the world? What if the external world can be organized by the Continue reading
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Post in thread ‘Evaluating the Thought of Cornelius Van Til with Keith Mathison and James Anderson
On the Puritan Board, Keith Mathison had this to say. 1. Van Til claimed that’s those among the Reformed who used traditional methods were compromising Reformed theology. 2. And since the traditional method was used by all of the Reformed theologians (with the possible exception of Calvin) for the 400 years prior to Van Til, Continue reading
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Davenant Hypothetical Universalism Even Denies Its Own Claim Of Efficacy For The Elect
An entailment of the Reformed doctrine of limited atonement is p: If Christ died for S, then S will be saved. Therefore, if p is true, S’ salvation is in some sense guaranteed by Christ’s death on behalf of S. Davenant Hypothetical Universalism (HU) rejects p by affirming that (a) Christ died for all and (b) not all will be saved. Consequently, even Continue reading
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No, The American Revision Of The Westminster Standards Does Not Undermine Westminster’s Civil Ethics
Kevin DeYoung recently wrote that in 1788, American Presbyterians revised chapter 23 of the original Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) because many “grew wary of granting coercive powers to the civil magistrate and were drawn to more robust notions of religious liberty”. DeYoung reasons that by virtue of the revision, “Presbyterians in America rejected an older, Continue reading
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Faith And Justification In The Life Of Infants
In Chapter 14 of the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), saving faith is distinguished from believing. This distinction, which has implications with respect to infants and those who might suffer from cognitive impairment, is made plain when the standards teach it is by the grace of faith that the elect are enabled to believe to the Continue reading
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Within Molinism, The Possibility of Choosing Contrary to God’s Foreknowledge Does Not Imply The Possibility of God *Actually* Being Wrong About The Future
This is a sentiment I’ve seen put forth from skilled compatibilists: While Molinists say agents can do otherwise in the same circumstances, no Molinist would say that it’s possible for an agent to act contrary to God’s actual foreknowledge. Even if that were true, as the title of this latest entry suggests – I think Continue reading
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The Reformed Doctrine Of Divine Foreknowledge – A Call For A Coherent And Unified Voice
If the Reformed faith is God’s deposit of the purest doctrine in the 21st century, then being walled in by Reformed confessional theology can keep one believing true doctrine. Thankfully and in God’s kind providence, we have Reformed confessions and catechisms to guide us theologically and provide protection against believing false doctrine. However, merely believing true doctrine and Continue reading
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A Response To A Popular, (Yet Inadequate), “Reformed” Antidote to Federal Vision’s Use Of The Warning Passages
Like a robust Christian worldview, a Reformed system of doctrine should be consistent, coherent and explanatory. What this means is: (a) the components of a sound theology may have mystery but not contradiction; (b) although theological constituent parts should be assessed discretely, they must be evaluated in light of the whole so that each ingredient Continue reading
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Deduction, Induction & TAG
Deduction as a construct does not bring forth knowledge any more than induction. Inductivists try to move from what seems plausible, or considered most probably the case, to establishing veracity for a hypothesis. Induction is “open ended” because induction as a process is never fully exhaustive. Rather, it comes to an end once one is Continue reading
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Jesus And The Woman Caught In Adultery
To confuse absolution with civil justice is a menace to society and the church. Both must be maintained in their proper place, for the law is the backdrop for grace.* (Joshua 7:20,25; Galatians 2:1) Antinomians and Roman Catholics can be quick to point to the woman caught in adultery (recorded for us in John 8) Continue reading
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Carl Trueman On Trump vs Biden
Whether portraying spiritual closeness with Roman Catholic clergymen, or painting a picture of our need for a fresh polemic to refute them(!), Carl Trueman’s brush is often broad and his hues blurred. Trueman’s latest masterpiece contrasts what he calls “Trumpite ‘evangelicalism’” with “Biden’s brand of ‘devout’ Catholicism.” He asks his readers to consider, “Which is Continue reading
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The Institutional Church, Spirituality and Christian Nationalism
This interview conducted by Crossway caught my attention. It has to do with the institutional church, its spirituality, and Christian nationalism. My interest is limited to how the institutional church, which is made up of many members, is to relate to temporal yet lawful institutions in the world. I find two quotes from the interview Continue reading
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GRACE Report And Tenth Presbyterian Church
I found the GRACE report to be an abomination. It dredged up many past hurts and sins that were in the end dealt with biblically and in accordance with the gospel, even with censures issued by session and presbytery when appropriate. Perhaps the most egregious part of the GRACE report is how GRACE suggests that Continue reading
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No, I *AM* Spiritually Closer With Evangelicals Who Reject Certain Tenets Of “Classical Theism” Than With Classical Trinitarians Who Reject The Reformed Doctrine Of Justification.
