On February 1, 2009, Dr. Philip G. Ryken, Senior Minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, preached a sermon, focused on Calvinistic church planting, at my ordination. You can find this message here .

On February 16, 2009 Dr. Ryken preached a message on Church Planting for Calvinists at Westminster Theological Seminary’s Mission’s Conference. You can listen to the WTS missions Conference message here

Just an up-date on my previous post. You can download Michael Horton’s Ph.D. dissertation on Thomas Goodwin and the Doctrine of Assurance here.

We recently interviewed Dr. Guy Waters, Associate Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary, with regard to N.T. Wright’s newest work, Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision . Because of the importance of this book and the nuance of the arguments contained in it we spent two hours to discuss and critique. You can listen to the first part of this interview here .

David Porter, over at A Boomer in the Pew , is holding a giveaway, for a free calf skin ESV, that ends March 16, 2009. You can find out more here .

If you are interested in British doctoral dissertations you will want to check this out. This is a British web-site that makes dissertations available for free (when downloaded electronically). Sadly, they do not have access to Oxford or Cambridge dissertations. There are other libraries that are not participating at this point. Some dissertations are available for immediate download, but you will find many others that have not been digitalized yet. However, if you order the latter, they promise to digitalize them and send them to you electronically for free. There is some really nice material available here. Enjoy!

Darryl G. Hart weighs in on the Scot McKnight incident over at Old Life.  Hart, a proud warrior child, is dead set on recovering the Old Presbyterianism, but he wants to do it without becoming hip in the process.  I don’t know Darryl, you might look pretty slick with a soul patch.  Come on, Darryl, let’s take our trendy facial hair and transform the world of fine tobacco together.

If you get a chance check out the web pamphlet for the 2009 Banner of Truth Conference. Sinclair Ferguson’s lectures look especially interesting. If you can make it, you should absolutely go to the Banner Conference.

When I was an intern at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, I had the privilege of working with Dr. David Apple and the mercy ministry outreach. From a youth, my dad frequently took me to nursing homes where he would help lead worship services. John H. Skilton, late Professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, introduced my father to this great need. John visited almost every nursing home in Philadelphia. He left a testimony of real desire to see the kingdom of God advance in the lives of needy men and women.

Nursing Home ministry is a responsibility and privilege that is often overlooked by the church. I think there are a several reasons for this. First, you will never grow a church by ministering in a Nursing Home. You will never get a sudden surge of people into the church pews (or cushion seats if you are more cutting edge) by focusing on Nursing Home Ministry. Your church will not visibly grow, but Jesus’ church will. I imagine that there have been many elderly men and women who have come to saving faith on account of some loving child of God coming into a Nursing Home, or Assisted Living Center, and spreading the love and the word of Christ. The fields are rip for harvest in a Nursing Home.

Another reason Nursing Home/Assisted Living ministry has not received greater emphasis is on account of the fact that it takes a great deal of commitment and care. Most of us, if we are honest, do not want to commit to or care about things like ministering to needy, sick and dying people. Sadly, I know that this is true in my own life.

The final reason nursing home ministry is not carried out more frequently is on account of the lack of training. It takes a great deal of training to understand how to ministry to needy people. It can often be difficult, because of our lack of knowledge. We cannot lay all the blame on the first two reasons. It is on account of this that David Apple and I brought Ed Verbeke, former chaplain of the RPCNA Retirement Home, to Tenth to do a one day training seminar. Ed is a dear friend, who preached at Anna and my wedding. Ed has "Brittle Bone Disease" and has been the subject of care and need for most of his life. Despite (or perhaps on account of ) this malady, Ed is one of the most productive Christians I know. The grace of God, working through Ed’s own needs, has enabled him to care for and serve those who are needy. Ed has a unique gift in ministering to the elderly and shut-ins. I think you will find that this seminar contains some of the best training for Nursing Home Ministry available. You can find the videos here .

You can also find a Nursing Home manual, written by Tom McCormick, posted below the videos. Tom has served in Nursing Home ministry for many years and had his introduction to it through Dr. Skilton.

Our three part series on the superadded gift (SG) was pretty difficult and challenging. This was especially true in our small group study but we’re still friends despite any differences as we wrestle through Bavinck’s analysis and (to quote Thomas Watson) the treachery of our own hearts. This post briefly recaps and reflects on Bavinck’s main points on the superadded gift.

