Responding to Andrew Bartlett on Complementarian novelty

Andrew Bartlett has responded to my article questioning whether or not Complementarianism is novel.   I thought it was worth a little response back.  I think the crucial thing to say here is that I think Andrew misses the point.  It’s important to be clar about what is being argued and what is not being argued,… Continue reading Responding to Andrew Bartlett on Complementarian novelty

Calvin without Hobbes

1517 Johann Tetzel ““As soon as a coin in the coffer rings / the soul from purgatory springs” Indulgences – a financial payment protecting you and/or your family from Purgatory Semi Pelagianism –a recipe for corruption and Abuse Martin Luther Born 10th November 1483 2nd July 1505 –studying law –nearly struck by lightening “Help Saint… Continue reading Calvin without Hobbes

Is it always a bad thing to name things after people or just when they are still alive?

In amongst the discussion about The Gospel Coalition setting up institutions named after Tim Keller (when he was still alive) and Don Carson, a few people have asked whether the issue is just a problem for living people.  What about the tradition of naming churches, buildings and institutions after specific people.  Older, established churches will… Continue reading Is it always a bad thing to name things after people or just when they are still alive?

Calvin and the Sabbath

One of the arguments raised concerning Lord’s Day Sabbath observance is that the early reformers, especially Calvin rejected it seeing it as belonging to the Old Covenant.  It was, according to the viewpoint only reintroduced by later, Sabbatarian puritans taking a more legalistic hardline. It is true that Calvin did make talk in terms of… Continue reading Calvin and the Sabbath

The sins of the fathers – case studies in how (and how not) to do church history

I’ve seen two examples recently of people attempting to make connections between the thoughts and actions of predecessors and culture today.  Both are concerned with the influence of the reformation and its aftermath on western, especially American, Christian culture. Here’s the first example: And here’s the second: I want to suggest that one example, unsurprisingly… Continue reading The sins of the fathers – case studies in how (and how not) to do church history

How do we hear God? General Revelation

Have a listen in to this week’s podcast If you want to go a bit deeper into the topics being covered at the moment then you may also want to download the e-book that this is based on There is also a study guide with discussion questions. Why not watch the videos/listen to the audio… Continue reading How do we hear God? General Revelation

Happy Reformation Day

Over 500 years ago today, Martin Luther nailed his theses –  a set of 95 propositions for debate to the door of the church in Wittenberg.  This was to spark the Protestant Reformation.  The reformation is about much more than that one act of protest though. At its heart was the rediscovery of what Scripture… Continue reading Happy Reformation Day

Calvin on marriage

I’ve been sharing Calvin’s thoughts on the relationships between slaves and masters, parents and children and, wives and husbands with a little bit of commentary. I’ve been doing this because despite presumptions that the concept of mutual submission is a modern egalitarian idea, we find that Calvin writing 500 years early understood Ephesians 5:21 to… Continue reading Calvin on marriage

Calvin on parents and children

Having had a look at what Calvin has to say about slaves and masters based on Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 5-6, I thought it would be worth having a look at his comments on the other two issues treated there, first on parents and children, then on wives and husbands. Calvin picks up on the… Continue reading Calvin on parents and children

Calvin on slavery

I thought it might be of interest to have a look at one of the Reformers and see how he handled the question of slavery in Scripture. So here’s some commentary on how John Calvin handles Ephesians 6.  Calvin is of particular interest because as I’ve argued previously, he seems to argue from Ephesians 5:21… Continue reading Calvin on slavery