I will interact with portions of this article by Professor Carl Trueman. A recovery of classical theology also raises an interesting ecumenical question. Why do Protestants, especially those of an evangelical stripe, typically prioritize the doctrine of salvation over the doctrine of God? If an evangelical rejects simplicity or impassibility or eternal generation, he is Continue reading
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Christian, No, You May Not Marry That Roman Catholic (or any other Roman Catholic for that matter)
Christians may marry only in the Lord. This means that at the very least Christians may not marry faithful Roman Catholics, Muslims or any other unbelieving idolater, all of whom maintain damnable heresies. (1 Corinthians 7:39; WCF 24.3; See also: Exodus 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3,4; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18) A question that in more recent times accompanies Continue reading
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Could The Fallible Universal Church Have Failed To Receive The Canon?
Discussions over the canon have often pertained to surveying patristic evidence for the process and completion of canonization. These traditional pursuits have been aimed at answering important historical questions more than thorny epistemological ones. Yet in Reformed circles there seems to be a renewed interest in the theology of the canon and a deeper appreciation Continue reading
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Lifting The Veil That Covers Molinism’s Necessary Counterfactuals Of Creaturely Freedom
Molinists and Calvinists agree over the soundness of the following argument, where x is a future creaturely choice. 1. Necessarily, if God foreknows x, then x will happen2. God foreknows x3. Therefore, x will happen Molinists and Calvinists even agree that the following argument is not just unsound but invalid: 1. Necessarily, if God foreknows Continue reading
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Subtle Yet Significant Differences Between Molinism And Theological Determinism. Does It Really Matter To The Reformed Tradition?
After writing this article, a number of questions came my way from committed Calvinists. This brief installment is a result of some of those correspondences. Molinism affords a strong view of divine providence along with a principle of free will such that if Luis freely chooses the chili dog at the carnival, then it is Continue reading
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Of God’s Eternal Decree In Light Of Four Commentaries on WCF 3.2. Have we drifted?
It has been my contention for many years that the doctrine of God’s eternal decree is widely misunderstood, even unwittingly denied, within the Reformed tradition. Having served on a pastoral search committee in the OPC and candidates and credentials team in the PCA at the presbyterial level, I’ve seen a fair share of candidates for Continue reading
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The PCA’s Principle On Non-Communing Members – A Halfway Covenant?
The PCA Book of Church Order (BCO) teaches that children of professing believers are members of the visible church and, therefore, are entitled to baptism. Indeed, per BCO 56-1 baptism should not be unnecessarily delayed! However, what the BCO does not teach is that a refusal to baptize one’s covenant child is great sin that Continue reading
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Covenant, Election And Realized Eschatology
The four part drama of creation, fall, redemption and consummation is not just soteriological but eschatological and covenantal. This is to say, the whole of redemptive history is according to promise and fulfillment. Yet perhaps less familiar to many of us is that redemption in Christ has made the future now present. With respect to Continue reading
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Knowing the Incomprehensible God
Regarding the creator-creature distinction, there is no disagreement among Christians as to whether God knows a greater number of propositions relative to man, or whether God understands how all bits of knowledge exhaustively relate to each other in a mode or manner not available to created beings. Indeed, there is a quantitative difference between God’s Continue reading
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Parents And The Apostasy Of Covenant Children
There is nothing more amazing than the grace of salvation conferred to those who are afar off. And although conversion of covenant children is no less a matter of grace, pious parents ought not to doubt the election and subsequent conversion of their children. Because covenant children are not among those who are afar off Continue reading
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Molinism vs. Theological Determinism Discussion
Arne Verster graciously hosted me on Apologetics Central to discuss Molinism and Theological Determinism. Continue reading
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An Essential Tenet Of Reformed Theology *Is* Determinism. The Reformed Need To Embrace It.
