Posts by Carl Trueman

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Cigar Smoke and Mirrors and Transformation

Carl Trueman
Aug 15, 2013
How does one judge that one is growing old? In Britain, it is typically thought to be when the policemen start to look younger. Over here, I have a sneaking suspicion that it is when you read cigar aficionado D. G.Hart and find yourself nodding in agreement. Like admiring Simon Heffer, it is one of...

Hart on Calvinism

Carl Trueman
Aug 13, 2013
I finished Darryl Hart's Calvinism: A History last week. While I am set to provide a thorough review for the Westminster Theological Journal, I want to give a few brief comments now as this is a very fine book which will be a standard text in the field and would make a great read in the dying days...

Hart on Calvinism

Carl Trueman
Aug 13, 2013
I finished Darryl Hart's Calvinism: A History last week. While I am set to provide a thorough review for the Westminster Theological Journal, I want to give a few brief comments now as this is a very fine book which will be a standard text in the field and would make a great read in the dying days...

We Few, We Happy Few.... and other links

Carl Trueman
Aug 12, 2013
As it seems I am the Last Man Standing at the Ref21 saloon, I here post a variety of links that have crossed my path over recent weeks. Meanwhile, if anyone knows the whereabouts of Paul Levy, please keep that information to yourself. His wife is enjoying the peace and quiet, I am told. David Hall...

We Few, We Happy Few.... and other links

Carl Trueman
Aug 12, 2013
As it seems I am the Last Man Standing at the Ref21 saloon, I here post a variety of links that have crossed my path over recent weeks. Meanwhile, if anyone knows the whereabouts of Paul Levy, please keep that information to yourself. His wife is enjoying the peace and quiet, I am told. David Hall...

Mortified

Carl Trueman
Aug 7, 2013
There is a new Mortification of Spin available, where we discuss the biblical qualifications for eldership and the importance of wives who refuse to believe their husbands' own propaganda about themselves.

Mortified

Carl Trueman
Aug 7, 2013
There is a new Mortification of Spin available, where we discuss the biblical qualifications for eldership and the importance of wives who refuse to believe their husbands' own propaganda about themselves.

Ghosts of Marburg?

Carl Trueman
Aug 7, 2013
A strange postscript to my earlier post on pornography: I am currently staying on a campsite owned by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Last night I tried to access the Presbyterian website, the Aquila Report via the wireless network and received this message from whatever security filters the...

Ghosts of Marburg?

Carl Trueman
Aug 7, 2013
A strange postscript to my earlier post on pornography: I am currently staying on a campsite owned by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Last night I tried to access the Presbyterian website, the Aquila Report via the wireless network and received this message from whatever security filters the...

Pornography: The New Normal

Carl Trueman
Aug 7, 2013
I was fascinated by the reactions last week to the British government's intention of making British customers positively "opt in" to allowing pornography to be part of their internet package. The idea is ostensibly to protect children from seeing images which may prove harmful. I read three...

Pornography: The New Normal

Carl Trueman
Aug 7, 2013
I was fascinated by the reactions last week to the British government's intention of making British customers positively "opt in" to allowing pornography to be part of their internet package. The idea is ostensibly to protect children from seeing images which may prove harmful. I read three...

On Mortification and Narnia

Carl Trueman
Jul 29, 2013
A number have been asking if Todd's move means an end to the Mortification of Spin podcasts. I am sorry to disappoint: since the podcast is almost the ultimate chewing gum and paper clip production, now involving four guys, two microphones, one computer and a plastic table and four chairs in the...

On Mortification and Narnia

Carl Trueman
Jul 29, 2013
A number have been asking if Todd's move means an end to the Mortification of Spin podcasts. I am sorry to disappoint: since the podcast is almost the ultimate chewing gum and paper clip production, now involving four guys, two microphones, one computer and a plastic table and four chairs in the...

