The Ordo Salutis: Union with Christ
I indicated in the introduction to this series that there was an ordo docendi to the ordo salutis. My comment had the placement of union with Christ in mind. Where does it belong? Do we place it at the end…
Tag Christian Living
Jeanette Li and Her Faith in God’s Promises
Jeanette Li and Her Faith in God’s Promises Jeanette’s birth, in 1899, was a disappointment to her family. As most Chinese parents at that time, You Zhong and his wife Taai So wanted a son to carry on the family…
Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784) and her Sovereign God
Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784) and her Sovereign God Whatever moved the Wheatleys to buy the little slave that had just arrived from Africa, it was not her physical strength. Small, frightened and skinny, she looked too frail to…
“Would You But Permit Me to Cast Myself at Your Feet?” – Marriage Proposal of 18th-Century Ministers
“Would You But Permit Me to Cast Myself at Your Feet?” – Marriage Proposal of 18th-Century Ministers This is a sequel to an article I wrote a few years ago about some marriage proposals by 16th-century Protestant Reformers.[1] Most of…
The spiritual ontology of the Church
There is a certain view of church that regards it (especially as expressed in the local congregation) as a ‘voluntary association’. The idea has been notably prevalent among Christians in the United States, but has been embraced more widely in…
My Top Five Books of 2019: the Unthank Edition
Roald Dahl provided for my wife and I, when we first got married, a proper philosophy of home with his memorable instruction, “Please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away. And in its place you…
Why the Virgin Born Son?
Have you ever wondered why Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14? Perhaps the ready answer is that the quote substantiates the virgin conception and birth of Christ, which is true enough. However, the text raises a number of questions. For instance,…
The Ten Commandments: The Tenth
In Anthony and Cleopatra (3:2) Shakespeare described it as the “green sickeness”. In Othello, he called it the “green eyed monster”. Immanuel Kant described it thus: “inherent in the nature of man, and only its manifestation makes of it an…
Hilary of Poitiers and the Wonder of the Triune God
Hilary of Poitiers and the Wonder of the Triune God “He Who upholds the universe, within Whom and through Whom are all things, was brought forth by common childbirth; He at Whose voice Archangels and Angels tremble, and heaven…
The Ten Commandments: The Ninth
At face value, the 9th commandment could be read as merely a prohibition against committing perjury or lying under oath. However, this commandment encompasses so much more. According to both the Westminster Shorter and the Baptist catechisms, “The ninth commandment…