When it comes to the question of whether Reformed theology entails a principle of determinism, either disagreement abounds among Reformed theologians or else many within the tradition are talking by each other. Perhaps some are in theological agreement over this essential aspect of Reformed theology while expressing themselves in conflicting ways. Perhaps. Regardless, there is Continue reading
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Internet Sin vs. Biblical Sanctification
We live in a day in which personal testimony is considered more powerful than the ordinary means of grace. Many young men who are believed by profession to have entered through the narrow gate that leads to life have become indistinguishable from those that remain on the broad road to destruction. Because succumbing to internet Continue reading
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Trinity & Paradox (A Defense of Christian Orthodoxy Against Claims of Modalism and Polytheism)
If God is one and all three persons of the Trinity are God, how does orthodox Christianity adequately deflect charges of modalism and polytheism? In other words, if the Father is God and the Son is God, how is the Son not merely an appearance of the Father if there is only one God (monotheism). Continue reading
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Apologetics Discussion
Arne Verster of Apologetics Central and I discussed apologetics (last evening for me, this morning for Arne who lives in South Africa). This article of mine on the failure of classical apologetics was the impetus for our discussion. Continue reading
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False Teaching Among The Prominent Non-Confessional Reformed: From Lordship Salvation to Today’s Christianity and Culture In The PCA
A pastor can be more or less Reformed, but a doctrine either is or is not Reformed. A debtor to mercy The church will always have to war against false gospels. From the time of the Judaizers to this very day, the church has been bewitched by sacerdotalism, syncretism, decisional regeneration, social gospels, prosperity gospels, Continue reading
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What About Those Who’ve Never Heard of Jesus? Would a chance even after death change anything?
When it comes to the question of the eternal state of those who’ve never heard of Jesus, at least three views have gained attention over the years, all of which entail Christ’s redemptive work. 1. Good works release Christ’s benefits. 2. The Holy Spirit baptizes people into Christ. 3. People will get a chance to Continue reading
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Don’t Look Now But Your “Reformed” Theology Might Not Be Confessional
In recent years the debates of the Reformation period have taken priority over the theology of the debates. Somehow possessing vast acquaintance with multiple sides of doctrinal disputes has in some circles become more academically impressive and pastorally relevant than possessing an intimate working-understanding of which doctrines are theologically Reformed and defensible. Consequently, there has Continue reading
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The Impossibility of The “Possibility” Entailed by John Davenant’s Hypothetical Universalism (R.I.P.)
The following quote is taken from a review of the book John Davenant’s Hypothetical Universalism: A Defense of Catholic and Reformed Orthodoxy. The reviewer attributes the quote to the author of the book. Broadly considered, we understand early modern hypothetical universalism to teach (1) that Christ died for all human beings in order to merit Continue reading
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John Davenant, Another Enticement For The “Reformed” (in name only)
If it be denied that Christ died for some persons, it will immediately follow, that such could not be saved, even if they should believe. I can understand Arminians saying such a thing but when those who profess to be Reformed say things like that, more than bad theology is at play. (And by the Continue reading
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The Failure of Classical Apologetics in the light of Biblical Contextual Reality (A Case For Presuppositional Apologetics)
At the heart of Christian apologetic methodology is the consideration of ultimate authority. How the authority of Scripture should shape the Christian’s defense of the faith is a matter of bringing every thought captive to obey Christ, (even as the Christian gives an answer for the hope that is in him, with meekness and fear). Continue reading
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Professor Pushback, Perkins and R2K
A few hours ago I received the following message through my blog from a 2 Kingdom proponent in response to an article of mine that recently appeared on The Aquila Report. After discussing the matter on the phone with this brother, I’ve decided to address a few things. Your account of “R2K” seems like a Continue reading
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Westminster Civil Ethics vs R2K Natural Law on Kidnapping
Christians and non-Christians alike have grieved this past week while also trying to process ethical questions regarding longtime convicted kidnapper Cleotha Abston who is being charged with abducting and murdering Eliza Fletcher. Many ethical questions are at hand and convictions run passionately deep regarding how those questions might best be answered through a Reformed Christian Continue reading
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Dining Out on The Lord’s Day
