The Theological Logic of Worship
There once was a time – within living memory for many of us – when you could go to a place of worship and have a reasonable sense of what to expect during a service and not be taken aback…
Tag Church History
Church Discipline (1)
Throughout the length of our study we have underlined the narrative nature of the articles; thus the exposition on church discipline in articles 32-36 follows logically from the previous articles on the nature of the church, the gospel ministry, and…
Incomprehensible but Knowable: A Lisping God
The writings of French reformer, theologian, and pastor John Calvin are often remembered by the Latin phrase “brevitas et claritas”. Calvin wrote to be understood, and avoided using more words than would be helpful. To get to the point then,…
Brilliana Harley – Wife, Mother, and Fighter
In March 1643, Lady Brilliana Harley received a formal demand to surrender her castle to the royalists. Her husband, Sir Robert Harley, was in London. He had been there since the start of the civil war, leaving her to…
The 39: Church Discipline (2)
Article 33 on excommunication is an excellent example of the second principle we have underlined throughout our study in how the Anglican confession is the sum of the historical formularies. XXXIII — OF EXCOMMUNICATE PERSONS, HOW THEY ARE TO BE…
Proto-Puritan William Tyndale (3)
His Translation Work In my last post, we looked at William Tyndale’s life and work in “exile” in Europe to the time of his betrayal and death. As we noted earlier, he went there to carry on his translation work,…
Sarah Miller and Her Secret Turmoil
When Samuel Miller married Sarah Sergeant, he didn’t know the extent of her pain. Emotional anguish and religious skepticism were not a proper topic of discussion. At least, that’s what her mother had taught her. She had told her…
Puritan Prayer for World Mission (1)
Reformed, experiential Christianity birthed the pioneer missionary efforts of men such as John Eliot (1604–1690), David Brainerd (1718–1747),William Carey (1761–1834),Adoniram Judson(1788–1850), and John G. Paton (1824–1907). This mission effort was small and struggling until it exploded into the modern missionary movement…
Leiden Synopsis and the Divine Attributes (2)
Communicable and Incommunicable Attributes and Divine Affections Why does it seem like no two lists of the divine attributes are identical? The previous post showed that part of the reason for this is that God is an incomprehensible and simple…
The 39: The Sacraments (7)
The exposition on the sacraments draws to a close as the redeeming work of Christ on the cross and its meaning in the sign of the Lord’s Supper are joined, further underlining our argument that the articles must be read…