Yesterday was a special day at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson. We celebrated a new (and large) incoming class of students and installed our newest chaired professor during Convocation. This was the 49th Convocation of RTS in Jackson, and it has been my joy to be a part in over half of them since joining the faculty in 1990. So, today was my 25th convocation and the beginning of my 25th year of professorial service. One of the joyful features of the day was the public recognition of Dr. Guy Prentiss Waters as the James M. Baird, Jr.…The 49th Convocation of Reformed Theological Seminary
Yesterday was a special day at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson. We celebrated a new (and large) incoming class of students and installed our newest chaired professor during Convocation. This was the 49th Convocation of RTS in Jackson, and it has been my joy to be a part in over half of them since joining the faculty in 1990. So, today was my 25th convocation and the beginning of my 25th year of professorial service. One of the joyful features of the day was the public recognition of Dr. Guy Prentiss Waters as the James M. Baird, Jr.…
Today, July 10, 2014, is the 505th birthday of John Calvin. He was born in Noyon, Picardy, France on 10 July, 1509. In July of 2009, I had the privilege of being a part of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Calvin’s birth. John Calvin was an important theologian and leader of the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The event was held, appropriately, in Geneva, Switzerland and in St. Pierre Church (and in the Auditoire de Calvin), and papers were read and sermons were preached, all related to the life and ministry and…
Archibald Alexander has some fascinating observations in his chapter “Imperfect Sanctification.–The Spiritual Warfare” in his famous book Thoughts on Religious Experience (1841) that are relevant to current discussions in the Reformed family on sanctification. See especially his remarks in the final paragraph quoted. When he speaks of “ultra-Calvinists” his reference is to Calvinistic Antinomianism (the denial of the moral law as a rule of life for believers and the denigration of progressive sanctification). “It may be difficult to…