Today is Archbishop Ussher's birthday. Born on this day in 1581, he rose to become the archbishop of Armagh and author of The Annals of the World in which he famously dated the dawn of creation on the night preceding October 23, 4004 BC. As I write, I have deluxe edition of this book (together with...

Trueman agreeing with Phillips. It must be Christmas. On the resurrection, I noted some time ago the following from J. I. Packer's response to Anthony Flew: The Easter event, so they affirm, demonstrated Jesus’ deity; validated his teaching, attested the completion of his work of atonement for sin...

We sent Adam Parker to the movies to see the controversial film, The Golden Compass to see what all the fuss was about. His review is posted here .

More than a quarter of adults in Britain do not know where Jesus was born. And between the ages of 18-24 the percentage rose to 38%. The percentage who could not identify John the Baptist as Jesus’ cousin rose to 52%. When asked where did Mary and Joseph go after the birth to flee Herod's pogrom,...

A disagreement has broken out on whether or not Tom Schreiner is correct when he suggests (in his forthcoming book, New Testament Theology ) that the most basic theme of the New Testament is, "God magnifying himself through Jesus Christ by means of the Holy Spirit." Justin Taylor drew attention to...

I've been away in Canada and out of contact for a few days, but just look at what I see on my return! This article will cause you to seriously wonder whether the Alliance's President is theologically sound ! Read to the end of the article!

At the weekend (I was speaking in Oklahoma for the Alliance) a little bird sang of Carl Trueman trashing the Welsh "in a sermon." This cannot possibly be true and I mention it here only to dispel the rumor! But Trueman was speaking on Luther and the Reformation in Georgia this past weekend. The...

Iain Murray, writes in the August-September issue of The Banner of Truth magazine, a commemorative edition marking the anniversary of the death of John Newton in 1807, on Newton's pastoral skills: "'Have you no friend in Cornwall or the north of Scotland you could visit?' he might ask such a person...

The Faith Once Delivered Ed. Anthony T. Selvaggio , Essays in Honor of Dr. Wayne R. Spear (P&R, 2007). What a delightful read this book is proving to be. A collection of essays on the theology of the Westminster Confession written by dear friends in honor a similarly dear friend. The writers...

Carl, the actor you have never heard of (right!), is Christian Bale (of Batman Begins fame) -- who,as I'm sure you know, is WELSH! Born in Pembrokeshire!

The seminary Fall semester has started again. Where did the summer go? And straight off the bat, I'm teaching Systematics 1, suggesting that Berkhoff is a must-purchase volume (better as a dictionary than a straight read and analysis), Hodge is, well, Hodge (Scottish Common Sense realism and all),...

Two new publications caught my eye this week, and there could hardly be a greater contrast. One comes from Ireland in the seventeenth century: The Body of Divinity: Being the Sum and Substance of the Christian Religion by Archbishop James Ussher.

Paul Helm has posted his analysis of N. T. Wright's ordo salutis on his blog . His conclusion? "With the help of the distinctions between temporal and logical order, and events and states, we are able to see that Wright's view of the ordo salutis follows a recurring pattern in Protestantism: the...

My attention has been drawn to a DVD of Bach's Mass in B Minor sponsored by Soli Deo Gloria ( www.SDGmusic.org ). The DVD is produced by Virgin Classics and is a performance of Bach's Mass by the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris conducted by John Nelson. It is part of a forthcoming trilogy which will...

It's been a while since I have blogged. Been on the conference circuit since the end of the semester. I see the Shepherd's Scrapbook continues to blog on my Calvin contribution at the Banner Conference, here . I feel the need to explain (for future historiographers) that the photographs were taken...

I've been slow to respond to Phil's blog about being at Eschenbach's performance of Mahler's Second Symphony, "The Resurrection." Mainly, I have to confess, just sheer envy! I daren't begin my tragic tale of life in Mississippi! But he raises some interesting points about listening to music...

Just published! Click on the " Home " page and check it out.

Is there anyone in Grand Rapids this weekend who can give us an update on the PCRT Conference? Hello? Anybody there?

Spring Harvest, the largest evangelical conference in the UK, has severed its longstanding relationship with UCCF (which owns the British side of InterVarsity Press). The issue appears to be that of penal substitution and the position of Steve Chalke (who infamously referred to penal substitution...

Readers may wish to follow this link to read a tribute to Meredith Kline written by Lee Irons. [ Linked by permission ]

Phil Ryken's Good Friday message is now available to read, here .

I may have mentioned this book before in these columns but there's no harm in repeating my enthusiasm for this volume by Thabiti Anyabwile called The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African-American Pastors (Crossway). It is a sell your shirt and buy volume, and very...

Don't miss R.C. Sproul's review of Evil and the Justice of God in this issue.