A Reformed Perspective on Natural Beauty

The universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God. ~ Belgic Confession of Faith Swiss Alps The Protestant Reformers spoke often of the beauty of creation. Indeed, natural beauty[1] plays an important role in some …

The Third Word: God’s Name, our blasphemy, and the Word made flesh (1)

A homily on the Third Commandment:  “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.”  We’re continuing to use the Westminster Larger Catechism’s exposition of the Ten  Commandments.  That exposition is always biblical, thorough, and convicting. Q. 112. What is required in the third commandment? A. The third commandment requires, that …

The New Modern Reformation Work on “Justification”

Take a few minutes and watch this little video introduction by Michael Horton to MR’s new book “Justification”. It’s a great introduction to all of the many issues that are surrounding the topic of justification these days. In an incredibly easy manner, Horton discusses all of these challenges to justification and really puts the whole …

Jesus is Yahweh

This is one of those theological reflections that I’ve come across in my studies that I wanted to pass along. In the selection from Philippians 2, “Paul states that the purpose of Christ’s exaltation is that ‘every knee should bow … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord’” is a clear allusion to …

The Real Body of Christ

In my ongoing look at Ratzinger’s “Called to Communion,” I’m going to get a bit ahead of myself, thanks to some comments at James Swan’s blog. There, one commenter, Ben, has tried to suggest that “the Church IS Christ” (and given Rome’s self-infatuation, when you see the word “Church” with a capital “C”, you should …

Not Called to Communion: “Jesus and the Church”

I’m continuing to discuss Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s work, “Called to Communion,” originally a series of messages that Ratzinger delivered in 1990, including a “theology course” for 120 bishop and some additional addresses to synods of bishops. Ratzinger described this work as “a primer of Catholic ecclesiology.” The header of this blog cites Calvin discussing “those …