jump to navigation

Blogging Through the Institutes 27 October, 2009

Posted by Benjamin P. Glaser in Blogging, Book Reviews, Books, Institutes of Biblical Law, R.J. Rushdoony.
Tags: ,
7 comments

No not the one everyone else in Christendom is blogging about this year but the Institutes of Biblical Law by R.J. Rushdoony.

I am going to start reading the work in earnest tomorrow morning and will give updates and discussion as I feel so provoked.

Cheers!

“The Christian View of Man” 22 July, 2009

Posted by Benjamin P. Glaser in 5-Point Calvinism, Adam, Book Reviews, Books, Covenant of Grace, Covenant of Works, Covenant Theology, Human Nature, J. Gresham Machen.
Tags: , , ,
3 comments

A quick word before I hit the hay tonight. I just finished Machen’s The Christian View of Man and outside of his waffling on 6/24 Creation he provides many great words defending and confirming the place of the Law of God in the lives of believers and unbelievers . In his chapter on the “Majesty of the Law of God” (#16) he lays out a number of arguments supporting the Law as being the only rule for all mankind, Christians and non-Christians alike. For example he says this on page 192:

What then is the remedy for the threatened disruption of society and for the rapidly progressing decay of liberty? There is only one remedy. It is the rediscovery of the Law of God.

I highly recommend picking this book up and reading it. It is a printing of several radio addresses Machen gave for laymen over local Philadelphia radio back in the mid-1930′s. There are many eerie predictions that Machen makes about the future of mankind (especially concerning the Atomic Bomb) that will really keep you fascinated. It is 245 pages and is a quick read.

Tale of Two Calvins 10 July, 2009

Posted by Benjamin P. Glaser in Anniversary, Barthianism, Biblical Hermenuetics, Books, Calvin 500, Controversy, Covenant Theology, Dr. C Matthew McMahon, Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin, Liberation Theology, Limited Atonement, Paul Helm, PC (USA), Penal Substitution, Puritanism, Reformed Dogmatics, Richard Muller, Roger Nicole, T.F. Torrance, Westminster Confession.
Tags: , , ,
1 comment so far
This is my obligatory Calvin 500th birthday post

The occasion of Calvin’s 500th Birthday has led to competing “celebrations” of Calvin’s life and work in Geneva over the last week. One led by WARC, WCC, and other “mainline” organizations that featured such speakers as  Clifton Kirkpatrick, former Stated Clerk of the PC(USA) (read some his thoughts on Calvin here ) and Setri Nyomi, Pastor in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana (He is quoted as saying Calvin would have been for furthering Marxist ideals in society). The other is being backed by NAPARC and other more “conservative” Reformed and Presbyterian Groups (see their website here). So much so that they were required to “share” venues in Calvin’s adopted town. One celebrates the Calvin read through the eyes of Modern Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy (read here: Liberation Theology and Karl Barth) and the other allows the John Calvin of 16th-Century Geneva speak for himself (no bias here).  It makes one wonder if both sides are celebrating the same man or each have developed, to paraphrase Albert Schweitzer’s quip about the 19th-Century “Quest for the Historical Jesus”, a Calvin that looks, breathes, and thinks like a reincarnated version of themselves.

Blessings,

As an example here is a Calvin article on a doctrine John Calvin vigorously defended that the Neo-Orthodox and Liberationists would have to and do deal gymnastically with:

On Limited Atonement:

Dr. Roger Nicole Deftly and Carefully Turns Away the Thoughts of R.T. Kendall on Calvin’s Thoughts on the Extent of the Atonement.

For those unaware R.T. Kendall wrote one of the oft quoted books concerning the “Calvin vs. the Calvinists” discussion. In other words it is Kendall’s these that specifically the Westminster Divines (and their Confession of Faith) “bastardized” John Calvin and made him out to believe things he never believed. Dr. Nicole here takes apart Kendell’s thesis. (Also be sure to check out Paul Helm’s two books (Find them here and here) and Richard Muller’s book on the same subject here) that also show Kendall to be quite incorrect in his thoughts concerning Calvin and Westminster)

Erasmus Was Not All Bad… 19 June, 2009

Posted by Benjamin P. Glaser in Books, Erasmus.
Tags: , ,
3 comments

He was right about one thing.

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes” – Erasmus

There are few things as important as equipping the mind.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.