Posts by Stephen Tipton

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Questions of Confidence

Stephen Tipton
Nov 15, 2021
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” —variously attributed to Mark Twain, Will Rodgers, etc. Much ink has been spilt — or, perhaps, many keys have been struck — over the recent release of emails from the National Partnership...

Dogmatics for Fourth Graders

Stephen Tipton
Aug 1, 2018
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on reformation21 in December 2008. From Adam onward, each generation of believers has faced the challenges of bad and erroreous theology. When we look at our children—and the one I'm looking at now happens to be a fourth grader—we must wonder if...

Considering Exceptions: Singing Psalms

Stephen Tipton
May 14, 2018
Often, potential exceptions to the Westminster Standards take this form: "If the Confession is saying 'x', then I must state my difference with that section." One particularly common example of this is found in WCF 21.5, which reads, If the "singing of psalms with grace in the heart" means that we...

Considering Exceptions

Stephen Tipton
Jan 23, 2018
It is not uncommon for ministers in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) --the denomination in which I pastor--to lament a lack of doctrinal uniformity among fellow pastors in our denomination. It is also not uncommon for ministers in the denomination in which I minister to lament the...

The Regulative Principle of "Liturgical Sameness?"

Stephen Tipton
Apr 25, 2017
In the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)--the denomination in which I serve as a minister of the Gospel--quite a number of ministers lament the fact that you can attend five of our churches (all within the same city) only to have five very different worship experiences. Additionally, these same...

Why Every Fourth Grader Should Read Bavinck

Stephen Tipton
Dec 7, 2008
Why Every Fourth Grader Should Read Herman Bavinck God in his providence has allowed bad theology to remain in the world since the sixth day of creation. From Adam onward, each generation of believers has had to deal with error. And, as the body of Christ grows and develops, so too do the schemes...