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Here are the complete audio files from the 2008 Together for Adoption Conference, together with some audio files on the subject of adoption given at various locations:

• Jason Kovacs and Maridel Sandberg – “Conference Welcome and the Christian Alliance for Orphans’ Vision for Orphan Ministry “
• Dan Cruver – “Adoption in God’s Story of Redemption “
• Rick Phillips – “The Good News of Adoption “
• Carl Robbins – “Adoption and the Multi-Ethnic Family of God “
• Tullian Tchividjian – “Our Adoption and Visiting Orphans in Their Affliction “

Sermons by Dan Cruver, Director of Together for Adoption:
New Sermon: The Good News of Adoption (43:32)
The Cosmic Significance of Adoption (1:15:10)
From One Generation to Another (Psalm 145)

Speakers are listed below in alphabetical order:

Bennett, Daniel : The Glorious Grace of Adoption

Bradley, Anthony : The Power of Delight

Cairns, Alan : The Spirit of Adoption

Garland, Charles: Adoption (Galatians 4:1-7)

Garner, Dave : It’s All in the Family: Adoption and Conformity to Christ (52:52)

Lincoln, Mark : Heirs with Christ: The Glorious Doctrine of Adoption

Mahaney, C.J. : God as Father: Understanding the Doctrine of Adoption in God’s Word

Moore, Russell : But Are They Brothers? The Spirit of Adoption and the Unity of the Church

Piper, John : Predestined for Adoption to the Praise of His Glory

Robertson, George : Adoption

Roley, Scott : The Doctrine and Ministry of Adoption

Stinson, Randy : Adoption Through Christ

Taylor, Justin : Adoption within Redemptive-History (23:35)

Thomas, Derek : The Testimony of the Spirit of Adoption

Twit, Kevin : The Doctrine of Adoption (pdf outline )

Yeats, John : The Biblical Model of Adoption

HT:Dan Cruver

In an interesting move, Westminster Theological Seminary has just announced G. K. Beale as an adjunct professor  from 2009-2012. Professor Beale’s first course for Westminster will be “The New Testament Use of the Old,” scheduled for academic year 2009/2010.

You can hear Dr. Beale on Christ the Center speaking about his new book The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism.

OldLife.org is the latest addition to the Reformed Forum network. Darryl Hart and John Muether founded the Old Life Theological Society several years ago to point the way back to the health and vigor of historic Reformed Protestantism. The Society is the sponsor of the Nicotine Theological Journal, a quarterly dedicated to Reformed faith and practice.  We’re pleased to welcome the Old Life Society to the network. Hart has posted the NTJ’s defining editorial at the new site and back issues of the NTJ should be available in the future.

William Still, in his short commentary on the book of Galatians, explained–in the most vivid way–the reality of the division God sets between redeemed man and the fallen world on account of Christ crucified. He wrote:

We like to think of the double crucifixion, envisaged here, in theatrical terms. There stand the world, and there stand I, and between us stands the cross. Viewed from the world’s side I am crossed out, because branded with that hateful cross the world has no time for me. Viewed from my side the world is crossed out, for through my faith in Christ’s death I have also died to the world; so that I and the world are agreed on one thing, and one only; that through Christ we have equally and mutually no time for each other.

The second introduction, or the second feature of the introduction, of the book of Revelation is actually a Triune salutation. John writes:

“Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits before the throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and freed from our sin with His own blood and has made us kings and priests to our God.”

There are several significant details in the salutation. In the first place, it is a Triune blessing. Grace and peace come to the people of God from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is not so clear on the surface, because of the way in which each Person of the Godhead is spoken of, or from the order in which each member of the Godhead is mentioned.

John describes the Father as “Him who is and who was and who is to come.” He is the everlasting God. The One who has no beginning and no end. Though the Father is not mentioned by any particular name, and though this same description is applied to Jesus in verse 8, the construct necessitates this interpretation. The Father has already been mentioned at the beginning of the book by the name “God.” It is surely taught in Scripture that the Father and the Son are each God in every way that makes Him God. Deity is clearly attributed to the Spirit as well, in such places as Acts 5 where it is said that Ananias and Saphira have lied to the God by lying to the Holy Spirit. But, in the realm of redemption (i.e. the work of the economic Trinity) the Father is often referred to simply as “God.” The other confirmation is the reference to the Spirit and the Son in the subsequent verses.

