Matthew 3:11: John said, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. When John baptizes Jesus, the Spirit comes down as a dove and rests on Jesus. . . . . Continue Reading »
There has been a huge response to my post on “Too catholic to be Catholic” earlier this week, and I can’t hope to respond to everything. Given what I’ve seen of some of the responses, though, it will be helpful for me to clarify and elaborate briefly the biblical framework I . . . . Continue Reading »
In a post last week, I criticized some aspects of Nevin’s and Calvin’s sacramental theology. Jonathan Bonomo, author of Incarnation and Sacrament: The Eucharistic Controversy Between Charles Hodge and John Williamson Nevin , responded by arguing that Nevin and Calvin would both agree . . . . Continue Reading »
My friends tell me that my name has been invoked in various web skirmishes concerning Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism, sometimes by people, including friends, who claim that I nurtured them along in their departure from the Protestant world. My friends also hinted that it would be good . . . . Continue Reading »
Adam and Eve seize the forbidden fruit before it’s time. When they cover themselves, they again jump the gun - using leaves to hide their shameful nakedness. They aren’t ready for that either, and the Lord gives them skins of a sacrificed animal to cover. From that time until the Last . . . . Continue Reading »
Summarizing the 16th-century Reformed formulations of Eucharistic theology, John Williamson Nevin ( The Mystical Presence: And the Doctrine of the Reformed Church on the Lord’s Supper (Mercersburg Theology Study) , p. 51) says: “The sacrament is made to carry with it an objective force . . . . Continue Reading »
One of the most heartening developments in the Reformed world in the past two decades is the renewal of interest in the Mercersberg movement. And one of the most heartening developments within that development is Wipf & Stock’s plan to publish a multi-volume collection of Mercersberg . . . . Continue Reading »
Christianity brought the “end of sacrifice,” the replacement of the bloody animal sacrifices of paganism and Judaism with the sacrificial feast of the Eucharist. But not quite the end, or at least not quite everywhere. In a 1903 article, Fred Conybeare explored the “survival of . . . . Continue Reading »
Genesis 2:9; 3:6: Out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food . . . . So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. The word . . . . Continue Reading »
Genesis 49:12: He washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. As Pastor Sumpter has emphasized, we live in a world of deception, seduction, and lies, of hype and hypocrisy. Men have been liars since Adam’s . . . . Continue Reading »
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