Spousal and Sexual Abuse in the Church

Carl Trueman
Jul 27, 2013
We are receiving significant positive feedback for the most recent Mortification of Spin podcast on how pastors and elders should respond to spousal and sexual abuse in the church -- feedback, that is, from those who have suffered, or helped those who have suffered, such things. You can listen to...

Spousal and Sexual Abuse in the Church

Carl Trueman
Jul 27, 2013
We are receiving significant positive feedback for the most recent Mortification of Spin podcast on how pastors and elders should respond to spousal and sexual abuse in the church -- feedback, that is, from those who have suffered, or helped those who have suffered, such things. You can listen to...

Great New Book on the Heidelberg Catechism

Carl Trueman
Jul 23, 2013
In recent days, the Heidelberg Catechism (HC) has been enjoying some popularity outside of the bounds of Three Forms of Unity churches, thanks both to its accessibly personal tone and books like Kevin DeYoung's fine devotional commentary, The Good News We Almost Forgot , and the accessible essay...

Great New Book on the Heidelberg Catechism

Carl Trueman
Jul 23, 2013
In recent days, the Heidelberg Catechism (HC) has been enjoying some popularity outside of the bounds of Three Forms of Unity churches, thanks both to its accessibly personal tone and books like Kevin DeYoung's fine devotional commentary, The Good News We Almost Forgot , and the accessible essay...

Welcome Additions

Carl Trueman
Jul 23, 2013
It is good to see T. David Gordon and D.G. Hart contributing to Ref21. Their reviews of important new books here and here are well worth reading.

Welcome Additions

Carl Trueman
Jul 23, 2013
It is good to see T. David Gordon and D.G. Hart contributing to Ref21. Their reviews of important new books here and here are well worth reading.

Bad Company Improves Ecclesiology

Carl Trueman
Jul 22, 2013
It is great to announce that the congregation of Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Harrisonburg, Va., has voted to call Todd Pruitt, co-host of Mortification of Spin , as pastor. A salutary lesson to all: if you hang around with Presbyterians long enough, you eventually end up becoming one. Now...

Bad Company Improves Ecclesiology

Carl Trueman
Jul 22, 2013
It is great to announce that the congregation of Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Harrisonburg, Va., has voted to call Todd Pruitt, co-host of Mortification of Spin , as pastor. A salutary lesson to all: if you hang around with Presbyterians long enough, you eventually end up becoming one. Now...

A Worthwhile Conference (presumably with no dry ice or strobe lighting)

Carl Trueman
Jul 19, 2013
My colleague, Greg Beale, will be speaking on the Christology of the Book of Revelation at the Southern California Reformed Baptist Pastors' Conference . Richard Barcellos tells me that all are welcome -- even those who do not think baptists can be Reformed. Don't shoot the messenger; I tell the...

A Worthwhile Conference (presumably with no dry ice or strobe lighting)

Carl Trueman
Jul 19, 2013
My colleague, Greg Beale, will be speaking on the Christology of the Book of Revelation at the Southern California Reformed Baptist Pastors' Conference . Richard Barcellos tells me that all are welcome -- even those who do not think baptists can be Reformed. Don't shoot the messenger; I tell the...

An Outstanding Article

Carl Trueman
Jul 11, 2013
After yesterday's Pruitt and Trueman double act at 'Amateur Night at the Ref21 Club', here (I hope) is a post that will possess more than a mere punctuation mark or heading and also (in a break with Ref21 tradition) prove somewhat helpful and edifying: a brilliant summary of the biblical philosophy...

An Outstanding Article

Carl Trueman
Jul 11, 2013
After yesterday's Pruitt and Trueman double act at 'Amateur Night at the Ref21 Club', here (I hope) is a post that will possess more than a mere punctuation mark or heading and also (in a break with Ref21 tradition) prove somewhat helpful and edifying: a brilliant summary of the biblical philosophy...