My father grew up in the borough of Brooklyn, in a neighborhood just north of “Bed-Stuy” called Williamsburg. Those familiar with the district know that in the early 1900s with the completion of the bridge that bears the neighborhood’s name, Hasidic Jews from the “Lower east Side” began populating the community along with other immigrants Continue reading
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Divorce, censure, and session responsibility
We synthesize particular biblical principles in order to compose theology that is biblical, practical and compassionate. Under the gospel of Christ there exist two permissible reasons for divorce: adultery and willful desertion. (Matt.19:8,9; 1 Cor. 7:15) Elders often have to judge whether certain acts of the flesh constitute adultery. Elders also have to decide whether Continue reading
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The Philosophical and Moral Impotency of Natural Law in Refuting Homosexuality
Although all men know by nature that homosexuality is sin, it’s only through Scripture that one can adequately defend the claim. (Natural theology types are free to try sometime.) Since most people are autonomous in their thinking it’s understandable why most cannot justify with any consistency (and without avoiding arbitrariness) the claim that homosexuality is Continue reading
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More on Reformed Apostasy
Many Reformed churches have progressed from (i) a lack of theological nuance to (ii) a disregard for doctrinal distinction to (ii) an actual repudiation of Reformed theology. It’s no longer that many Reformed pulpits and sessions are merely being manned by elders who aren’t theologically keen, which eventually gave way to a general sense, if Continue reading
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Jonathan Edwards on the “necessity” of the divine decree
Our acts are free, though triggered by intentions that are caused according to God’s sovereign determination of the relationship between prior states of affairs and our intentions to act. Moreover, we approve of our intentions that cannot be other than what God has decreed. Like us, God approves of his intentions and cannot act contrary Continue reading
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Orthodox Presbyterian Church 88th General Assembly at Eastern University
I’m a bit surprised that some OPC Pastors and Ruling Elders are eager to maintain that the OPC did not prematurely acknowledge guilt at their 88th General Assembly. “The 88th (2022) General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church hereby expresses to the faculty, staff, and students of Eastern University its grief, sorrow, and disgust regarding Continue reading
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What Do Elf and Certain NAPARC Churches Have In Common When It Comes To Organizations Like GRACE? (A parody too close to home.)
The Westminster Shorter Catechism is to be updated this fall for the “Totally Reformed” who actually believe in the appointment and engagement of Sessions, regional Presbyteries and General Assemblies to govern the church, even in cases alleging abuse. This minority of churches, now called TR churches for short, are going to add one more question Continue reading
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NAPARC Infidelity
This is a follow-up post to Seeds of Apostasy and Congregant Responsibility. It’s staggering to consider how far a preponderance of NAPARC churches have drifted from Reformed confessional theology. If the shepherds won’t protect the sheep, the sheep better get better at protecting themselves. Today’s obsession with egalitarianism, critical theories, and medieval philosophy by “historians” Continue reading
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Dr. James Anderson Dismantles Opposition to Presuppositional Apologetics, Theological Determinism and Christ’s Kingly Reign Over All
It’s never pleasurable to read (i) caricatures, (ii) misunderstandings, (iii) reckless treatment of opposing views and (iv) badly formulated arguments – especially by other Christians. It is pleasurable, however, given such grave misfortune, to read precise interaction with such positions. One wonderful thing about James’ work is his points of disagreement are always precisely articulated. Continue reading
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Seeds of Apostasy and Congregant Responsibility
If you’re not grieved by the infidelity of the church, then with this post you’ll find little relevance. Churches don’t become apostate overnight. Apostasy begins with elders having a faith and practice that is contrary to their confessional standards. Within the confessional pale, elders don’t typically deny their ordination vows overtly. It’s rare that an Continue reading
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RC. Sproul, Impeccability of Christ & Broadly Logical Modality
The Sproulian view of the peccability of Christ ends in either in an abstraction of the human nature from the second Person or else it attributes human personhood to the Son. Either way the denial of the impeccability of Christ implicitly, yet unwittingly, denies Chalcedon. (At the 21 minute mark I interact with Sproul, though Continue reading
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Trinitarian Heterodoxy Eclipses Marriage (once again)
A pair of books were recently released entitled: Let The Men Be Men & Let The Women Be Women. As the subtitles disclose, the respective books pertain to God’s Design For Manhood And Marriage & God’s Design For Womanhood and Marriage. This is not a review of the books but instead I offer a brief Continue reading
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Lee Irons’ View of Unbelievers and the Christian Sabbath, a basic logic lesson.
