by | Jul 23, 2012 | Bible, Books, Church, Preaching, Theology, Worship
Many Christians who embrace Reformed Theology have a serious problem with the Holy Spirit. At least, I know that I, as a Christian firmly committed to Reformed Theology, have had a serious problem with the Holy Spirit for much of my life. We Reformed Christians love...
by | Jan 28, 2011 | Bible, Church, Theology, Worship
This post is a continuation of On the Efficacy of the Sacraments and Word, Spirit, and Dry Bones, in which I have been trying to get my head around the differences between Lutheran and Reformed understandings of the relationship between the Holy Spirit, the Word of...
by | Jan 28, 2011 | Bible, Books, Church, Preaching, Theology, Worship
In a previous post, I quoted Charles Hodge’s argument that the Spirit of God alone gives efficacy to the Word and to the sacraments: There is, therefore, a strict analogy, according to the Reformed doctrine, between the Word and the sacraments as a means of...
by | Jan 22, 2011 | Books, Church, Theology, Worship
I have been studying up on the sacraments for ordination exams, and, in Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology, I came across an interesting contrast between how Lutheran and Reformed Christians understand the efficacy of the sacraments that I did not previously...
by | May 24, 2009 | Church, Theology, Worship
Today is Ascension Sunday, and I was pleased that my church celebrated Christ’s Ascension and included a part of the Heidelberg Catechism on the subject: Question 49. Of what advantage to us is Christ’s ascension into heaven? Answer: First, that he is our...