PAST ARTICLES
Discipleship
The Greatest Love Story Ever Lived
As members of the church, we are part of the Body of Christ––the Bride of Christ––and that defines who we are. We are not autonomous beings. We are destined to be fully united in a face-to-face one-flesh union with the living God and dwell with him forever.
Church and Culture
Where Has All the Romance Gone? And Where It Can Still Be Found
Many of us have made an idol of romance and marriage between a man and a woman, and this idolatry is not just in society as a whole. It is in our congregations and denominations, too. Our view of marriage tends to be a “non-view,” an inability to see what romance and marriage is, or…
Church and Culture
Provisional Advice on the New Constitutional Amendments
The Constitution of the PCUSA changed again this year. Most changes each year hardly register with most Presbyterians; this is true of the majority of changes again this year. Some changes, some years, have been quite controversial and even eventually reversed; that may happen with a change or two this year.
Theology
Law and Liturgy The Place of the Ten Commandments in Reformed Worship
The Law, by which we understand here the Ten Commandments, is indispensable to Reformed worship. For God’s covenant people, it constitutes the beginning and foundation of worship. We worship God because he has commanded us to worship him.
Confessing the Faith
Freedom for the Gospel, Freedom from Worldly Ideologies: The Barmen Declaration Today
Forty years ago, in 1984‒85, I had the remarkable experience of spending a year at a Protestant seminary in East Berlin. Those were still the days of communism. The regime was no longer sending Christians to prison camps, but it had pushed them to the margins of society, hoping that someday the church would just…
Theology
Living East of Eden – Pastoral Reflections on How Theology Matters
“The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the church.” We heard this theme––the theme of this conference–– brilliantly proclaimed last night in worship. And we heard the text of Matthew 16 and the supremely important question that Jesus asks of his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”
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The Institute for Theological Education
The Institute for Theological Education seeks to provide theological instruction that is biblical and from the mainstream of the Reformed tradition. Its primary purpose is to equip the next generation of ministers for Presbyterian and other Christian congregations.
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Pastoral Ministry and Scholarship
Why do pastors need to be trained as scholars, and how can their theological studies be organized so that their training as scholars will support their pastoral ministry? 1. Why
Learning to Speak Thoughtfully of Jesus: Calvin’s Way With Heretics
Most Christians have a basic understanding of the issues that led to the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Yet we all tend to downplay the degree of theological uncertainty
What, Who, Where, How: Reformed Perspectives on Baptism
Introduction Between and even within today’s congregations and denominations, almost every aspect of baptism seems to be a topic of debate. Should we baptize babies as well as adults? Should
Luther, Calvin, and the Recovery of Congregational Singing. Is the Reformers’ Legacy at Risk?
From the earliest days of the church, Christians who gathered for corporate worship spent at least some of their time together singing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16). However,
The Grace of Theological Friendships: Augustine
Though he is beloved by many for his very personal and severely introspective autobiography––the Confessions ––this project was addressed to God alone. And though it introduces a new literary form of