Whether the person baptized is to be wholly immersed, and that whether once or thrice, or whether he is only to be sprinkled with water, is not of the least consequence: churches should be at liberty to adopt either according to the diversity of climates, although it is evident that the term baptize means to immerse, and that this was the form used by the primitive Church.

-- John Calvin, Institutes 4.16.19

Subscribers, I know many of you have your own Telegram channels, blogs, and resources. Please plug them in the comments for everyone to see!

Keep courting Lady Wisdom, fellas

The Bible teaches that God sanctifies and saves men through the truth; that the Spirit works with and by the truth in conveying to me the benefits of redemption. It matters not whether that truth be brought before the mind by hearing or reading it, or in the use of significant divinely appointed emblems. The fact and the method of the deliverance of the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, were as clearly taught in the sacrament of the Passover, as in the written words of Moses. So the fundamental truths just mentioned are as clearly and impressively taught in the sacrament of baptism, as in the discourses of our blessed Lord himself.

-- Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, 3.20.12

I'm not a huge fan of RZ, but this is an excellent video. The John Gerstner clip alone is worth the price of admission.

https://youtu.be/ilL4MEnD_A8?si=RRfuIY99O8XWq6Ab

So then we must ever come to this point, that the sacraments are effectual and that they be no trifling signs which vanish away in the air, but that the truth is always matched with them, because that God who is faithful, showed that he had no ordained anything in vain. And by is the cause why in baptism we receive truly the forgiveness of our sins, we be washed and cleansed with the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we be renewed by operation of his holy spirit. And how so? Had a little water such power when it is cast upon head of a child? No, but because it is the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, the water should be a visible sign of his blood and of the holy Ghost, therefore baptism had by virtue and whatsoever is there set forth to the eye, is forth with accomplished in every deed. 

-- John Calvin, Sermons on Deuteronomy, Sermon No. 200 on Ch. 34

How I roll up late to work, PSL in hand

Happy Holy Halloween All!

Reformation Roundtable!

In 24 hours, we will gather for a conversation to celebrate the Reformation, discuss its history, and future implications. And of course, to celebrate Luther pwning the papcy.

Sunday, Oct. 27th, 2:00 p.m. EST

Some friends of the channel joining in:
Confessional Lutheran Theology
That Ancient Faith

Reformation Roundtable Voicechat!

Today, we will gather for a conversation to celebrate the Reformation, discuss its history, and future implications. And of course, to celebrate Luther pwning the papcy.

Sunday, Oct. 27th, 2:00 p.m. EST

Some friends of the channel joining in:
Confessional Lutheran Theology
That Ancient Faith

Click here to join the voicechat!

Audio of the event here: Thanks again to our guests for their time and contributions!

Propositions on Righteous Resistance:

1. Christians ought to obey the civil magistrate as a fellow servant of God for their blessing in all their lawful commands and ordinances.

2. The obedience God commands us render to magistrates is not absolute for magistrates themselves frequently disobey God and fail to justly enforce his law.

3. Christians can and must disobey the magistrate when required to do something sinful or prevented from fulfilling their positive duties towards God.

4. In some instances, magistrates will mandate or prohibit an action or item which is, in and of itself, perfectly moral or even good, but when such a mandate or prohibition is an overreach of their power and a breach of their jurisdictional authority, the situation is more nuanced.

5. There are situations in which Christians may lawfully take up arms against a magistrate.

6. Christians are to understand the times in which they live and the culture they inhabit.

"But the mind, anxious to know all and restless under doubt and uncertainty, is tempted to renounce the first principles of reason and to contradict the facts which it daily observes. It seeks consistency of thought, and rather than any gaps shall be left unfilled, it plunges every thing into hopeless confusion. Instead of accepting the laws of intelligence, and patiently following the light of reason, and submitting to ignorance where ignorance is the lot of his nature, as limited and finite, and joyfully receiving the partial knowledge which is his earthly inheritance, man, under the impulse of curiosity, had rather make a world that he does understand than admit one which he cannot comprehend. When he cannot stretch himself to the infinite dimensions of truth, he contracts truth to his own little measure. This is what the Apostle means by vanity of mind."

— James Henley Thornwell, "Man's Natural Ignorance of God", Collected Writings Vol. 1


"A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself."

— Proverbs 18:2