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Westminster Theological Seminary – Can Institutions Respond to Controversy in Radical Love (Part Three)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:24-05:00July 10th, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Christ/Christology, Church History, Current Affairs, Education, Hermeneutics, History, Personal, Reformed Christianity, The Church, The Future|

There have been a number of previous controversies at Westminster Theological Seminary (PA). In the middle of the last decade there was one that many believe is linked (in some way) to the “retirement” issue of Doug Green. The Enns debate surrounded the teaching of Dr. Peter Enns, an Old Testament professor who left the faculty six years ago. It is widely believed that some of the issues regarding the teaching of Pete Enns, according to people on both sides of the current 2014 Douglas Green controversy, should be understood in the broader context of the seminary’s debate over hermeneutics. Dr. Enns resigned, under considerable duress, in 2008. The issue surrounding Enns’ teaching grew out of the publication of his book, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament (Baker, 2005). This book was unfavorably reviewed in the magazine of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. A battle about what Enns wrote followed. Articles appeared in academic journals and many people beyond the school were hard pressed to understand the central issue. I recall reviewing the book myself and then reading the review published in […]

Today’s Post – Revisions Being Made

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:24-05:00July 10th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|

I had several historical and factual errors in my post made earlier today about Westminster Seminary. I am presently correcting these errors and will repost this blog (Part Three) later today. Bear with me while I try to make sure that what I report is accurate and truthful. I welcome any corrections to my post(s) and will seek to get this story right before I proceed to the next posts in the series. I knew in writing this story that I would likely not have all the facts quite right so please bear with me while I listen and rewrite. I cannot make the points that I wish to make next week if the facts I share today are wrongly reported.

Westminster Theological Seminary: Can Institutions Respond to Controversy in Radical Love? (Part Two)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:24-05:00July 9th, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Current Affairs, Hermeneutics, Personal, Reformed Christianity, The Church|

Yesterday I provided a general historical overview of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. I wrote this overview because of my long interest in the school, its faculty and its students, mostly those who are graduates and who remain friends. I am not a Westminster graduate. I have never been a Presbyterian. I am an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America. This Dutch tradition is far less rigid in how it uses the confessions standards than the more conservative tradition at Westminster. I say all this because my true desire in writing these posts is to serve the good of the kingdom of God and to be utterly transparent in what I write. I am far more interested in the impact of Westminster upon the wider church. Westminster’s impact, in my view, has been primarily one that has been good for the mission of the church. I am also deeply interested in how the school has dealt with the removal of several faculty members in recent years. With this in mind my second point about Westminster Seminary, […]

Westminster Theological Seminary: Can Institutions Respond to Controversy in Radical Love? (Part One)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:24-05:00July 8th, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Current Affairs, Hermeneutics, History, Personal, Reformed Christianity, The Church|

In early June I commented on my Facebook wall about the “retirement” of Old Testament professor Dr. Douglas Green at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia (WTS). You can read the official Westminster announcement online. The seminary says that Dr. Green is leaving for early “retirement.” But Doug Green is not of retirement age in the normative use of this word, meaning he is not 65 or older. The school says that he will honorably retire next year, on October 1, 2015. But he left his teaching position as of the end of the last term (2014). I commented on my Facebook wall about this departure in a manner that challenged this statement. I also questioned the integrity of the investigation and the final decision made by the board. (My words were not as charitable as they should have been and I noted that within a few hours of posting my short comment.) While I confess that I know a great deal about this decision, and much which gives me genuine pause (none of which comes from Dr. Green who […]

For the Life of the World: The Classic Book and a New Video Series

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:25-05:00July 7th, 2014|Categories: Acton Institute, American Evangelicalism, Culture, Discipleship, Film, Personal, Renewal, The Church, The Future|

I have mentioned my friend Byron Borger at Hearts & Minds Books in several contexts. There is no better reviewer of good books than Byron. Everyone who values my blogs should subscribe to his newsletters and pay attention to his reviews and book specials. There is simply no better Christian resource for good books – at least in the Protestant world – so far as I have discovered. Below is a review that covers the brilliant new film series that I am totally stoked about: “For the Life of the World.” Please order this series from Byron and you will not regret it I promise you. Show these films to friends, your small group, your local church, your adult education class, your older children, etc. There is no better introduction to whole life discipleship thinking available. This is not a series of polemical overviews but a good, solid Christian discipleship resource about living well that is applied to life in a holistic way.

