TPC Pastor's Page

Tag: theology

  • FV Summarized

    FV Summarized

    —

    by

    Pastor Rich Lusk
    in

    An X post from 8/8/24: Since discussions of the so-called Federal Vision are heating back up, I figured I’d give a quick, short summary of the key emphases of FV: 1. Creation is gift. This means there is no nature/grace dualism in the Bible and no merit theology in the Bible. Everything is grace. Grace…

  • Nature, Natural Law, and Pushing Back Against the Sexual Revoluton: Some Notes and Bibliography

    —

    by

    Pastor Rich Lusk
    in

    In the aftermath of Obergefell, I wrote a paper that deals at least in a cursory way with nature, natural law, and sexual perversion. I also explore why appeals to nature are sometimes effective and sometimes not. See pages 2-16 of this essay:http://trinity-pres.net/essays/obergefellandamericaswarongod.pdf About the same time, I developed one of the footnotes from that essay into a paper of its…

  • Notes on Political Theology

    —

    by

    Pastor Rich Lusk
    in

    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…

  • Theonomy and Christian Nationalism

    —

    by

    Pastor Rich Lusk
    in

    In so many ways, the current discussions over Christian nationalism parallel discussions of Theonomy/Christian Reconstruction a generation ago. The Recons were also accused of fostering nominalism, seeking salvation in politics, etc. And they gave answers very similar to Joseph’s here (which I agree with). There is a massive blind spot in many expressions of Reformed…

  • The Reformed Tradition and the Civil Magistrate

    —

    by

    Pastor Rich Lusk
    in

    Presbyterian PSA: The Westminster Confession of Faith (revised 1788) teaches that the civil magistrate has the duty to “maintain piety, justice, and peace” in society. Obviously, the definition of these terms is to be derived from Scripture. The office of civil magistrate exists under God, “the Supreme Lord and King of all the world,” and…

  • Patriarchy and the Calvinist Tradition

    —

    by

    Pastor Rich Lusk
    in

    Calvinists have obviously always been patriarchal, but it should also be noted Geneva in Calvin’s day was one of the first places in the world to make domestic violence a crime. Wife-beating or any other form of domestic violence was dealt with swiftly in Calvin’s Geneva. Numerous other pastors, ethicists, and theologians in the Calvinist…

  • Calvinism: Not Just a Pretty TULIP

    —

    by

    Pastor Rich Lusk
    in

    This article was published at The American Reformer. “Calvin had inspired in his disciples that energy of piety which abhors all halfway measures, which boldly endeavors to make all affairs of life subject to Christ, the Head and Lord.” – Augustus Lang Calvinism used to be a cultural force. In fact, Calvinists have a long…