Posts by Ben Franks

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Preaching the Person and Work of Christ

Ben Franks
Mar 9, 2022
William Perkins was a prolific writer and a monumental thinker within the Puritan movement. Yet Perkins believed that the heart of his ministry was preaching “one Christ, by Christ, to the praise of Christ.” We saw the principle behind this in our last post : Our preaching must be full of Christ...

Perkins’ Principles for Preaching Christ

Ben Franks
Feb 14, 2022
“The heart of the matter is this: Preach one Christ, by Christ, to the praise of Christ.” [1] These words were written by the great Puritan William Perkins (1558-1602) as his summary of the task of preaching. Perkins has been called the “principal architect of the Puritan movement.” [2] Although he...

The Pure Pursuit

Ben Franks
Oct 6, 2021
As you think about the items that fill your to-do list, where does “pursue purity” fall in your rank of priorities? I suspect that while we all desire to pursue purity, many of us probably aren’t sure exactly what that should look like! It’s a priority in principle, but often not in practice. How...

Does the Bible Excuse Abuse?

Ben Franks
Jun 16, 2021
In recent years, painful examples of abuse have come to light both in our culture at large and in the church in particular. Perhaps just as troubling as the abuse itself has been the way that those in power – including those with ecclesiastical power – have at times responded to that abuse...

Passing Over Former Sins?

Ben Franks
Mar 19, 2021
Peter famously observed that in the writings of the apostle Paul, “There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:16). We don’t know which passages Peter might have had in mind (...

A Distinct Church

Ben Franks
Dec 21, 2020
Note: To read the previous entry in this series, click here. Christianity did not emerge in a vacuum. It was established in the face of opposition on all sides. [1] The religions of the Roman world stood in stark contrast to the doctrine and life of the early Christians. Indeed, Christianity...

A Growing Church

Ben Franks
Nov 20, 2020
The evangelization of the Roman Empire is one of the remarkable chapters in the history of the church. [1] Behind the story of Christianity’s transformation from an overlooked and misunderstood sect to the official religion of the Empire stands an important question: why did Christianity gain such...

Principles for Flourishing

Ben Franks
Oct 22, 2020
As with so many aspects of the Christian life, the question of contraception requires wisdom. We've already considered different views of contraception , and argued that contraception is only permissible when biblical principles of human flourishing are applied within the context of the biblical...

A Paradigm for Procreation

Ben Franks
Oct 5, 2020
A few weeks ago, we briefly sketched different views of contraception within Roman Catholic and Protestant circles. We left off with the view that the Christian use of contraception is only permissible when biblical principles of human flourishing are applied within the context of the biblical...

Three(ish) Views of Contraception

Ben Franks
Sep 17, 2020
Genesis 1:28 records God’s first command to the first human couple, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”...

Responding to Craig’s Proposals

Ben Franks
Sep 5, 2020
Having responded to Craig’s critique , it remains to respond to his two-fold proposal, which involves 1) rejecting eternal generation, and 2) embracing social trinitarianism. Each of these will be considered in turn. Responding to Craig’s First Proposal: Rejecting Eternal Generation Craig is clear...

Responding to Craig's Critique

Ben Franks
Aug 31, 2020
As we saw last time , William Lane Craig argues against the eternal begotteness of the Son and proposes an alternative understanding of the Trinity. We will respond to Craig's proposal in another post; today, we will assess Craig's critique. Craig considers the doctrine of eternal generation a...

Is the Son Eternally Begotten?

Ben Franks
Aug 18, 2020
The second sentence of the Nicene Creed famously confesses belief... ...in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things...

Scripture and the Eastern Orthodox

Ben Franks
Jun 24, 2020
The Core Disagreement As we saw in our last post, there are some important areas of disagreement between the Eastern Orthodox and the Reformed. The Orthodox denial of the perspicuity of Scripture leads them to also deny the sufficiency of Scripture. The Bible cannot be understood without the...

As Far as East from West

Ben Franks
Jun 17, 2020
For centuries, Roman Catholics and Protestants have sparred over their many differences. Every aspect of their theologies have been carefully examined, contrasted, and debated by church leaders and theologians on both sides of the Tiber. However, it has been far less common for Western theologians...