temptation

Transformed Memories

Nick Muyres
Mar 10, 2022
Anecdotally at least, it seems that bad memories of our past sins afflict Christians more than many other issues. It’s this difficulty that accounts for a large portion of the circumstances that bring Christians and non-christians to the aid of counselors, and it's really no wonder why: bad...

Martin Luther and Stinkering at Satan

Grant Van Leuven
Dec 1, 2021
Legend has it that the great Reformer Martin Luther once threw an ink well at the Devil who had been incessantly accusing him. [1] Whether or not this is true, Luther certainly had remarkable fits and fights with the ancient foe who seeks to work us woe. And often, this involved stinkering at Satan...

Theodore Sedgwick Wright – A Voice for the Slaves

Simonetta Carr
Jul 7, 2020
Theodore Sedgwick Wright – A Voice for the Slaves Theodore Sedgwick Wright, the first African American graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, returned to his Alma Mater in 1836 to attend the annual commencement ceremony. He didn’t know, as he entered the hall, what a measure of self-control he...

Keeping Desire and Temptation in Their Place

Richard D. Phillips
Aug 23, 2019
In the history of theological debate, one of the most important steps towards doctrinal clarity involves getting the terminology right. The ancient church sorted through the Trinitarian debate by clarifying the distinction between "essence" and "person." Likewise, the Reformation haggled over the...

Tempted From Without, Yet Without Sin

Daniel Schrock
Dec 28, 2018
"...real temptation could not come to Jesus from within but only from without..." - Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 3:315 Back in 2015 Sam Alberry and Denny Burke sat down for a Q & A Session at Boyce College engaging issues of ministry to the LGBT community. It is a very pastorally...

Tempted From Without, Yet Without Sin

Daniel Schrock
Dec 28, 2018
"...real temptation could not come to Jesus from within but only from without..." - Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 3:315 Back in 2015 Sam Alberry and Denny Burke sat down for a Q & A Session at Boyce College engaging issues of ministry to the LGBT community. It is a very pastorally...

Of Fire Extinguishers and Temptation

Donny Friederichsen
Dec 14, 2018
In the state of New Jersey, in order for a certificate of occupancy to be issued, a fire extinguisher is required to be placed within 10 feet of the kitchen in every single or two family dwelling. We have one mounted on the wall just around the corner from our stove and oven. I know where it is. I...

Being Pence-ive about Dinner with the Ladies

Adam Parker
Apr 1, 2017
Adultery among any people group is a serious and dreadful act in this fallen world. In fact, in an increasingly fatherless culture where divorce is becoming more and more the rule rather than the exception, one would argue that this is empirically verifiable. When a pastor, who is supposed to be...

"The Labyrinth of Temptation": Calvin on Genesis 22

Aaron Denlinger
Jul 6, 2016
"This chapter contains a most memorable narrative." Thus Calvin introduces his readers to Gen. 22, that text which records God's instruction to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, the long-awaited fulfillment of God's promise and source of Abraham's profound joy. Calvin's subsequent comments on...

The Adversary and the Intercessor

Caleb Cangelosi
Jun 7, 2016
I love the hymn "Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners" - but one line makes me uncomfortable every time I sing it: "Jesus! What a strength in weakness! Let me hide myself in him; tempted, tried, and sometimes failing , he, my strength, my vict'ry wins." Sometimes failing? How about many times...often...