Category: Miscellanies

I recently had a conversation with an egalitarian that I thought would serve for a good jumping-off point for a quick post about hermeneutics and exegesis. Over the course of the conversation, the standard proof-texts for and against complementarianism were tossed out. As it usually does, we ended up butting heads over the interpretation of… Continue reading Why the “Usurp Authority” Argument Doesn’t Work (1 Timothy 2:12)

Dear Board of Westminster Theological Seminary, I recently heard that WTS has suspended the adjunct appointment of Dr. Jeffery Waddington for signing the charges which were filed against Dr. Scott Oliphint. Having watched the address by Dr. Lillback, I was encouraged that the seminary had agreed to take steps not to impede the ecclesiastical process.… Continue reading An Open Letter to the Board of Westminster Theological Seminary

One of the questions I occasionally get asked is “Which translation of the Bible is the best?” Now, this question is one that doesn’t have an answer. Ideally, people would learn Greek and Hebrew, but that isn’t realistic for everyone. So we are forced to make a choice, to trust a particular translation committee and… Continue reading Assessing the CSB

Common in Reformed circles, in my experience, is a strange phenomenon. If you ask a group of Reformed believers: “Does baptism save a person?” The answer will almost always be a resounding, and at times unnecessarily aggressive “No!“ If placed in the form of a true/false question we see something like this: “True or False: ‘Baptism… Continue reading Baptism now saves you… or “What’s the deal with 1 Peter 3:21?”

I am very pleased to bring to you a series of posts by a good friend of mine named Chris Lilley. I met Chris while we were students at Bethel University in Arden Hills, Minnesota. Both of us were students in the Biblical and Theological Studies program, and Chris was a year behind me. I… Continue reading Why I’m no longer a Theistic Evolutionist (Introduction)

As of late, I have added the popular Roman Catholic call-in show Catholic Answers Live to my podcast retinue. The reasons are plenty, but the two primary reasons are 1) it is good to get a theology you are critical of directly from a reputable source (rather than just reading critical treatments) and 2) it is… Continue reading Papacy, Prosperity, and Catholic Answers Live

I woke up Friday morning to a somewhat desperate message on Facebook asking “Have you read Leithart’s article?” With an accompanying link. I glimpsed at the article and added it to my OneNote folder to read later. I did my morning Bible reading and got ready for work. Throughout the day, I got no fewer… Continue reading Keeping the Trinity One — Some Thoughts on Peter Leithart’s “Keeping the Trinity Personal”

As I have commented in the past, simply reading the Bible slowly, carefully, and with the intent to retain meaning, has tremendous benefits. Often times a text that seemed like a difficult text, or was confusing, becomes clear by simply reading the whole chapter or book in which it exists. Similarly, reading the whole Bible… Continue reading Jephthah’s Not-As-Rash-As-You-Thought Vow

There are a few terms that get thrown around (wrongly) in Reformed conversations, and as a result, we often bear false witness against our brothers unintentionally (or intentionally!). As Reformed Christians (or any Christians really), we ought to be concerned for God’s Law, and the 9th commandment exhorts us to speak truthfully, particularly as it relates… Continue reading Pelagianism, Semi-Pelagianism, and Arminianism… Oh My!

Ok. Go listen to this lecture, then take a nap, and then listen to it again. As I recently wrote, the doctrine of divine simplicity and its correlated doctrines of immutability and impassibility have to become a Shibboleth for our age. DeYoung absolutely nails it in this lecture at T4G 2018.