City of Joy
The theme of joy in Scripture finds its focus in the joy of knowing God as our God and Saviour. As we seek his glory (as opposed to our own) we experience a joy that is utterly different from all…
Tag Grace
The Joy of God’s Salvation
In the American Declaration of Independence, ‘the pursuit of happiness’ was listed along with ‘Life’ and ‘Liberty’ as one of three ‘inalienable rights’ common to all people. It is a striking and curious inclusion. But, whatever lay behind its place…
Lucy Hutchinson – A Puritan Woman in Changing Times
Seventeenth-century England was a time of uncertainty, upheaval, and questions, a time of civil and religious wars, revolutions, plague and fire. Books and articles tell us of the people who made history: James VI of Scotland and I of England,…
Justification, the teaching office of Rome, and confessing Protestants
My first exposures to Protestant-Catholic conversation were more like shouting matches than dialogues. Speakers took a confrontational approach and charges flew on both sides. In my mind, they sound roughly like this Protestants charge, “You…” Preach salvation by…
“IF YOUR AFFECTION SHALL BE INCLINED” – SOME MARRIAGE PROPOSALS OF PROTESTANT REFORMERS
The Protestant Reformation created some new questions in love relationships. For example, what’s an appropriate way for a Protestant preacher to propose to a lady or, even worse, for a former monk to propose to a former nun, without aggravating…
Hyssop – A Passion Meditation
Hyssop isn’t much of a shrub. It grows clinging to walls and rocks around the Mediterranean. It is however important for its cleansing properties, physical and ritualistic. Under the old covenant, there were priests and sacrifices. But there was no…
Cyril and Methodius and the Struggle for Local Language Translations
Sixteenth-century Reformers were not the first to advocate the translation of the Bible and church liturgy in the language of the people. Nor were they the first to suffer opposition. Two 9th-century brothers from Thessalonica faced a similar struggle as…
To Become Our Friend
The Bible, even on an iPhone, is the apostolic and prophetic Word. God speaks to His people. He wants to touch our lives in meaningful ways. Why? We don’t know. However, having created speaking creatures, we read, the friendship of…
Jeanne d’Albret – a Determined Woman
Some of the most influential women in church history were princesses or queens, who had the ability to establish a state religion according to their convictions. At a time when cuius regio, eius religio (whose realm, his religion) was in…
Gregory of Nazianzus and Why Knowing the Nature of the Holy Spirit Really Matters
On the vigil of Easter in 379, a group composed mostly of monks and women rushed into a church, attacked the congregants, wounded the preacher, and killed another bishop. They were not terrorists. They were followers of the doctrines of…