Paul Wells - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
Billy Kristanto - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
There Have Been Many Discussions About The Nature Of The Church—what Makes A Church A Church. Drawing From Reformational Insights, This Article Engages With This Question From A Soteriological Perspective. The Reformed Soteriological Story Begins With Creation. Creation Was, However, Disturbed By The Fall. God Offers The Story Of Redemption For The Whole Creation. Finally, God’s Work Of Redemption Culminates In The Beatific Vision Of His Glory, Which Can Already Be Beheld And Tasted Here And Now
A. CRAIG TROXEL - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
The Fundamental Question In Ecclesiology Is That Of The Relationship Between The Church And The Kingdom Of God. The Answers—historical And Theological—have Wavered Between Those Who Want To Keep The Two Isolated And Those Who Want To Make The Two Identical. This Article Proposes A Christological Connection Between Church And Kingdom Via Two Texts (Eph 1:20–23 And 1 Cor 15:22–25) That Share Similar Phrasing And Agendas.
STEVEN M. GRANT - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
Biblical elders are spiritually mature disciples of Jesus who exercise authority over a congregation of God’s people in the manner of shepherds who exemplify the chief shepherd, Jesus Christ. The leadership of elders, as described in Scripture, is essential to the life of the church. Teaching and ruling elders are to be carefully selected based on their discipleship. Rather than providing a list of duties, the Bible describes the character of elders because who they are will determine what the
PHILIP TACHIN - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
Humanity has always had to deal with wars and violence, which throw millions of people into crisis. While this is a critical problem for Christian and non-Christian intervention agencies due to the need to expend resources and the risks associated with such expenditures, it also creates an opportunity for the gospel. The Reformed tradition has a history of charity ministry. However, as dangerous crises are multiplying, with security implications for interventions and the involvement of a huge..
W. GORDON CAMPBELL - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
“Geneva Bible” is an umbrella-term for two New Testaments and two Bibles: an inaugural New Testament (1557), followed by a study Bible (1560), provided vernacular Scripture in English for believers under duress in Britain; then each was later refined, in 1576 and 1599 respectively.1 The first translators and publishers were English-speaking Reformed refugees from persecution under Mary Tudor, who brought their expertise and industry to a flowering of international biblical scholarship in 1550s
LEONARDO DE CHIRICO - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
In Roman Catholic History, Popes Have Been Conservative Or Progressive. Pope Francis’s Pontificate Is Different. He Does Not Fit The Traditional “right” And “left” Categories, Although His Teaching And Actions Have Often Been Labeled As Disruptive. He Has Been Called “radical,” “heretical,” And Even “Protestant.” Ten Years After The Beginning Of His Pontificate, This Article Explores Some Of The Significant Influences On His Formation And Assesses Some Critiques He Has Received Within Roman...
RACHEL CIANO - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
The Reformed tradition has struggled to engage sufficiently with the history and theology of Mary, the mother of Jesus, mainly consigning her to the Roman Catholic tradition. Reformed scholarship must redeem Mary’s contribution to the church by retrieving her biblical and historical narrative to address this deficit. Comparing the Mary of the historical record of the New Testament with the portrayal of her that developed into an inflated Marian vision in subsequent centuries reveals marked...
PAUL WELLS - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
Oliver Quick was in his day an important Anglican thinker. He was interested in pinpointing where the fundamental systemic distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism lay. He located the difference in Catholicism’s emphasis on the religious act and its consequences and Protestantism’s emphasis on the word and its interpretation. Quick’s analysis proposes an approach to the various features of the two.
RICHARD L. PRATT - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
The Relationship Between The Church And The Kingdom Is Hardly A New Topic In Reformed Theology. One Might Think That By Now Every Imaginable Facet Of This Matter Would Be Settled. However, Discussions In Various Parts Of The World Show How Easily Conversations Degenerate Into Polemics That Stifle The Sacred Responsibility “to Maintain The Unity Of The Spirit In The Bond Of Peace” (Eph 4:3). Perhaps Vigorous Polemics Have Served Some Positive Ends In The Past. However, At This Time When ...
GERALD BRAY - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
Holiness, the Holy Spirit’s work, is not external conformity to a law but an internal transformation. God does not expect us to be perfect, but he wants us to have the mind of Christ and to act accordingly. Personal holiness and the holiness of the church (“a holy nation”) go together. Our lives must reflect the teachings of the Bible. We are holy because God chose us, but we must grow in holiness (sanctification). In this life, we shall always be sinners, saved by divine grace and not by human
GUY PRENTISS WATERS - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
This article surveys the ways in which Reformed theology (particularly the Westminster Standards and subsequent generations of Scottish and American Presbyterians) has articulated the relationship between the church and civil government. It addresses two fruits of this line of reflection that are especially pertinent to the contemporary church. The first is that this doctrine makes provision for the divinely guaranteed religious liberty of all human beings, even in the face of a civil...
PETER A. LILLBACK - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
ERIC KAYAYAN - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
BRANDON D. CROWE - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023
JOSÉ DE SEGOVIA - in Vol. 9 No. 2 / Oct 2023