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I really do regret the fact that I was not able to be a panelist when the CTC crew had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Richard Gaffin to talk about the very important, and dare I say ‘controversial’, topic of  Sanctification and the Gospel. If you have an hour to listen to a very interesting interview, you should download this particular episode.

The introduction to the book of Revelation is of supreme importance if we are ever to come to a right understanding of its content. There are actually two introductions. The first comes in verse 1:1-4. The book opens with these words:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia

There are several significant features of this introduction. Too often, we rush into the details of this grand vision without first recognizing the significance of the more basic truth of the nature and source of this book. John opens with a brief summary of the theme of the book. This book is nothing less than a revelation of Jesus Christ. This very basic interpretive key is frequently overlooked. The book of Revelation is not, first and foremost, a prophecy about particular events in human history; neither is it simply a code to be unlocked. It is an unveiling (as the word ‘revelation’ means) of the Person and work of Christ. This theme is developed a bit further in verses 5-8–where the first and second coming of Christ are in view. Everything that will be discussed in the subsequent chapters is understood with relation to the Lord Jesus Christ and the work He accomplishes in His two advents. The visions span the entire period of redemptive history between Christ’s first and second coming.

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Phil Ryken has a very helpful post, over at Reformation 21, in which he points out the significance of the title of Darwin’s magnum opus The Origin of the Species . The subtitle?  The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life . In this post Dr. Ryken shows that there is an underlying premise of racism in Darwin’s Origin of the species . You can read Dr. Ryken’s post here .

Students of Jonathan Edwards are aware of his concern for true religious affections. His treatise on the Religious Affections has become a classic of Christian literature. It should be noted that the notion of affections could be easily misunderstood. For Edwards, an affection was the response of the will to an idea in the intellect. In other words, affections are not to be reduced to emotions. As I read some scholars, I get the impression that this is what they think. In other words, some think Edwards is an adumbration of Freiderich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher and his notion of gefuhl or feeling of absolute dependence on God. Feelings, nothing more than feelings… Now it is true that affections do involve the will (Edwards did not usually distinguish between the will and the emotions as for him the inclination was the will in action), but they also contain an intellectual element. Edwards was simply wanting to say that certain truths ought to move us to a lively appreciation of what they are all about.

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It is my pleasure to announce the republication of Rev. Dr. Carl W. Bogue’s excellent study Jonathan Edwards and the Covenant of Grace. You can order the book here. This is the ninth volume in the  The Jonathan Edwards Classic Studies Series which is co-published by the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University and Wipf and Stock Publishers.  This book is a revised form of Dr. Bogue’s dissertation done at the Free University of Amsterdam under the oversight of Gerrit Cornelius Berkouwer back in the 1960s.

This was a groundbreaking study in that it tackles head on the Perry Miller thesis.  Miller, who embraced a version of the seriously defective “Calvin versus the Calvinists” thesis, held that Calvin held to a pristine predestinarian theology (can anyone hear echoes of the central dogma idea here?!) and that Covenant theology was an Arminianizing of Reformed theology.  Miller also believed that Edwards represented a return to Calvin and the foresaking of the prevalent Covenant theology of New England Puritanism.  Bogue amply demonstrates that Edwards was a Covenant theologian of the first order.  There are reams and reams of primary citations as well as very solid argumentation.  Edwards was both Calvinistic and Covenantal in the best senses of each word.  All students of Edwards should be grateful to Perry Miller for reviving scholarly interest in Edwards.  At the same time they should forsake his fanciful reading of Edwards.

I am always pleased to see Edwards handled with accuracy and integrity.  One does not have to agree with everything Edwards held to benefit from him.  Read on!

We’ve been looking at one of the toughest elements in Bavinck’s analysis, freewill and the origin of sin. The long debate between Augustine and Pelagius has seen many attempts at reconciling these views, most all of which fail to be convincing. Bavinck’s critique of Pelagius is masterful, but will his claims for original sin and the natural law prove convincing? We shall see.

