People Learned About “The Reformation” in Their Own Language

A lot of things contributed to the spread of the Gospel at the time of the Reformation. Pervasive knowledge of the corruption of “the Church”. The printing press. The willingness (and newfound ability) of the Reformers to reach back ad fontes (“to the original sources”). One of the most important, however, was Martin Luther’s decision …

Calvin and Winthrop Between the Ages: Medievalism, Hierarchy, and Modernity (Part 1 of 4)

The following post is Part 1 of a series on Calvinism and Modernity. The first three posts will show that Calvin’s social and political philosophy is conservative by medieval standards, though there are important modifications to medieval thought. Calvin is not the first modern, a proto-modern or the foundation of modern politics, as many have …

Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone

Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, from a recent Reformation Day conference. More audio here.

Aquinas was the Problem; the Reformation was the Solution

As a former long-time Roman Catholic (from birth to about 18 and then from ages 23 to 38), I devoutly sought to understand and live according to the Roman Catholic faith. When I read through the New Testament at age 18, I didn’t find Roman Catholicism there; what I found changed the course of my …

Luther’s Theology of the Cross and Metaphysics

One of the elements of late medieval Scotist and nominalist theology that had a profound impact on Luther was its denial of any analogy between God and man and its consequent recognition of the impossibility of formulating a rational metaphysic concerning God. All knowledge of God must rest on authoritative testimony, primarily on that of …

True, Living Faith Justified by Works

An Exposition of James 2:14-26 (a sermon preached at Christ Our Hope PCA) We’re going to do something unusual this morning.  We’re going to parachute into James chapter 2, for just one sermon.  (We usually preach through books of the Bible.  Next week, God willing, we’ll start a new series through the Gospel of Luke.)  …

Carl Trueman on Reading Martin Luther Well

Reading Luther Not Wisely But Well: Part One Reading Luther Not Wisely But Well: Part Two

A super simple primer on the theology of the cross v. the theology of glory

Luther is the man.  Really.  But have you ever read his Heidelberg Disputation from 1518?  He wrote out various theses, to defend in debate.  And reading them is sometimes like reading a Zen Buddhist’s koans – as in, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”  Here’s a sample, Luther’s seventh thesis:  “The works of …

The Gospel & Good Works

Below, I share a choice passage from Luther’s preface to his commentary on Galatians.  In this preface, Luther makes a distinction between what he calls “active” & “passive righteousness.”  “Active righteousness” is the Christian’s life of good works before his neighbor.  But the heart of the biblical Gospel as presented by Paul is what Luther …

James White is Right vs Wright on the NPP

In his Dividing Line show yesterday, Dr. James White talked about an radio broadcast that he shared with N.T. Wright, of “New Perspective on Paul” (NPP) fame. In the course of the show, Dr. White mentioned that he believes he must spend more time on this topic, and for this I’m grateful. Noting that the …