Lee Irons maintains that the Sabbath is binding upon Christians but not upon unbelievers. If Irons is correct, then Christians may allow unbelievers to labor for them on Sunday, for instance as servers at restaurants and coffee shops. If Irons is incorrect, then Christians who dine out on Sunday are paying servers to break God’s Continue reading
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Moving beyond Sproulian Compatibilism
Below are excerpts from R.C. Sproul’s, What Is Free Will? We have seen Edwards’ [1700s] view and Calvin’s view [1500s], so now we’ll go into the Sproulian view of free will by appealing to irony, or to a form of paradox… I would like to make this statement: in my opinion, every choice that we Continue reading
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Evidentialism, Testimony & Inferior Witnesses
This post by Steve, formally at Triablogue, resurfaced recently. I’ll interact with three excerpts that were in the spirit of Steve’s eclectic approach to apologetics, which included at least mild affinity to Evidentialism. One thing that’s often lost sight of in debates over the Bible is that testimony is prima facie evidential in its own Continue reading
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R.C. Sproul vs The Westminster Divines on the Christian Sabbath
R.C. Sproul cites three so-called “controversies” in church history surrounding the Christian Sabbath. Is the Sabbath obligatory for the New Testament Church? If it is, should the Sabbath continue to be the seventh day of the week, the first day of the week, or is the day of the week up for grabs. Thirdly, Sproul Continue reading
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Natural Theology, what’s all the rage all about? (Inherent problems with Classical Apologetics)
Matthew Barrett and Steven Duby set out to defend Natural Theology, but in the final analysis they discuss Natural Revelation as it relates to Natural Knowledge. As early as @5:55 Steven Duby slides into a discussion on the Natural Knowledge of God gained through Natural Revelation (even as it relates to the “pressure” that restrains Continue reading
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Simplicity, Attributes and Divine Wrath
God is a simple being or he is not. If God is not a simple being, then he is a composite of parts, in which case God’s attributes would be what he has rather than is, making his attributes abstract properties that self-exist without ultimate reference to God. God would be subject to change and Continue reading
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5 Point Molinists & Pervasive Confusion
I have been convinced for well over a decade not only that many professing Calvinists are latent Molinists but that most are. Here we find what I believe to be a representative sample of how Calvinists relate free will to the decree of God. The author of the piece earned a Masters in Divinity (minor Continue reading
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Untangling God’s 3 Wills (audio)
God often wills that we do not seek his will and in turn we break his will according to his will. RWD That statement is true, properly understood. This class discusses meaty concepts such as: * God’s necessary will * God’s free will * God’s antecedent will * God’s consequent will * God’s will of Continue reading
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The Logical-Possible Chasm of Molinism
Consider counterfactual of creaturely freedom (CCF) p: If person S were in state of affairs C, S would freely A. C represents the relevant history of the world prior to S freely doing A. Within Molinism, given C, S always As. Therefore, if God wills S would freely A, God need only actualize S in Continue reading
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Libertarian Freedom and Properly Basic Beliefs, an analogy of unlikely bedfellows
It’s interesting that many libertarians subscribe to properly basic beliefs that are formed in us but not strictly by us, which they’d say we are nonetheless morally responsible to live by. But how can such incompatibilists consistently maintain that we can justly be held responsible for such unwilled beliefs if we may not be held Continue reading
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Libertarian free will, regress or crickets?
Libertarians and Compatibilists can agree that there are two distinct components when choices come to fruition, (a) an intention to act and (b) a specific act that proceeds from an intention. An actual act of the will comes from an intention to make a willed act. Intention to act —> act of the will Without Continue reading
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What drives libertarian freedom, moral responsibility or determinism?
What seems to drive Libertarians to their view of freedom is not the reasonableness of pure contingency. It’s seems intuitive that compatibilist freedom provides the sufficient conditions for moral responsibility. I don’t think many libertarians would have looked any further than to those conditions if determinism wasn’t part of the discussion. In other words, if Continue reading
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From whence come intentions, and how is compatibilism any better in this regard?
This post aims to address how unchosen intentions can be rational and person-relevant from a compatibilist perspective but not from a libertarian perspective. Even though morally significant intentions are formed within the agent, they are not formed strictly by the agent, being ultimately sourced and caused from without the agent. Secondly, libertarian freedom would undermine Continue reading
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Audios on TAG and the Canon
Transcendental Argument for the existence of God Can we know we have the Canon? Circular reasoning? Continue reading
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Natural Knowledge or Free Knowledge of CCFs?
Natural Knowledge: God’s knowledge of all necessary truths, including all possibilities logically prior to his creative decree. Definition from Divine Foreknowledge Four Views, Edited by Beilby & Eddy, page 211. God knows all possible worlds according to his natural knowledge. Yet many Reformed thinkers tend to extend natural knowledge to the objects of true-counterfactuals of Continue reading
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Assume I’m a Molinist!