Scripture is complicated. It places the origin of sin in the heart of humanity* despite all the provisions (donum superadditum) to maintain her original righteousness. God created mankind in his image, including free personality, especially in holiness with a special endowment of grace that was lost at the fall. The eventual development of the doctrine of concupiscence from Augustine onward, viewed the gift as something of a ‘remedy and a bridle’ to curb the ‘war’ of flesh and spirit. This ‘war’ is natural to man as an earthly and spiritual being, argued a cautious Trent, and once the ‘bridle’ was removed Adam and his descendants “changed for the worse”. Concupiscence is not itself sin – but is inclined to sin – and there is little difference in human nature pre/post fall except the need for grace which is infused into the believer in baptism (Bellarmine). For Bavinck this view of concupiscence as ‘weakness’ in human nature is itself a little weak, requiring the qualification, “that whatever is in man, from the understanding to the will, from the soul even to the flesh, [it] has been defiled and crammed with this concup. … the whole of man is nothing but concup.” (Calvin). For Bavinck, original sin consists negatively in the loss of original righteousness, and positively, the corruption of nature rooted in Adam’s trespass.

Original sin is not a ‘war’ between flesh and spirit per se and Bavinck has been clear that defining sin as merely sensual cannot account for hate, envy, or enmity towards God. Humankind is not a pawn in a cosmic eternal struggle between good and evil (Manichean/pantheism) nor is sin non-being but is ultimately dependent on the good for its temporal, ethical operations. Human beings lost the image of God at the fall – which is not a superadded gift, but integral to human nature. The image of God is “displayed the knowledge, holiness, and righteousness”. Sin violated the holiness of the creature; where one was able to maintain and produce righteousness, that faculty (the whole being) now yields the very opposite. They/we didn’t become ‘devils’ but rather than fulfilling the law of God, human desire instead runs ‘after the flesh’ which can no longer be justified (Rom. 3:20, Gal. 3:2). And that’s total depravity: the inability and incapacity of fulfilling spiritual good and deserving eternal punishment. How so? God still required absolute obedience to the ‘law of the covenant of works’ which righteous requirement was brought into the covenant of grace and fulfilled by Christ.

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* ‘creature’ is a better term because it encompasses angelic beings. Bavinck’s analysis is focused on Adam, but accounts for angels when relevant.

First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS has recently added a page where you can download audio files of talks, given over the past 5 years, at the Twin Lakes Fellowship . You can find them here . It looks like they may be in the process of adding more.

You can find two lectures by Carl Trueman on the doctrine of grace delivered at the Mid-south Theology Conference last year here.

His first lecture is entitled: “Guilt and Grace: Historic Hope for the Hopeless” based on Romans 8:28.

His second lecture is entitled: “Grace and Gratitude: A Place to Stand” based on Psalm 127. I found this conference through an email from Covenant Seminary.

The PCA church in Tchula, Mississippi recently had Dr. Guy Waters and Rev. Neil Stewart in for their 2009 conference. Dr. Waters spoke on the Mortification of Sin and Mr. Stewart spoke on temptation. You can find audio of this conference here.

I posted these a while ago but I want to put them out there again for any who have not seen them. Dr. Guy Prentiss Waters, delivered two lectures at Westminster Seminary California entitled, “Two Adams, Two Covenants, Two Righteousnesses.” These are some of the most careful, scholarly treatments of one of the most difficult, and yet, most important aspects of Scripture and the inner workings of the doctrine of justification. If you have time listen to the lectures below:

Two Adams, Two Covenants, Two Righteousnesses #1
Two Adams, Two Covenants, Two Righteousnesses #2

Dr. Waters gave a lecture, while at WSC, on “Reflections on an ‘Emerging’ Reading of Jesus and the Kingdom”.

Here are the complete MP3 audio files from my ordination service:

Dr. Philip G. Ryken – Sermon Preached at the Ordination of Nicholas T. Batzig (1 Cor. 16:1-9)

Rev. James T. Obrien – Charge to Nicholas T. Batzig

Dr. James E. McGoldrick – Charge to the Presbytery

In the following love note, Jonathan Edwards wrote about Sarah, his future wife, when she was only 13 years old. Notice what he finds beautiful about her and what she finds beautiful:

“They say there is a young lady in [New Haven] who is loved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight; and that she hardly cares for any thing, except to meditate on him that she expects after a while to be received up where he is, to be raised up out of the world and caught up into heaven; being assured that he loves her too well to let her remain at a distance from him always. There she is to dwell with him, and to be ravished with his love and delight forever. Therefore, if you present all the world before her, with the richest of its treasures, she disregards it and cares not for it, and is unmindful of any pain or affection. She has a strange sweetness in her mind, and singular purity in her affections; is most just and conscientious in all her conduct; and you could not persuade her to do any thing wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this Great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness, and universal benevolence of mind; especially after this Great God has manifested himself to her mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure; and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have some one invisible always with her.”