Hearts & Minds Books

DVD “For the Life of the […]

July 4 – Enjoying Freedom With Caution

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:25-05:00July 4th, 2014|Categories: America and Americanism, Freedom, Personal|

I love my country. I believe that true patriotic love for one’s home and nation is a wonderful emotion. I am troubled, however, by a continual insistence that a certain ideology is tantamount to true patriotism. This ideology grows stronger the more polarized we become in our public life. This ideology is also antithetical to the kingdom of Christ yet it easily gets linked with celebrations like July 4. Balanced and healthy Christian patriotism is not blind nor is it silent.

I saw a T-shirt last night at a baseball game which said: “In God We Trust. Deal With It.”

I wanted to ask the wearer what this meant but I was trying to relax, not start a debate. Something about it really bothered me. If, for whatever reason, I do not believe “In God We Trust” should be a national motto on our coins and in other parts of our reigning opinion then I have only one choice: “Deal With It.” So much for my freedom.

What if a person loves their country but sees flaws in it that are harmful […]

“Manny Being Manny” – Who Is this “New” Manny Ramirez?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:25-05:00July 2nd, 2014|Categories: Baseball, Love, Personal|

Former Major League Baseball all-star Manny Ramirez was the perennial “bad boy” of the sport. With his long dreadlocks, sullen attitude, disrespect for the game in general and inability to get along with teammates, the perennial slugger was both a sensational talent and a complete drain on teams who employed him. When Manny Ramirez left baseball I frankly never missed him. Then this all changed on Sunday.

Manny Ramirez was born in 1972 in the Dominican Republic. My first memory of Ramirez was the 1995 World Series when he was a second-year regular player and a huge threat to the great pitching staff of the Atlanta Braves in the post-season. The Braves, as some readers know, are my childhood favorite team. I watched the Braves great pitchers (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz) work carefully to get around Manny. Along with Jim Thome they feared his bat in the Cleveland lineup as much as that of any slugger in the game. Later Ramirez would play for a World Championship team in Boston. (Manny played for twenty years; […]

The Legacy of Howard Baker, Jr. (1925-2014)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:25-05:00July 1st, 2014|Categories: America and Americanism, Culture, Current Affairs, Personal, Politics|

The funeral of one of the finest public servants in my lifetime will be held this morning in a small Presbyterian Church in the tiny East Tennessee town of Huntsville. When I first heard of Senator Howard Baker’s passing last week I felt more than a usual measure of sadness about the death of a well-known American. Baker, the former son-in-law of the famous Everett Dirksen, served as Ronald Reagan’s chief-of-staff, as Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate and as an ambassador to Japan. Howard Baker filled many roles during his illustrious public life but the man Howard Baker was an even better person than he was a political leader. Let me tell you why I believe this is true.

Howard Baker (1925–2014) was 88 years old when he died. He rose to prominence when he famously asked at the Senate Watergate Committee hearings: “What did the president know, and when did he know it?” The beginning of the end for President Nixon was clear when the voice of Howard Baker was raised in honest doubt about the […]

Must the Reformation Wars Continue? (Twenty-Two)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:25-05:00June 30th, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Church History, Faith, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

In this my final post in this series I wish to note that the way forward is for Protestants and Catholics to get to know one another much better. Out of dialogue we can learn to say very simple things and not initially major on trying to tease out all the details until we first build trust. Disagreement should not be ignored but disagreement must be addressed in the right context and manner.

Regarding the Council of Trent – which was quoted by several in the original post I responded to as saying: “Let anyone who says that we are saved by faith alone be anathema.” The actual quote is: “If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in divine mercy, which remits sins for Christ’s sake, or that it is this confidence alone that justifies us, let him be anathema” (Council of Trent, Session VI, Canon 12). The blog commenter has replaced “nothing else than confidence in divine mercy” with “faith.” I do not accept this substitution as equivalent. “Nothing else than” is an important […]

St. Patrick’s Bad Analogies

By John Armstrong|2014-06-25T17:31:31-05:00June 26th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|

So, do you think it is easy to express the doctrine of the trinity faithfully and clearly? Think again. And laugh just a little as you watch and listen to some intelligent theological humor.