Why are these three points insufficient for human responsibility from an Arminian perspective? Assume I were a Molinist asking the question! All three of those points are compatible with God’s eternal decree. Accordingly, how does a Reformed view of divine decree logically contradict moral accountability given that 1-3 would appear sufficient for moral accountability? To Continue reading
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Strict Merit vs Pactum Merit and Union with Christ. (Is Imputation Eclipsing Adoption In Christ?)
Let’s consider afresh the relationship of pactum merit with respect to Adam in the covenant of works and how that relates to strict merit in redemption. With respect to Adam the reward of living forever would have been disproportionate to the finite work performed. In other words, the justice of life-eternal would not have been Continue reading
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Impromptu Interview on Revealed Apologetics
A fun interview with Eli Ayala including an audience “stump the chump” Q&A. Very impromptu to say the least. I should warn you, I was exhausted and somewhat delirious when interviewed. I probably should not have stepped-in at the last minute, though Eli is too kind to say no to! Truth be told, I was Continue reading
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James Anderson on TAG
This is a wonderful interview. I highly recommend it. Continue reading
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Infallibility & The Canon
Proof for the reception of the canon: Jesus promised to build his church. (Matt. 16:18) Jesus also told his apostles that those who received them received Him. (Matt. 10:40) The implication is that the building project of the Lord was to be founded upon the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus being the chief cornerstone. Continue reading
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The Problem of Induction
James Anderson offers a concise synopses of the problem of induction. James’s piece brings to mind that as a child I was struck by the fact that if a monkey were placed at a typewriter, the chimp would eventually type the works of Shakespeare given enough time. Soon after becoming a believer it occurred to Continue reading
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The Free Offer Of The Gospel, Not What You’ve Been Told!
Q. What is effectual calling?A. Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel. WSC Q&A 31 Moreover, it Continue reading
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Molinist Counterfactual Backfires
Christian compatibilists and incompatibilists agree that man is morally responsible for his choices, and God has exhaustive foreknowledge of the same. Therefore, if man has free will, it must be compatible with God’s exhaustive foreknowledge. “It seems to me much clearer(!)” – and to the rest who desire to make sense of God’s knowledge of Continue reading
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Molinism, Dualism and Omniscience
At the heart of Molinism is Middle Knowledge (MK), God’s knowledge of true counterfactuals of creaturely freedom (CCFs) – i.e. God’s knowledge of what creatures would freely do under all sets of circumstances. Now, of course, Augustinians also believe that if there are CCFs, then an omniscient God must have knowledge of them. However, unlike Continue reading
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Middle Knowledge and Calvinism
Middle Knowledge (MK) is God’s knowledge of all true counterfactuals of creaturely freedom (CCF). As the word middle suggests, this knowledge falls between other types of knowledge. Specifically, MK is situated between God’s natural knowledge, which is God’s knowledge of all necessary truths and possibilities and God’s free knowledge, which is (or as I will Continue reading
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Denial, Pre-commitments and Roman Catholicism
An amusing illustration of interpreting evidence in light of precommitment has to do with a deluded man who thinks he is dead. The doctor tries to persuade the man he is not dead by getting the man to reason according to some other proposition the dead man also believes, such as: dead men don’t bleed. Continue reading
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Impassibility, Incarnation and 2 ditches
The impassibility of God pertains to the question of whether God can suffer or be acted upon by any created thing. For God to change would require that God become something other than he is. God would either have to become perfect (at least for a while), fall from perfection and remain imperfect, or vacillate Continue reading
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Proof of Infant Baptism by way of Promise and Precept
Here is a link to a SS class that presents much of the same material. Proof-texting versus Theology It is the hermeneutic of the cults and not that of historic Christianity that seeks merely one or two Bible verses for all true doctrine. This should come as little surprise when we pause to consider that Continue reading
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A Robust Depravity – A Return To Calvinism
Total Depravity, as often depicted: In the Reformed tradition, total depravity does not mean utter depravity. We often use the term total as a synonym for utter or for completely, so the notion of total depravity conjures up the idea that every human being is as bad as that person could possibly be… As wicked Continue reading
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Incomprehensible Yet Knowable (part iii)
Although we cannot define God, we can describe God. Our descriptions of God will be proportional to what God desires us to know. Yet being finite, there are of course limits to what we can know of God. With respect to mode or manner, God cannot have us know him as he knows himself. We’d Continue reading