(From: Edwards, Jonathan, “His Memoirs.” The Works of Jonathan Edwards. Banner of Truth, Vol. 1, xxxix xl, 1723.) (more…)

John Burnett recently reported a story on the brewery business’ relative success during the recession.  The brewery business isn’t recession-proof, but certainly recession-resistant.  Certainly many celebrate good times with a beer [or eight] but don’t many turn to alcohol when times are tough as well?  The industry is slightly affected by the recession, but mostly from the trend of “trading down” or switching to less expensive brands.  People are also drinking at home rather than at the pub.

I wonder if the bible industry is recession proof?  What about tithing?  Is tithing down?  I imagine that it is for many churches given the unemployment numbers, but there might be an upside to this recession for the believer. I saw a bumper sticker a few days ago that said “Don’t let the car fool you.  My treasure is in…”  Heaven, right?  No – this bumper sticker said “the barn.”

Well that is exactly what Jesus was telling us not to do in Luke 12.  We are not to store up treasure for ourselves in barns, but focus on Him and His provision for us.  These troubled times remind us of our dependence upon our Savior.  They remind us that our treasure is in heaven.  And praise God, because if this was not the case, my treasure would be down 45%.

In Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings and Analysis Greg Bahnsen brings up an interesting point regarding the role of special revelation.

Supernatural verbal revelation is, according to Van Til, inherent in the human situation and the intended concomitant to supernatural revelation in nature and in man’s inner constitution.  In that case, man was never – and is not now – expected simply to observe the natural world or consider his own rational, moral personality and figure out for himself how they are to be interpreted and how their truths are to be verbally expressed.  Man’s Creator has provided the linguistic framework for “exegeting” the truth of God in natural revelation and in man himself.¹

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C.J. Mahaney recently interviewed John Piper on various aspects of influences and lessons learned. In the interview Mahaney asked the following question:

What single bit of counsel has made the most significant difference in your leadership?
Piper’s answer is not only interesting, it is absolutely true. Anyone who has been in pastoral ministry and has seen the workings of men will know that the following is undeniable. Piper responded:
"Lead by helping people see the same truth in the Bible you do so that commonly perceived truth is the fabric that binds together. When truth is not the bond, power moves are inevitable."

I have created a temporary site for the Richmond Hill, GA church plant. The name of the church is New Covenant Presbyterian (PCA). I have created pages on the site for all of the sermons I have preached over the past year, Bible study notes from the weekly studies, and contact info. If you know people who live in or around the Savannah area who might be interested in being a part of a church plant please direct them to this site.

Our last post looked at the fickle problem of the origin of sin. Bavinck’s analysis of Genesis 3 holds that sin’s origin is not explained by the narrative yet it is described in historical terms. The fall of humanity is not itself having the content of the knowledge of good and evil, but the manner in which they would obtain it: apart from God’s guidance and care. So what was lost by the fall? A preternatural gift of grace? The image of God? The answer may surprise you.

Sin is a mystery. It has no right to exist; it has no substance, yet its fruits are evident on a universal scale. Despite sin’s self evident misery a concise definition and description of it is an enormous undertaking. Bavinck’s main objective is to prove that sin is not merely the sensual human nature, or merely a matter of freewill. If sin was purely sensual and carnal, envy, pride, hatred, enmity to God, etc. could never be explained. Human culture and refinement would eventually curb carnal or sensual desires, which is far from experience and contrary to the tenor of the divine covenants. What matters most is that sin is a possibility, phenomena that occurred in the human imagination (á Kempis) and came into existence through the rational faculty of the will in direct disobedience to the law of God.

