Reformed, confessional theologians often point out that discipline is one of three signs of a true church.[1] Highlighting this distinguishing mark, my seminary professor once rhetorically asked our class, “How many true churches are out there?” The Westminster Confession of…
Charles Spurgeon’s famous quip goes something like this, “I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines, that are called by nickname Calvinism, but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus.” We…
Editor’s Note: This is the final post in a four-part series on the life and relevance of Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661). Find previous entries here. Rutherford as a Preacher There is no getting around the fact that Rutherford was an exceptional…
Editor’s Note: This is the third post in a four-part series on the life and relevance of Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661). Find previous entries here. A Ministry of Sacrifice and Suffering Being called to the small, obscure parish of Anwoth did…
Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a four-part series on the life and relevance of Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661). Read part one here. Rutherford’s Conversion Rutherford received the M.A. degree in 1621 from Edinburgh and, two years later, was…
If you have heard the name of Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661) at all, you have probably heard it in connection with the Westminster Assembly or one of his two best known works, the Letters of Samuel Rutherford or Lex, Rex. You…
We move on from discussing the Puritan view of God to consider the Trinity, the biblical doctrine of one God in three persons. Related to the one God (Q&A 8), the Larger Catechism (Q&A 9), affirms: “There be three persons…
That holiness of life which the Christian has from God and before God and for God is not sourced nor drawn from even the best doctrinal formulations – as essential as they are to our faith. Nor is holiness of…
Back in November 2017 I did a review of Wallace Marshall’s Puritanism and Natural Theology (Pickwick, 2016) in which he argued for a robust natural theology in the Puritans and one foundational to their doctrine of supernatural theology. Marshall identifies…
We often pray the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer after sinning. We should learn to pray the sixth petition before similarly sinning again, remembering, ye have not because ye ask not (James 4:2). The essence of the sixth petition,…
