the Bible is the only infallible rule of conduct for the civil magistrate in the discharge of his magistracy just as it is the only infallible rule in other spheres of human activity
—John Murray
I’m thankful the OPC’s Ordained Servant allowed me to reply to @ReallyOldLife:
“Hart severely understates the political duties taught in the New Testament. In this sense, he is out of step with the confessional exegesis of the OPC’s brightest lights.”
https://t.co/sO47oh9Dbw
Westminster President Dr. Peter Lillback reflects on a central truth of theological education at Westminster: it is not merely academic, but formation for faithful ministry and lasting fruit in Christ’s kingdom.
Westminster alumnus Simon Arscott explains the blessings of the Lord using text as His chosen medium in revelation from last year's IPC Catalyst conference. The conference offers three days of rich, profound reflection on the doctrine of communion with God. Sign up today!
🔗 https://t.co/FHRQOUMj6s
There is some discussion about seminary size and growth because of @ryanburge's recent post on this site, and his @Substack article (which has tons of helpful and accurate info). @ReformTheoSem is the only confessional reformed seminary in the top 20 largest seminaries. Ryan's stats are from the ATS SIR and based on FTE (full time equivalent) students.
But FTE is not the gold standard for institutional comparison. In fact, Bob Cara, my Provost and a recognized expert in accreditation says: “For grad schools, FTE based on one semester is virtually useless to compare across schools." Just for fun, I asked AI to to tell me all about FTE, and this was its conclusion: “While FTE is a helpful metric for internal planning and funding distribution, its inconsistencies across institutions make it unreliable for direct comparisons between schools. To get a clearer picture of enrollment, FTE should be used alongside other metrics, such as total credit hours (TCH), headcount, retention rates, and graduation rates.” That’s actually not a bad conclusion! Score one point for AI.
To illustrate the limitations of FTE as a measure, RTS was ranked 18th in the top 20 of FTE list that Ryan produced on his graph. But we have a higher annual enrollment, teach more credit hours, and twice the residential credit hours of the school ranked 10th in FTE!
TCH is the gold standard in determining the comparative size of seminaries and graduate schools. It is the measure preferred by the Evangelical Seminary Deans' Council (ESDC). I'll write more on this soon.
What does "tasted death" mean in Hebrews 2:9? Dr. Sinclair Ferguson helps us understand from last year's Catalyst Conference. Sign up today to enjoy one the most enriching and thoughtful conferences of the entire year. You won't want to miss it.
🔗 https://t.co/T6DcgZW7nh
The whole curriculum of an orthodox seminary is built upon the conception of Christian theism as a unit. The Bible is at the center not only of every course, but at the center of the curriculum as a whole.
Over at @TGC I have an article on how to assess the argument that Hebrews teaches Jesus's sacrifice is a heavenly sacrifice. For a longer discussion, the article links to an essay I wrote in the WTJ from @WestminsterTS
https://t.co/DSUEvn3poH
What's a Christian response to the mental health crisis? I wrote this Point of Contact from @WestminsterTS to get into the details, mining the wisdom of David Powlison and applying it to contemporary culture: Sigmund Freud, Carl Rogers, B.F. Skinner, and even @AbigailShrier. God is at the center of our mental health, and he always will be. You can get this delivered to your physical mailbox by signing up here:
https://t.co/lGq71fDPwe
Power often changes hands.
What was once tolerated can suddenly become dangerous.
The English persecutions under Mary would force Knox into yet another exile, and sharpen what he would later bring back to Scotland.
The Scottish Tempest – Episode 4: Blood and Fire drops Friday.
Preview: