These words, written by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity, reflect one of the most common Christian responses to the problem of evil and suffering in the world. At first glance, the so-called “free will defense” has considerable appeal. It seems to absolve God of responsibility for the existence of evil, by shifting that responsibility to […]
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Does nature need addition? Bavinck against the donum superadditum
August 23, 2019 
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One of the central points of disagreement among the various Christian traditions is the question of the relationship of grace and nature. Should we say that grace opposes nature? Affirms nature? Perfects nature? Flanks nature? The answer that Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck famously gives is that grace restores nature: it gives back to us what […]
Continue reading Doubting Thomists: John Bolt’s defense of (the real) Aquinas against his Reformational critics
September 26, 2018 3 Comments
Protestants have always had a complicated relationship with the great medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas. On the one hand, the Reformers rejected many of his views on salvation and the sacraments. On the other hand, even in the heat of post-Reformation polemics, Protestants and Catholics were still able to find much common ground in his teachings […]
Continue reading Roundup on the Frame-Dolezal Dustup
December 1, 2017 10 Comments
First it was Eternal Subordination of the Son; now it’s Theistic Mutualism. It’s hard to keep up with all of these modern evangelical debates over the doctrine of God. For those just tuning in, the latest controversy centers on the recently published volume All That Is in God by Reformed Baptist theologian James Dolezal (Reformation […]
Continue reading Resources on Daniel’s Seventy Weeks
April 14, 2017 7 Comments
24 Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place [literally holy of holies]. 25 Know therefore and understand that […]
Continue reading Further Thoughts on Modern Bible Translations and Textual Criticism
October 10, 2016 1 Comment
Based on some helpful feedback that I received on my previous post on textual criticism, I thought that I should write a follow-up post to clarify a few things. To begin with, I should state upfront that I’m a relative newcomer to the subject of textual criticism, and would by no means consider myself an expert. […]
Continue reading In Defense of Modern Bible Translations: A Case for Eclecticism in Textual Criticism
October 4, 2016 4 Comments
How do we know that the text of the Bible has been reliably preserved throughout the centuries? If I were to make a list of all the objections that I commonly hear from skeptics against Scripture’s authority, this question would probably come close to the top of that list. It is often argued that if […]
Continue reading Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jesus As Theos in John’s Gospel
March 21, 2016 0 Comments
The doctrine of the deity of Christ has been affirmed by the vast majority of the Christian church throughout its history. Ever since the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, it has been considered a litmus test for orthodoxy. It is one of the few doctrines that unites the main branches of the faith—Protestantism, Roman […]
Continue reading Review: By Faith, Not By Sight, by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.
March 15, 2016 1 Comment
As I began preparing to teach a class on the New Perspective(s) on Paul (NPP), I made use of a number of sources to guide my research. Most of my sources were coming from a broadly confessional Reformed perspective, and one stood out as especially worthy of mention. At only 125 pages, Richard Gaffin’s By Faith, […]
Continue reading Robert Rollock on the Merit of Christ
March 2, 2016 3 Comments
Robert Rollock was a 16th-century Scottish Reformed theologian, credited with developing the idea of a distinction between a covenant of works and a covenant of grace between God and man (aka “bicovenantalism”), and with helping bring Reformed theology to the British Isles. Although his work was influential for later mainstream Reformed theology, he was also […]
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