Our Confession of Faith begins its chapter ‘Of God and of the Holy Trinity’ with this wonderful statement:

1. The Lord our God is but  one only living, and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself,  infinite in being, and perfection, whose Essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself;  a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light, which no man can approach unto, who is immutable,  immense, eternal, incomprehensible, Almighty, every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the councel of his own immutable, and most righteous will, for his own glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, the rewarder of them that diligently seek him, and withall most just, and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty. Continue Reading →

In reading from my great teacher John Owen, I came across this wonderful section from his sermon titled “The Duty of a Pastor.” It may be found in his Works, vol. 9:460-462.

I shall mention one duty more that is required of pastors and teachers in the church; and that is, — that, we labor diligently for the conversion of souls. This work is committed to them. Continue Reading →

It was great to visit Oceanside United Reformed Church this past Friday and Saturday and hear Carl Trueman lecture.  Continue Reading →

I have come to appreciate very much Carl Trueman’s observations on faith and life. His book Histories and Fallacies is a must read. Continue Reading →

Many years ago, when I was a very poor Ph.D. student, I spent a term working at the Angus Library, Regent’s Park College, Oxford. With very limited resources, I purchased several out-of-print journals and books, but I had to decline what would have been a true prize, a complete set of the Transactions of the Baptist Historical Society. This was the early name for what would become The Baptist Quarterly, and was published in seven volumes from 1908-1921. It is full of incredibly valuable material, including many reprinted primary sources from the Seventeenth century.

All of this material is now in the public domain and has been made available for free here. Additionally, the entire set may be downloaded in .pdf format. This is a great bounty. And beyond this wonderful resource, the early issues of The Baptist Quarterly are also being scanned and placed on the same website.

Tolle lege.

About two years ago, I was asked to contribute to an online discussion of Baptist origins, published in the Journal of Baptist Studies. My task was to present the English Separatist view of Baptist development. The question is an important one, and deserves careful thought. I sought to write based on the use of a selection of primary sources. Continue Reading →

IRBS Fellow Dr. Crawford Gribben has an important new book available. Continue Reading →

On Tuesday October 5, a special event took place during the chapel service at Westminster Seminary California. The day before had been a milestone birthday for Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, the Seminary’s president. This event was marked by the revelation of a secret that had been successfully kept from Dr. Godfrey–no small feat. Continue Reading →

The Benefits of Having a Church Intern by Pastor Dave Johnston, Bible Fellowship Church, Greentown, PA

We tried to come up with all the downsides to using a pastoral intern fresh out of seminary.  Our elders sat with our deacons to pool our collective pessimism.  “He’ll make mistakes.”  “He’ll say the wrong things.”  “He’ll cost us time and money.” “Nobody will listen to him.”  So far, we came up with all the reasons not to have me as pastor.  We finally decided to call one of our sister churches that had a long experience in the ministry of interns.  Continue Reading →