Reformed Scholasticism

Most theological and moral failures can be traced back to a wrong view of God. We charge God with being unfair only if we think he must submit to our concept of fairness. We will contentedly live one way in public and another in private only if we believe him to be local and limited like us. We can...

The Sum of Saving Knowledge In 1650, a brilliant young theologian joined with a legendary pastor to write The Sum of Saving Knowledge , designed to summarize the Westminster Standards for the layperson. David Dickson and James Durham’s book was so popular that it was bound with almost every edition...

Francis Turretin and His Love for Biblical Truth Francis, the third of the seven children of Benedetto and Louise Turretin [1] , was born on October 17, 1623 and named after his paternal grandfather. Recognizing the boy’s exceptional intelligence, Benedetto encouraged his studies. But Benedetto...

Francis Turretin’s Italian Family The seventeenth-century Christian scholar Francis Turretin is well-known in Reformed circles. Little has been written about his life, probably under the assumption that the lives of scholars are generally uneventful. Since 2023 marks the 400 th anniversary of his...

Paul, in Romans 1:20, tells us that there is something which he refers to as God’s divine nature. That is, there is something unique to God and about God that cannot be said of any other being. There is a Godness to God, what philosophers and theologians would call God’s essence (or an even more...

Arminius and the Reformed Tradition Was Jacob Arminius a Reformed theologian who held to the basic tenets of Reformed soteriology? Today’s guest skillfully dissects his writings on predestination, union with Christ, justification, and more to effectively prove that Arminius’ views on salvation...

The Works of God and the Fall of Man Dutch theologian Petrus van Mastricht ministered in a time much like our own. Emerging scientific methods, the politics of the day, and other 16 th century issues were bringing into question accepted beliefs concerning the origins of the created order and sin...

Have you ever wondered about the topical and logical order of the Westminster Confession of Faith? Not all of it; just the ordo salutis . After chapter nine lays out man’s fourfold state chapter ten begins with what we might think of as a typical ordering of those blessings which accompany a Spirit...

Why Should You Be Acquainted with John Owen? Jonathan and James are pleased to be talking with Crawford Gribben today. He’s the professor of Early Modern British History at Queen’s University in Belfast. Gribben has written An Introduction to John Owen: A Christian Vision for Every Stage of Life ,...