This review relates to the belief that the Spirit inspired the canon and then led the church to recognize it. This subject, then, is directly related to the work of the Spirit and our understanding of his guidance. In this article, Nicole asks the question of why God did not give us an explicit list […]
The Consistency of Divine Sovereignty and Human Accountability: Why Humans are Morally Accountable
In the last article, we saw how it can be that God from all eternity ordained “whatsoever comes to pass” and yet is not “the author of sin” (Westminister Confession of Faith, 3.1). Having shown this, the issue that we will focus on in this article is how God’s control over all things does not […]
Review of Robert Thomas’ “Correlation of Revelatory Spiritual Gifts and New Testament Canonicity”
The focus of this article is how the revelatory gifts are related to the identification of the canon. Thomas first seeks to identify exactly what the revelatory gifts are. He argues that there are four: apostle, prophecy, word of knowledge, and word of wisdom. If, as he will seek to show, apostle is not the […]
Joy of Heavenly Rewards
In heaven there will be “degrees of happiness in a world of perfect joy.”[1] Think of that. Degrees of happiness in a world of perfect joy. How can this be? A comprehension of this profound mystery can help give us a deeper amazement of the majestic glory of God to be displayed in the world […]
Review of Vern S. Poythress’ “The Divine Meaning of Scripture”
What is the relation between the divine and human authors of Scripture? Those who completely separate divine and human meaning have often fallen into unbridled allegory, since the text itself no longer offers any controls. This makes Poythress appreciate the insights of the position that completely equates divine and human meaning. However, even with the […]
Brief Thoughts on the Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament
Why does it seem that the New Testament often quotes the Old Testament out of context? This question is important because, as we answer it, we come to see Christ more fully in the Old Testament and we come to see how insightful the NT authors were in their reading of the Old Testament. As […]
The Amazing Providence of God
Is God in control? If so, what does it mean to say that God is in control? These are two very important questions because the answers affect how we view God, how we view the world, and how we view ourselves. The answers are found by examining the Biblical teaching on the Providence of God. […]
Review of James Packer’s “Keswick and the Reformed Doctrine of Sanctification”
For a long time, there was no comprehensive and definitive statement of Keswick theology, making it hard to interact with. Steven Barabas changed that with the publication of his book So Great Salvation. In this article, Packer contrasts the Reformed view of sanctification with the Keswick view, as presented in Barabas’ book. Packer believes that […]
The Old Testament Theology of Promise: An Evaluation of Dr. Walter C. Kaiser’s Proposal
RESTATEMENT Dr. Walter Kaiser states perhaps one of the most crucial and yet disputed questions of contemporary Old Testament theology: “Does a key exist for an orderly and progressive arrangement of the subjects, themes, and teachings of the Old Testament?”[1] Further, were the Old Testament authors aware of such a theme? Dr. Kaiser seeks to […]
Understanding the Inspiration of the Bible
“Everyone has a basis of authority on which he thinks and acts. For the Christian this is the Bible, claimed to be a book that is different from all others,” says Charles Ryrie. [1] The Bible is indeed different from all other books–it claims to be the inspired word of God. But this raises many […]