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  • 1 Corinthians 7:14

    How should we understand the holiness of the unbelieving spouse and children in 7:12-16? This is a complex issue on which good Christians can and will continue to disagree. Some commentators assume that the holiness in the two cases has to be precisely analogous. On this reading, the holiness in view is probably best construed Read more

  • Infant Baptism and Church History: Did the Doctrine of Covenant Children Vanish Without a Trace? What Do We Conclude from the “Missing Controversy”?

    Baptists have to argue children stopped being members of the covenant sometime in the first century with no controversy, no discussion, no explicit statement from Jesus or an apostle, and no church council. If Baptists were right, the Jerusalem Council should have been about the exclusion of infants, not (merely) the inclusion of Gentiles. Children Read more

  • Notes on 1 Samuel 25: Pissing Against the Wall

    In 1 Samuel 25, David and his men have acted as a “wall” of protection (v. 16) for Nabal’s servants, guarding Nabal’s men and numerous animals from attack by roving marauders (probably raiding Philistines).  Soon after, when Nabal is having his great sheep-shearing feast, David sends men to ask him for provisions. David was not Read more

  • Notes on Political Theology

    Petrus Van Mastricht’s systematic theology text (“Theoretical-Practical Theology”) takes up the office of the civil magistrate in his section on Christology, under the heading “The Mediator as King.” In other words, political theology is treated as a subdivision of Christology. The magistrate represents Christ and is to rule in submission to Christ.  He then proceeds Read more

  • Postmillennialism and Missions

    On June 23rd 1833, Princeton Seminary graduate James Eckard was about to set sail for Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He took with him a letter written by ten year old Archibald Alexander Hodge and his sister Mary Elizabeth. The letter was addressed to the “heathen.” It said: Dear heathen, The Lord Jesus Christ has promised that Read more

  • Notes on the Necessity of Christian Education

    An X post on education from 9/9/24: What is (shockingly?) missing from this article is any acknowledgement of what God has actually commanded parents to do. The most obvious thing is completely ignored. It’s not as if God’s Word is silent in this area, leaving us to our devices when it comes to deciding how Read more