A Few Good Books

Carl Trueman
Jul 8, 2013
A number of good books have landed on my desk over the last month. First, despite Paul Levy's demonstration that, when it comes to overall insight and cool, he is once again truly Presbyterianism's answer to Alan Partridge , I concur that Sam Allberry's book Is God Anti-Gay? is truly marvellous...

A Few Good Books

Carl Trueman
Jul 8, 2013
A number of good books have landed on my desk over the last month. First, despite Paul Levy's demonstration that, when it comes to overall insight and cool, he is once again truly Presbyterianism's answer to Alan Partridge , I concur that Sam Allberry's book Is God Anti-Gay? is truly marvellous...

Let's Level the Playing Field

Carl Trueman
Jul 5, 2013
Now that California looks set to mandate that transgender children be allowed to choose which bathrooms they use and which sports teams they join, it would seem an appropriate time to press for the purging of the remnants of a reactionary age. Indeed, now that gender is, according to the courts,...

Let's Level the Playing Field

Carl Trueman
Jul 5, 2013
Now that California looks set to mandate that transgender children be allowed to choose which bathrooms they use and which sports teams they join, it would seem an appropriate time to press for the purging of the remnants of a reactionary age. Indeed, now that gender is, according to the courts,...

Student Reading for the Summer

Carl Trueman
Jun 19, 2013
I am doing some guided reading for a couple of students at Cornerstone this summer. This is the list and accompanying rationale: Martyn Lloyd Jones, Preaching and Preachers . A book that is both inspirational and flawed. Any volume which uses the term 'abomination' has to be worth reading in an era...

Student Reading for the Summer

Carl Trueman
Jun 19, 2013
I am doing some guided reading for a couple of students at Cornerstone this summer. This is the list and accompanying rationale: Martyn Lloyd Jones, Preaching and Preachers . A book that is both inspirational and flawed. Any volume which uses the term 'abomination' has to be worth reading in an era...

Talk English, not pulpit!

Carl Trueman
Jun 18, 2013
In a week where rumours abound that the price of high-end male grooming products, skinny jeans and heavy rimmed glasses has gone through the roof in Greenville, SC, of all places, it is good to hear from Mississippi Frank who hopes to escape from the clutches of the incorrigibly cool in the near...

Talk English, not pulpit!

Carl Trueman
Jun 18, 2013
In a week where rumours abound that the price of high-end male grooming products, skinny jeans and heavy rimmed glasses has gone through the roof in Greenville, SC, of all places, it is good to hear from Mississippi Frank who hopes to escape from the clutches of the incorrigibly cool in the near...

Around and About

Carl Trueman
Jun 15, 2013
Two articles in this week's Spectator (still the world's greatest repository of great writing) are worth a look. First, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks states the obvious about the insipid nature of today's cool atheism . Second Rod Liddle (We are not worthy!) gives moderate Islam some classic Liddle...

Around and About

Carl Trueman
Jun 15, 2013
Two articles in this week's Spectator (still the world's greatest repository of great writing) are worth a look. First, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks states the obvious about the insipid nature of today's cool atheism . Second Rod Liddle (We are not worthy!) gives moderate Islam some classic Liddle...

The Gentle Temeraire

Carl Trueman
Jun 5, 2013
One of the most famous of J.M.W. Turner's paintings is The Fighting Temeraire . It portrays a magnificent British battleship being towed into harbor to be broken up. The juxtaposition of the huge sail-powered vessel being pulled to its fate by a small, steam-powered tugboat projects numerous...

The Gentle Temeraire

Carl Trueman
Jun 5, 2013
One of the most famous of J.M.W. Turner's paintings is The Fighting Temeraire . It portrays a magnificent British battleship being towed into harbor to be broken up. The juxtaposition of the huge sail-powered vessel being pulled to its fate by a small, steam-powered tugboat projects numerous...

Can't hear yourself think? Or sing?