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Evidence And Resurrection – A Preamble To Easter & “Keep It Simple For Sinners” Approach To The Gospel
Induction, the basis for all scientific inference, presupposes the uniformity of nature, which is to say it operates under the expectation that the future will be like the past. From a Christian perspective, it is ordinary providence that explains how the scientific method is possible. Therefore, to argue for the miracle of the resurrection according Continue reading
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Univocal Of The Analogical (part ii)
When ectypal knowledge obtains, the object of it must be true. If the object is true, then God must believe it (since God believes all truth). God believes it as it truly is, an analogy of the archetypal knowledge, which only God has (knowledge of the archetypal). Assume all our thoughts of God are analogical. Continue reading
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John MacArthur’s Lordship Salvation
In this post I addressed the aberrant view that justifying faith is assent alone apart from trusting in Christ. Therein I made a passing reference to another extreme view of faith – the “Lordship Salvation” gospel whose advocates not only define justifying faith without reference to the Reformed view of trust, but also add forsaking Continue reading
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Univocal Of The Analogical (part i)
Regarding the Clark / Van Til controversy of the 1940s these points were innocuous. 1. Both sides affirmed a quantitative difference between God’s knowledge and man’s. The disagreement wasn’t so trivial as to pertain to the number of propositions known or how they exhaustively relate to each other. Surely, both sides agreed. God knows more Continue reading
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The Second Commandment And Films Depicting Jesus
Many Christians believe that the second commandment has always only been against making an image of God and using it as a worship aid, like Roman Catholicism promotes in practice. (The Eastern Church’s icons are usually up for grabs.) A growing number of Protestants who avoid crucifixes and such will say that the commandment is addressing Continue reading
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Justified by Belief Alone? (Assent Alone and The Gospel)
It has been argued by some Arminians (usually antinomians) and Calvinists (usually Clarkians) that we are justified by belief alone and that receiving and resting in Christ unpacks what it is to believe. In other words, receiving and resting in Christ is considered a figure of speech by which belief in Christ can be defined. Continue reading
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Free Will and Compatibilism, a brief sketch
Discussions on “free will” inevitably lead to analysis of (a) moral responsibility, (b) the limits of metaphysical freedom – from autonomy and pure contingency to necessity and causality, and (c) divine foreknowledge. What is indubitable is that moral agents, when they choose, are morally accountable. Therefore, if determinism is true, then determinism must be compatible Continue reading
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Transcendental Arguments, a Primer
Transcendental arguments (TAs) are deductive arguments in that if the premises are true and the form is valid, then the conclusion must be necessarily true. Furthermore, TAs pertain to preconditions for the possibility of the existence of some basic or common experience. That is, TAs put forth necessary precondition(s) without which a generally accepted experience Continue reading
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Foundations of Presuppositionalism
“Dave, I’ve never said I could give you 100% proof of Christianity. But I think I’ve given you some very strong evidence – stronger than you have for believing a lot of other things, I’ll bet. But even if those evidences [for Christianity] weren’t that strong, you’d have good reason to commit yourself to Jesus, because Continue reading
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Apologetics, Evidence, Proof and Persuasion
Can it be proven that Christ is risen? If Harry did not believe the Philadelphia Phillies won the 1980 world series, he would likely change his mind if it could be proven from Baseball Almanac. Similarly, if Harry did not believe Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President of the United States, The Complete Book of Continue reading
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Antithesis
Unbelievers require a “neutral” investigation into the claims of Christianity. Unbelievers employ autonomous reasoning, i.e. reasoning from a mindset that does not acknowledge God’s epistemic Lordship over the possibility of human reason itself, without which unbelievers cannot judge whether the Bible should be deemed reliable for its claims let alone authoritative over all of life. Continue reading
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Apologetical Foundations
If God is the being that Scripture claims, then man’s knowledge must correspond to God’s knowledge if there is to be any human knowledge at all. Not only must man’s knowledge correspond with God’s, Scripture informs that God makes human knowledge possible. Human knowledge obtains when God enables us to think his thoughts after him Continue reading
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Christianity, a Philosophical Worldview
Christianity isn’t an addendum to life, a past time of sorts or hobby that one may pick up for a while only to drop later should life become too busy. Rather, Christianity is a philosophical view of all of life. It’s the web through which a believer interprets God, men and things. In a word, Continue reading
Philosophical Theology 