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It’s not Personal … therefore not Moral (from Zrim)
Zrim proposed the following interesting argument: The only thing I can imagine is that you think to behave politically is to behave personally. But when I vote for or against something, or even abstain from any political involvement, Iām not behaving personally morally but politically (or apolitically as the case may be). This is the…
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Darryl Hart’s Affirmations and Denials, Escondido Theology, and the Two Kingdoms
Darryl G. Hart has posted (well, Reed has posted for Darryl) some affirmations and denials on issues related to DGH’s view of the Two Kingdoms, a view Darryl misleading refers to as “the two kingdoms view” but which departs significantly from the two kingdoms views of Calvin and the Westminster divines. I had originally drafted…
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Rawlsian 2K?
In a recent post, my friend Paul provides an interesting comparison between Rawls and the Neo-2K (sometimes referred to as “radical” 2k) crowd. My friend Paul has also defended his comparison against a charge that it misrepresents the Neo-2k position. To God be the Glory!
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Dordt and Common Grace
The expression “common grace” has an historical connection to the Remonstrants. That has led some Calvinists to reject entirely the term “common grace,” and to make this a shibboleth of “true Calvinism” or “classical Calvinism.” Such a shibboleth is foolish and mistaken, both because folks like Matthew Henry, Thomas Manton, and Jonathan Edwards used the…
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An Example of the Exegetical Blunders of Horton’s View of the Two Kingdoms
Prof. Michael Horton has an article entitled, “The Death of Osama bin Ladin: What Kind of Justice Has Been Done?” Horton takes the occasion of bin Ladin’s death as a chance to attempt to propagate his unhistorical view of the two kingdoms. I don’t mean to suggest that the idea of two kingdoms is not…
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Response to "Why One Should Read Before Writing" by R. Scott Clark
R. Scott Clark kindly responded to my previous post (link) with a post of his own (link). I write to correct a few errors in his post. 1. My State of Mind as to UnderstandingAfter a brief tangent about my pseudonymity, Prof. Clark characterizes my comments as being that I didn’t “understand how [Prof. Clark]…
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R. Scott Clark, Religious Freedom, and Two Kingdoms
Reformed pastor and professor R. Scott Clark recently posted an article on his blog (“Religious Freedom Watch: Feds to Force Schools to Monitor Facebook?“). A reader asked me how Prof. Clark can do this while holding to the Escondido position on the two kingdoms. I should preface my response by saying that I don’t know…
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Examining Stellman’s Pragmatic Objection to the Reformed View of the Two Kingdoms
My attention was recently directed to a 2007 blog post from Jason Stellman (who is frying bigger fish at the moment, and that’s a good thing). I don’t know whether he still holds to the opinions expressed in that post. Nevertheless, since my friend pointed it out to me, I thought I’d briefly respond. Pastor…
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Varieties of "Two Kingdoms" Positions
The idea that there are two kingdoms (the civil magistrate and the church) is a distinction that goes back, in terms of historical theology, at least to Augustine (leaving aside the Biblical question, which is an important one). There are, however, a variety of positions with respect to the two kingdoms. 1. Ultramontanism The ultramontanist…
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Does "Politics" Get to Trump God’s Law?
Here’s a quick thought: in a “democratic” country with a lot of Christians, at least some of those interested in political power will seek to cater to the Christians. Thus, topics that interest Christians like “Freedom for Christians to worship and evangelize,” “marriage as defined by the Bible,” “fornication is evil,” and “killing babies is…