Carl Trueman
May 30, 2013
In a world where, no matter how big the issue, the panjandrums of the parachurch tell us we should all just agree to differ, T. David Gordon is a one man oasis of wisdom. Over at the online journal, Second Nature , he casts a cold eye on praise bands and on obnoxiously loud organs too. Here is a...

Can't hear yourself think? Or sing?

Carl Trueman
May 30, 2013
In a world where, no matter how big the issue, the panjandrums of the parachurch tell us we should all just agree to differ, T. David Gordon is a one man oasis of wisdom. Over at the online journal, Second Nature , he casts a cold eye on praise bands and on obnoxiously loud organs too. Here is a...

Around and About

Carl Trueman
May 27, 2013
A couple of items have been brought to my attention. Over at First Thoughts , trans-Tiberian Ref21 reader, David Mills, offers some thoughts on J. G. Machen , inspired by D.G. Hart. Worth reading as are, unusually for a comment open blog, the comments -- no reference to Nazis or Hitler, and some...

Around and About

Carl Trueman
May 27, 2013
A couple of items have been brought to my attention. Over at First Thoughts , trans-Tiberian Ref21 reader, David Mills, offers some thoughts on J. G. Machen , inspired by D.G. Hart. Worth reading as are, unusually for a comment open blog, the comments -- no reference to Nazis or Hitler, and some...

Church of Scotland Effortlessly Outclasses Ref21!

Carl Trueman
May 21, 2013
We at Ref21 are always concerned to cultivate appropriate humility and so it seems only just that we acknowledge that the legendary Sunday morning comedy review, the Church of Scotland , has once again outclassed us on the satire front without even breaking a sweat. To give you a little taster of...

Church of Scotland Effortlessly Outclasses Ref21!

Carl Trueman
May 21, 2013
We at Ref21 are always concerned to cultivate appropriate humility and so it seems only just that we acknowledge that the legendary Sunday morning comedy review, the Church of Scotland , has once again outclassed us on the satire front without even breaking a sweat. To give you a little taster of...

If only....

Carl Trueman
May 18, 2013
It is a spoof,but one can only wish that this were true. I suspect Andy Stanley would not be pleased. More of that next week. The Hammer of Thor has been taken out of the broom cupboard and is being polished.

If only....

Carl Trueman
May 18, 2013
It is a spoof,but one can only wish that this were true. I suspect Andy Stanley would not be pleased. More of that next week. The Hammer of Thor has been taken out of the broom cupboard and is being polished.

Singing the Psalms

Carl Trueman
May 16, 2013
Connor Quigley, of the RP Church in Scotland, has brought to my attention this website which he has set up as a great resource for recordings of various Psalters sung a cappella. The one thing it lacks: Gaelic psalm singing. My wife firmly believes that Gaelic is the language of heaven. Certainly,...

Singing the Psalms

Carl Trueman
May 16, 2013
Connor Quigley, of the RP Church in Scotland, has brought to my attention this website which he has set up as a great resource for recordings of various Psalters sung a cappella. The one thing it lacks: Gaelic psalm singing. My wife firmly believes that Gaelic is the language of heaven. Certainly,...

Postscript

Carl Trueman
May 15, 2013
And with apologies for having missed it, here's a word from Sollozzo on the same topic which caught Collin Garbarino's eye. I trust my omission of this from my previous post will not result in me sleeping with the fishes. We await word from the Top Men at the E.I.C. We await, we await, we aw......

Postscript

Carl Trueman
May 15, 2013
And with apologies for having missed it, here's a word from Sollozzo on the same topic which caught Collin Garbarino's eye. I trust my omission of this from my previous post will not result in me sleeping with the fishes. We await word from the Top Men at the E.I.C. We await, we await, we aw......

Around and About

Carl Trueman
May 15, 2013
Two helpful links: Over at First Thoughts Collin Garbarino articulates with great clarity some of the problems with the portentous advice offered by some at the top of the E.I.C. Then, Mark Snoeberger argues that which should be obvious to anyone who gives the matter a moment's thought: that the...