Search results for: “trinity”
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Happy Birthday, Augustus Toplady
Today (November 4) is the birthday of Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778), the Anglican clergyman who wrote “Rock of Ages,” one of the greatest English hymns ever. The hymn was first published in March 1776 in the magazine of which Toplady was editor, the Gospel Magazine. It was appended to an article about that most unedifying…
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Evangelicals and the Deep Things
It’s time for another report on the ongoing discussion prompted by my new book, The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything. There have been several developments in the past few days, as the book is finding readers hither and yon. Doug Wilson at Blog & Mablog gives Seven Reasons Why “The Deep…
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The Trinitarianism of the Fundamentals
One of the most important ventures in religious publishing and theological education in the twentieth century was The Fundamentals, an interdenominational publication that marked the conservative evangelical revolt against modernism in the early years of the century. Published serially in twelve volumes over the course of five years, they were sent free of charge to…
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Workin’ for the Weekend
No matter your taste, Canada has given us some good music over the years. If you want to make a political statement you listen to Bruce Cockburn. Wanna rock like it’s the summer of ’69? Then there’s Bryan Adams. Riding in an elevator? Listen to Céline Dion. If you’re feeling ironic, turn to Alannis Morissette.…
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Aimee Semple McPherson's Penchant for System
Today (Oct. 9) is the birthday of Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944), the bombastic and showy Pentecostal evangelist who made her mark on Los Angeles in the early decades of the twentieth century. At various times in my life, I’ve lived in the shadow of McPherson without knowing it: I grew up in a Foursquare church,…
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Gospel-Driven, Rightly Dividing, and Buzzard
Three more reviews of The Deep Things of God in recent days that are worth pointing out: Pastor Mark Lauterbach at GospelDrivenLife is starting a series of posts, blogging about the Trinity and the gospel in dialogue with the book. He calls my work “utterly unoriginal.” How dare he! Oh wait, that’s a compliment. Okay,…
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Allen Chatfield Translates Some Really Old Hymns
Slow day for church history? Yes indeed. The most interesting thing I could find that happened on October 2 is the birth of Allen W. Chatfield (1808-1896), the 19th-century Anglican vicar and translator of Greek hymns. Chatfield studied classics at Cambridge and then got ordained, so he was the man for the job of bringing…
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Marburg Colloquy
Today (October 1) was the first day of the Marburg Colloquy, a 1529 conference that attempted to bring together two streams of the brand-new Protestant movement. On one side were the Germans, led by Luther and his right-hand man Melanchthon, and on the other side were the Swiss, led by Zwingli and supported by others…
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The Birth of Servetus
Today (September 29) is the birthday of Miguel Servet, better known as Michael Servetus (1511-1553), the Spanish theologian who forcefully denied the Trinity, and died for those convictions. Discussions of the execution of Servetus are easy enough to find, usually in connection with John Calvin’s involvement in the process. But on his birthday, let us…
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The Trinitarian Theology of Keith Green
Trinitarian theology is a great and lofty thing; it’s for trained theologians to do very serious work with. But it is also something that is near to every Christian, even in their mouths. An ordinary believer who has grasped the main outline of the gospel is probably operating with a functional trinitarian theology that is,…
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Jesus in Your Heart, Yes.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” says the risen Lord to the Laodicean church (Revelation 3:20). There is an evangelical tradition of using this verse’s imagery in evangelism, and Dan Wallace recently gave some attention to this notion of telling unbelievers to ask Jesus into their hearts. The bottom line is, according to…
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Lose My Wits? Unhinge My Brains? Ruin My Mind? Pursue Distraction?
Last year I tried to find the source of the oft-quoted but seldom footnoted saying, The Trinity: Try to Understand It and You’ll Lose Your Mind. Try to Deny It and You’ll LOSE YOUR SOUL! Rooting around in a large collection of Trinity books, I couldn’t find a source any older than 1953. It seemed…