It’s probably fair to say that the Free Church is no longer a self-consciously Reformed church. Instead, it sees itself as part of world-wide Evangelicalism, and the discipleship of its... Read more about 'Is the Free Church an 'non-cessationist' body?'...
The Reformation was not merely a revolution in theology. It was also a revolution in worship, and at the heart of that revolution lay two great convictions: first, that worship... Read more about 'The Reformation and Worship'...
Ever since the early 19th century the Book of Genesis has been dogged by questions linked to the ‘war’ between religion and science. What does Genesis say about the age of the earth? How long were its ‘days’? What of Genesis and evolution?
But do we ever read it on its own terms, or worry that the questions we put to it are questions it was never intended to answer: questions which never entered Moses’s head and which would have produced only looks of blank puzzlement on the faces of his original readers?
Read more about 'Why did Moses write Genesis?'...For many years now there have been signs of growing unrest among Presbyterians over the question of Infant Baptism. This unrest has generally been low-key, confined to more or less... Read more about 'Should Presbyterians Have Dedication Services?'...
The Reformation was first and foremost a spiritual movement. This is not to say that it was entirely uninfluenced by events outside the church, ranging from the invention of the... Read more about 'The Social Impact of the Reformation'...
Classical Christology for the Modern World: A Book Review Read more about 'Classical Christology for the Modern World'...
Five hundred years ago, on 31st October, 1517, a young German Professor of Theology, Dr. Martin Luther, pinned his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, a university town south-west of Berlin. The target of the Theses was the Papal Indulgences then being hawked around Germany, promising that on payment of a sum of money the Pope would grant not only remission for one’s own sins, but even immediate release from Purgatory for loved ones. As the popular jingle put it, ‘As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from Purgatory springs.’
Read more about 'The Reformation: Changing Europe For Ever'...This post is an extended review of Paul Helm, Faith, Form and Fashion: Classical Reformed Theology and Its Postmodern Critics (Cambridge: James Clarke and Co, 2014). Read more about 'Classical Reformed Theology and its Postmodern Critics'...
The popularity of the phrase semper reformanda seems to be on the up-and-up. Yet two serious questions surround it. Read more about 'Semper reformanda'...
The great Presbyterian buzz-word of the moment seems to be, ‘Christ, not tradition’, and like all buzz-words it has a modicum of truth. No church can be content just to let things remain as they are. At the very least we have to adapt to changing circumstances. When Gaelic ceases to be the language of a community it must cease to be the language of worship. When populations move from the countryside and spill into great industrial centres such as Glasgow and Dundee, the church must move with them. When most church-members have to work nine-to-five, five days a week, Communion Services must be rescheduled accordingly. And when the printing-press and the computer open up great new possibilities the church has to be quick to take advantage.
Read more about ''Christ, not tradition'?'...