Category Archives: Index

Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: When the Rabbi Says “Come”

Scythopolis is filled with arena, theater, and gymnasia (universities), but Jesus chose no disciples here. But nearby is Bethsaida, a fishing village in Galilee, a town of 600 or so, with just 8 or 10 families. Hardly the place to … Continue reading

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Neo-Calvinism: Conclusions, Part 1

There’s a lot of material on the Internet about neo-Calvinism, much of it quite good. And we could go on for months talking about it. But it’s time to come to some conclusions. You don’t have to be a Calvinist … Continue reading

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Sex, Marriage and Miss California: Modesty, Part 2

Well, I had thought I’d finished this series, when this strange coincidence happened. You see, Tim Archer posted an article about how to dress for church called “How should we then dress?” On the same day, Mike Adams posted a … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Where Do We Go From Here?

The books on how to teach adult Bible classes all say you need to end with an application: how do we apply these lessons to our lives? It’s good to gain a perspective from history because it helps us separate … Continue reading

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Neo-Calvinism: Abraham Kuyper, Criticisms, Part 3

Common grace For [Kuyper] common grace is primarily a grace directed to the redemption of the cosmos and culture. By rooting this doctrine in the divine decree of predestination he was able to construct a system whereby God’s plan for … Continue reading

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Neo-Calvinism: Abraham Kuyper, Criticisms, Part 2

Douma points out that the Hebrew verb abad means simply to cultivate a field. This labour is required of man if he is to eat (Gen.1:29; 2:5; 3:17ff.). What these verses seem to tell us is that there is a … Continue reading

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Neo-Calvinism: Abraham Kuyper, Criticisms, Part 1

Pronk notes that there certain problems arose with Kuyper’s theology. Prior to Kuyper the Reformed, while not denying that the church has a task in society, put the emphasis on the salvation of sinners. Preaching for the Old School Calvinists, … Continue reading

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Neo-Calvinism: Abraham Kuyper, Introduction to His Thought

These posts will be built around a lecture given by Rev. C. Pronk on neo-Calvinism to the Student Society of the Free Reformed Churches of North America. For Kuyper the domain of Calvinism was much broader than what most people … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Positive Law

In hindsight, it’s easy to see that the doctrine taught by Stone, the Campbells, and Scott differed radically from much that was taught in the years following the Civil War. What changed? Surely they didn’t realize at the time that … Continue reading

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How Could a Benevolent God … ?

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