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Reformed Academic Press, formerly “A Press,” now has a new website. Ligon Duncan is the editorial director. I would highly recommend that you check on new releases from this publisher. Historically, they have reprinted several very important Scottish theological works. They are also the publishing company who printed Richard Gaffin’s God’s Word in Servant Form, John Macleod’s Scottish Theology, and Terry Johnson’s The Pastor’s Public Ministry. Reformed Academic Press specializes in titles that promote the Reformed faith in pulpit and pastoral ministry.

David Powlison explores the Puritans and how they can inform our understanding of biblical counseling and the Christian life.

James H. Grant, over at In Light of the Gospel , has a post exlpaining who Matt Perman is and what he has done. Much of John Piper’s labors have been undergirded by Perman administrative diligence. I especially encourage you to read Perman’s article on making online resources free of charge. You can find the post here . I would also recommend that you read Perman’s article on The Covenant of Works .

At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples two questions (Matthew 16:13-17). The first was, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” The second was, “But who do you say that I am?” The disciples wasted no time in answering the first: “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, but still others, Jeremiah or one of the old prophets.” This is a striking answer on many levels. The people thought very highly of Jesus. They did not curse Him at this point. They did not spit in His face yet. But the answers they gave fell short, very short, of the true honor that He deserves. John H. Skilton once wrote:

According to the report of the disciples…some were saying that Jesus was John the Baptist. Those who expressed this view may have thought that they were paying Jesus a very high tribute indeed. John was the promised forerunner of the Messiah; he was a man, a messenger sent from God, (John 1:6); and he had been filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). Prophecy had been revived in him, the word of God came to him (Luke 3:2); in the spirit and power of Elijah, as had been said, he went before the Lord, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:17). Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about the Jordan had gone out to him and been baptized in the river Jordan, confessing their sins (Matt. 3:5-6). Jesus Himself, in fulfilling all righteousness for His people, had come to John for baptism (Matt. 3:13-15). He had testified of John “Among them that are born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist…

John, however, was now dead. To hold that Jesus was John the Baptist, in the sense that seems to be intended here (cf . Mark 6:14-16; Matthew 14:2; Luke 9:7-9), would be to regard him as risen from the dead–and risen, probably, to bring in the day of the Lord. This was a high view of Jesus, and its advocates thought that it did justice to the special revelation that God had given. But this view did not meet with our Lord’s approval. It did not confess the truth about Him. It would seek to honor Him by identifying Him with a forerunner of the Messiah and not with the Messiah Himself. It did not represent saving, Christian faith.

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Our last post hit the mid-point of Bavinck’s Prolegomena.* His dilemma was choosing between three schools of thought that best explained life; paving the way for scientific certainty. These schools are: rationalism, empiricism and realism. For Bavinck, realism goes hand in hand with the presupposition that God has revealed himself in the world, and the best place to find this revelation is scripture. There is, however, a slight complication.

Dogma has its object of study the revelation of God in scripture. It assures us that God has spoken and that the church is certain in its creedal and doctrinal expressions of faith. When it comes to the problem of evil and the origin of sin there is no easy answer, and Bavinck himself admits that here, realism helps little. There are many angles at which to look at the Genesis 3 narrative and most of which fall short of the biblical meaning. An empirical approach might say that attaining the knowledge of evil was a ‘step of progress’ and beneficial to advancing civilization. Rationalists (i.e. Remonstrants, Pelagians, Socinians, etc.) have said that sin is never really sin, it’s just a choice in the will that sooner of later we can evolve out of. These answers are hardly satisfying considering that God does not have the empirical knowledge of evil, so it would have been impossible to become like God in that regard. As for the freedom of the will: it is free, but it is not always good (Augustine) and it is impossible to overcome sin by reason alone. (more…)

Here is the link to the most recent Christ the Center interview. The panel interviewed Dr. David Garner, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Vice President for Advancement at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, about his doctoral dissertation on eschatology and adoption.  Dr. Garner is Westminster’s newest faculty member. I think you will find this interview to be exceedingly informative as well as practical.

Here is a sermon by Joel Beeke on Christ being forsaken at the cross.

I want to take a moment to introduce a new website. Camden Bucey has recently founded Historia Salutis to be a Reformed, biblical-theological website. For those of you who are not familiar with the title, I’d like to explain its significance. The title Historia Salutis simply means “the History of Salvation.” Most of our readers will be familiar with the theological phrase, ordo Salutis, which means the Order of Salvation (or the order of the application of salvation). The historia salutis is the work of Jesus Christ in obtaining salvation for us by His perfect life, atoning death and glory-obtaining resurrection. He is the Elect One, the Justified One, the Adopted One, the Sanctified One and the Glorified One. It is only as we are united to Him that these particular blessings come to us. The historia salutis is, in the words of the late John Murray, redemption accomplished. The ordo salutis is, in his words, redemption applied. It is out sincere desire to emphasize both the accomplishment and the application of redemption, but this site will be singularly devoted to the biblical teaching of the accomplishment of our salvation. We wholeheartedly agree with the words of Sinclair Ferguson: “Our indicatives must be weighty enough to support our imperatives.”

I have recently posted a short article there on the Biblical Theology of the Trees of the Garden.

I have been waiting to promote the church plant for some time now, but as I was looking at statistics on Google Analytics it appears that there have been several visits from towns in and around Richmond Hill, Ga. If you live in close proximity and are interested in being part of a Reformed church plant, please contact Nick Batzig at nbatzig@gmail.com. I will be posting a link to the website in the weeks ahead. If you are interested in hearing my sermons please visit the sermons page on this site.

The 2009 Desiring God Pastor’s Conference audio is now available online. The theme of the Conference was "Commending Christ." You can find all of the lectures here

The speakers and lectures were:

Mark DeverThe Need for Evangelism
Matt Chandler A Shepherd and His Unregenerate Sheep
Mark Dever The Pastor and Evangelism
John Piper I Will Not Be A Velvet-Mouthed Preacher
Mark Dever The Church and Evangelism
Michael Oh Missions as Fasting
Q & A Panel Commending Christ

Here is a very helpful article, by the Rev. Greg Reynolds, on the pleasures of sin. You will often hear Christians talk about sin as if there is no attraction to it. Reynolds proves from Scripture that there is great attraction to the sin that tempts us away from Christ.

A new episode of Help & Hope has David Powlison critiquing Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.  Kübler-Ross developed the five stages of grief in her 1969 book On Death and Dying.  Powlison provides his typical refreshing and consistent biblical approach to this dominant model for understanding grief and suffering.

It turns out Bible Belt 2.0 is very similar to Bible Belt 1.0. Gallup has just released a new poll on religiosity in the United States. The numbers are interesting, though you could probably have guessed them.

HT: Albert Mohler

Van Til’s editorial Students and Controversies has been posted to the OPC’s website.

A student’s attitude toward a controversy may be said to be normal if it reveals an intelligent and diligent following of all points in dispute. A student wants to learn. He is filled with an insatiable desire for knowledge. To gain knowledge, in the broad sense of the term, is his exclusive aim. For the purpose of acquiring knowledge he goes to the class-room. For that purpose he reads, reads much. With that purpose in mind he views current events and tries to ascertain the principles that impel men to act. With that purpose in mind he is to view, chiefly, any and all controversies of whatever nature.

But now in actuality we find that ofttimes we are not normal, but abnormal students. We are either too cold or too hot. If the controversies that fill the very air about us with their din do not even reach our ears, if we seal ourselves hermetically within the circle prescribed by our text-books, we are too cold or too narrow. We either overemphasize the student virtue of concentration on our school work, so that it becomes a vice, or our pulsebeat is too slow, so that we need a tonic to restore our lost vitality.

Last night I had the enormous privilege of having Philip Graham Ryken preach at my ordination service. Beginning in September 2007 I served as a pastoral intern under Dr. Ryken at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Having Phil at my ordination service was a great blessing. A little over a month ago Phil informed me of what passage he would be preaching at the service–1 Corinthians 16:1-9. I have to admit, at first thought I wondered how appropriate this text would be for an ordination service. Not only did Phil’s reason for choosing this message and content surpass my expectations, the Lord greatly moved my heart with the specific applications that Phil made from the text. There was a creative element to the sermon that made it especially memorable. Phil moved from the text, focusing on the church planting endeavors of the apostle Paul, to John Calvin’s church planting in and from Geneva, to the present and my call to plant a church in Richmond Hill, Ga. You can find this sermon here . You can listen to or download it here as well.