Redemptive History

Read Like an Apostle

Richard C. Barcellos
Nov 12, 2018
The early disciples gave evidence of the concept of Christ as the target of the Old Testament; but, should we read the Old Testament like they did? That is an ever pressing hermeneutical question. I want to suggest that the answer is a resounding "yes!" Consider John 2:13-22 as a case study: "The...

What is Natural Revelation?

Tim Bertolet
Sep 26, 2018
It is important to understand that we cannot know anything about God unless He reveals Himself to us. God is infinite, and we are finite. The distance between God and man is so great that we could not know anything about Him or what He requires if He did not reveal Himself to us (WCF 7.1). As...

Retribution and Redemption

Nick Batzig
Sep 4, 2018
Last month, Pope Francis expressed his opinion that the death penalty is unacceptable in all cases . At the same time as he took his public stand, a series of popular opinions circulated online about whether or not the death penalty was to be viewed as valid as a Christian position. The better part...

Christ and Covenant Theology Podcast

Jonathan Master
Aug 13, 2018
Christ and Covenant Theology Jonathan and James invite Dr. Cornelis Venema for a conversation about his collection of essays entitled Christ and Covenant Theology. But what is Covenant Theology? Dr. Venema offers a rich definition, making a distinction between the covenant of works and the covenant...

Six Benefits of Studying Church History

William Boekestein
Jul 23, 2018
Many of us may struggle with the feeling that the church is already too old-fashioned. If so, why should we study church history? Shouldn't we stop looking backward to the 16th century and start living in the 21st century? Contrary to our concerns, the church has always realized that a forward-...

Praying Through the Scriptures: Judges 2; Acts 6

Chad Van Dixhoorn
Jun 19, 2018
Over the years it has been my practice, learned from others, to offer up praises and petitions framed by a passage of Scripture. Some of these passages were read in preparation for preaching, others offered material for meditation in daily devotion; still others were plundered specifically for the...

Getting the Garden Right: The Fall

Stephen Unthank
Jun 13, 2018
Throughout Genesis chapters 1 and 2, the reader understands that it is God alone who gets to determine and pronounce what is good (each of His created days - 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) as well as what is not good (that man should be alone - 2:18). It is for this reason that God put a reminder, a...

Getting the Garden Right Podcast

Jonathan Master
Jun 4, 2018
How important are the first chapters of Genesis to our understanding of the whole of Scripture? What happens to our perspective if we isolate Genesis 1-3 from the rest of God’s Word? Richard Barcellos drops in. He’s written Getting the Garden Right: Adam’s Work and God’s Rest in Light of Christ...

Five Extraordinary Benefits of Pentecost

Richard D. Phillips
Apr 26, 2018
We are wrapping the 2018 Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology this weekend at Proclamation Presbyterian Church outside Philadelphia. Our theme this year is "Spirit of the Age - Age of the Spirit." As we have been celebrating the exalted Christ's outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost and its...

Always Preach Christ?

Ryan McGraw
Apr 6, 2018
It is one thing to have a sound theory of preaching; it is another thing to stand behind a pulpit twice a week. Theory can easily fall apart when we meet instances in which we are not sure how to the biblical model of preaching. This is true both when preaching biblical books that do not appear to...