Church History

Walking up to his pulpit before preaching, Charles Spurgeon would often repeat to himself that great line of the Apostle’s Creed, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” For Spurgeon this was no doubt a reminder that any fruit which would come from his preaching would be fruit attributed only to the...

Elisabeth of the Palatinate and Her Influence on Descartes Princess Elisabeth of the Palatinate (also known as Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia) is remembered as the woman who challenged the French philosopher René Descartes to re-examine his assertions on the separation of mind and body. While she...

Tertullian and Irenaeus are the earliest witnesses to the Creed now known as the Apostle’s Creed. During their pastorates it was likely in its earliest form and known as the Roman Symbol. This early form of the Apostle’s Creed most likely appeared in or around 150 AD in Rome and was a response to...

“Words and actions are transient things, and being once past, are nothing; but the effect of them on an immortal soul may be endless.” ― Richard Baxter, Dying Thoughts I came across this little book by Richard Baxter when my fiancée and I, along with some friends, decided to go through the Tim...

The phrase in the Apostle’s Creed, “He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty” is packed with theological importance. Early on we learned that this creed was written to combat the theological deviance of Gnosticism. Everywhere the Creed indicates that the...

Matyás Dévay Bíró – The “Hungarian Luther” An image of the Hungarian Reformer Matyás Dévay Biró shines through a stained window of Wittenberg’s Schlosskirche (Castle Church). He’s in good company, surrounded as he is by other Protestants of his day, such as Peter Martyr Vermigli, Michael Agricola,...

Obedience and Submission The eternal submission of the Son to the Father in the Godhead has been a topic of discussion for quite some time now. After the internet debate of 2016 , Glenn Butner was motivated to conduct a thorough investigation into the topic. Glenn has summarized his findings on the...

For English Reformed Orthodoxy, the doctrine of a believer’s union with Christ was paramount. John Owen, enunciating the centrality of a believer’s union, exclaimed that our union with Christ is the “principle and measure of all spiritual enjoyments and expectations.” [1] Likewise Thomas Goodwin...

According to N. T. Wright, it is now generally agreed that an overall theme in II Corinthians is “Paul’s defense, not of his apostolic ministry in itself, but of the particular style or character of that ministry.” [1] For Wright, these arguments concerning the nature of Paul’s ministry form the...

On December 30, 1856, thousands of people followed Hugh Miller’s coffin to the Grange cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was dearly loved and respected, particularly for his thought-provoking writings on a wide variety of subjects. As an editor of Miller’s memoirs aptly said, “In choosing him,...