I had the very great pleasure last night of debating the nature of the satisfied life from the perspective of Augustine with a local atheist who did so from the perspective of Bertrand Russell. I had not done a debate since I was sixteen (when I had the invidious task of arguing for the absurd...

Logos Publications have started a pre-publication offer to test interest in a new translation of John Owen's Latin works. The Theologoumena Pantodapa is already available in English from another publisher but the translation is so flawed as to be worthless. Let us hope Logos find a translator with...

The apparent suicide of the London nurse who was on the receiving end of the joke played by two Australian DJs last week is deeply sad. For any human being to consider that life is no longer worth the living is hard for me to understand. For that person to be the mother of two children defies...

Here are three more books which might make fine gifts for Christmas: Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition: On the Work of Christ and the Order of Salvation . For the serious reader. Muller's scholarly work is aimed at setting the Reformed theological developments of the sixteenth...

For many years I was neither a friendly admirer nor frequent reader of the nineteenth century Southern Presbyterians and, for the record, still cannot really take Dabney seriously (sorry Sean). But, as Stan Laurel declared to Oliver Hardy in the closing scene of Way Out West , I'm from the South...

It has been enjoyable to sit on the sidelines this week and watch the theological world go by. The battle between the Pope of Ealing, Ol' Loony Toons and the Man with Steel Underpants is proving entertaining; and the latter has responded over at the Meet the Morbidly Introspective Legalists blog...

When students ask me what they need to do to become good church historians, I always answer -- Read history, any history, as long as it is well-written. So here are five recommendations of new books in 2012 which some might want to think about asking for as presents: Best Sunday afternoon read in...

.... and when it comes, it apparently brings great irony. The shadowy figure known to the Reformed Underground simply as 'The Librarian' has brought to my attention the fact that the email advertising this year's Banner of Truth's "Christmas specials" includes the biography of that great fan of all...

In the OPC journal Ordained Servant, OPC minister Greg Reynolds has a very thought-provoking article on the importance of actual, physical presence in ministry and beyond which you can find here . In the meantime I am recovering from the twin trauma of seeing Rick Phillips in the mandatory PCA...

Since the Beautiful People managed to get Rodney Trotter fired last year (if anyone has seen him, let me know -- his mother is very worried), it now falls to me to be the pessimistic prophetic voice of the Average-to-Ugly People. I just came across this article: a salutary sartorial warning to all...

As a small footnote to Jeremy's post, it should also be noted that Trevin Wax's claim regarding the Reformers is rather overstated: Though the Reformers sought to emphasize the assurance we can have because of God's grace in election and salvation, their descendants sometimes undercut the beauty of...

Are you tired of all those Christian marriage, family and parenting guides which have chapters with titles like 'My Teenage Son Stubbed his Toe! Wisdom from a Christian Parent's Testimony' and which contain criminally bad writing such as 'Billy and Sarah sat on the sofa. Though they were only...

The reaction of the British media to the result in the 'women bishops vote' (I hesitate to call it 'bishopsgate' for fear of offending William Taylor) is as predictable as the vote itself was surprising. The essence of most of the commentary I have read is: the church has voted for oppression of...

A very informative video about the new critical edition of the Minutes of the Westminster Assembly has been posted by Emily Van Dixhoorn here . So much more useful than a mere landmark in scholarship, it seems. And many congratulations to Chad Van Dixhoorn for a remarkable achievement which will...

I was recently provided with a review copy of Logos 5. My technical computer skills are severely limited: I was, I believe, the last person at my school to study Latin and the last person not to use a computer. I have been a Logos user for some years, however, since I discovered Luther's works on...

Given the ethical confusion that afflicts the modern world and, indeed, the church, I have been asked to start an occasional series on ethics as communicated through narrative. In light of recent events, we start with courtship and marriage and hope that this brief playlet will clarify the...

A number of Puritan-related titles have been published recently. Top of the list (and previously flagged by Gabe) is A Puritan Theology by Joel R. Beeke and Mark Jones. A cross between a Puritan book of sentences (somewhat analogous to Heppe's Reformed Dogmatics and Schmid's Doctrinal Theology of...

The recent events surrounding Dinesh D'Souza are surely a clarion call for all of us to examine ourselves: let him who thinks he stands, etc. etc. Yet, while the questions hanging over the matter regarding his marriage are worrying, I confess that I find equally disturbing the idea that there are...

The adjective 'confessional' has undergone something of a renaissance over recent years with the advent of the concept of the 'confessional evangelical' gaining some popularity. This particular conjunction of terms seems to approximate to the meaning of 'conservative evangelical' of previous...

I see that Logos have set up a P T Forsyth collection. It is subject to 'community pricing' here . As a one-finger typist of limited 'online community' sociability, I do not have the foggiest idea what 'community' or 'pricing' means in that context but it sounds impressive. Many of the books are,...

Looking back on the creepy cults of the 70s and the self-indulgent excesses of the televangelists of the 80s can be a little like watching an episode of some ghastly 'reality TV show': as the freaks and frauds parade on the television screen, that subtle sentiment of "I thank thee Lord that I am...

I have been persuaded today by concerned parties to enter the lists on the issue of how Luther has been co-opted for the cause of a kind of neo-antinomianism/Sonship theology by some figures in the YRR movement who are using his idioms of law/gospel dialectic and theology of the cross for their own...

One of the little noted advantages of a confessional denomination is the ability to produce reports on urgent contemporary topics. Because such churches enjoy a high degree of unanimity on extensive doctrinal positions, they are free to address such topics not in the spirit of 'what can we say...

The news that Brian McLaren has taken part in the same-sex commitment ceremony of his son has already received comment in the evangelical world. Denny Burk's piece is particularly helpful. It is a reminder that familial ties and relations are powerful and impact the way we think and act. While many...