Coram Deo: Living Before the Face of God by Burk Parsons One could perhaps make the argument that the history of the church consists of one division after another. Nevertheless, while history is replete with ecclesiastical divisions, there is a unity that transcends all the worldly clamor and devilish confusion...

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The July edition of Tabletalk is out. This month's theme is The Eighth Century, the period of history that fell midway between the founding of the church and the time of the Protestant Reformation. The daily devotions continue our study of the book of Matthew.We don't post all of the...

Continue Reading Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, July 2008...

Seek Ye Firstby R.C. Sproul Jr.There is no such thing as the "More Party." They do not run campaigns seeking to unseat sitting officials of the "Less Party." Both "more" and "less" need more context and less ambiguity. We need to know what we are getting more or less...

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International Outreachby Timothy A. DickOver the years, Ligonier Ministries has been blessed with many opportunities to provide biblical teaching resources for the church in various countries and languages. Yet, at this moment in time, unlike any other, we are perhaps on the horizon of a new reformation. We believe...

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by Steven J. Lawson For the last four years, I have spoken at a conference on the West Coast called Resolved. The name is drawn from the Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards and is aimed at college students and "twenty-somethings" in the next generation. As an eighteen and nineteen year old,...

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Pastor's Perspectiveby Terry L. JohnsonDuring the Reformation era, debates raged over what things must be considered crucial to Christian faith and practice, and what could be considered adiaphora (Latin for "things indifferent"). All sides agreed that the doctrines of the Trinity, the atonement, and justification were central. But what...

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Right Now Counts Foreverby R.C. SproulThe nineteenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for his declaration that "God is dead." That brief dictum does not give the whole story. According to Nietzsche, the cause of the Deity's demise was compassion. He said, "God is dead; He died of pity." But before...

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Generation to Generationby Niel NielsonRecently, an acquaintance of mine gathered these statistics on the choices available today: 200 cable channels; 255 ways to order a Big Mac; 19,000 possible combinations for coffee at Starbucks and 78,998 for ice cream and toppings at Cold Stone Creamery; and more than 500,000 mathematical...

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Truth and Consequencesby Gene Edward VeithToday's postmodernists use cultural pluralism as a pretext for relativism, as if the existence of many cultures implied the existence of many truths. Many Americans embrace multiculturalism as if they had no culture of their own. In religion, pluralism has given rise to a...

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Pro Ecclesia: For the Churchby Robert M. NorrisI am not used to being considered a heretic. Yet recently, when a colleague and I visited a friend who teaches theology at a famous British university, we found ourselves faced with this charge! In a conversation that had quickly turned to...

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Tolle Lege: Take Up and Readby Keith MathisonI face something of a dilemma here that I believe C. J. Mahaney might appreciate. He has written a wonderful book in which he seeks to share insight on the practice of true humility and the conquest of pride. However, as he...

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Coram Deo (Living before the face of God)by Burk ParsonsOur enemy's supreme deception is in his attempt to convince us that he doesn't exist. Toward that end, he has launched his assault against us with every weapon in his carefully fashioned arsenal. Perhaps his greatest success is in persuading us...

Continue Reading Don't Be So Open-minded...

by Roger NicoleIn modern English the words apology and apologize indicate regret because some statement or action was offensive and wrong. This is not the case for "apologetics" in theology, for that discipline is intended to manifest "a point of view is right." It is intended for those who differ...

Continue Reading God in the Dock: The Apologetics of C.S. Lewis...

by Sinclair B. FergusonNovember 22, 1963, the date of President Kennedy's assassination, was also the day C.S. Lewis died. Seven years earlier he had thus described death: "The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." The metaphor inherent in these words is...

Continue Reading Surprised by Joy: The Life of C.S. Lewis...

For sixty years, successive generations have been helped by what C.S. Lewis wrote on the subject of pain and suffering. The sustained benefit is due in large measure to the fact that he brought to the "problem" a solid dose of Christian realism. This medicine may be more important now...

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Truth and Consequences by Gene Edward Veith Dante ranks right up there with Shakespeare and Homer as the greatest writers of our civilization. Though the Italian poet, who lived from 1265 to 1321, embodies the High Middle Ages, he is sometimes called a proto-reformer for his bold condemnation of the...

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by Leland RykenThe most important lessons that we can learn from C.S. Lewis' Narnian Chronicles are the ones that Lewis himself wanted us to learn. It so happens that Lewis said enough about literature in general and the Narnian books in particular that it is possible to read Lewis' classic...

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Right Now Counts Foreverby R.C. SproulC.S. Lewis emerged as a twentieth-century icon in the world of Christian literature. His prodigious work combining acute intellectual reasoning with unparalleled creative imagination made him a popular figure not only in the Christian world but in the secular world as well. The Chronicles of...

Continue Reading The Weight of Glory: The Significance of C.S. Lewis...

Unless you've been living in a beaver's house, you know that Prince Caspian descends on theaters Friday. While the secular, materialist culture at large tries to understand why C.S. Lewis' worldview makes them uncomfortable, we thought we would take a moment to celebrate this unique man's contributions.The January 2008 issue...

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Generation to Generation by Ron Gleason Being a pastor has been the most humbling, challenging, fulfilling, and wonderful calling of my life. It was in the pastoral ministry that I learned -- and still am learning -- that true success is not measured by the size of your salary or...

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Seek Ye First by R.C. Sproul Jr. Every culture and subculture has its own taboos. Not all of them are the same, however. Given that we are all human, how can we explain the divergence of cultural standards? Why is it that one culture will find adultery to be a...

Continue Reading At Least I'm Honest...

Tolle Lege: Take Up and Read by Keith A. Mathison It should come as little surprise to learn that the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement of Christ has come under renewed criticism in recent decades. The Reformers dealt with such criticisms and attacks from the Socinians. Our more recent forefathers...

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Pastor's Perspective by Robert S. Rayburn Pride is the idolatry of the self. It is the nature of pride as competition with God -- the displacing of God by the self at the center -- that has led many Christian thinkers through the ages to regard pride (superbia) as the...

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Pro Ecclesia: For the Church by George Grant The heroine of My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle, captured the sentiment of most of us when she complained, "Words, words, words -- I am so sick of words. I get words all day through, first from him, now from you. Is that...

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Coram Deo: Living Before the Face of God by Burk Parsons We all certainly agree that all virtues are heavenly and that all sins are deadly. Nevertheless, certain virtues are more heavenly than others, and certain sins lead to death more quickly than other sins. While some sins are private...

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The May edition of Tabletalk is now distributed to subscribers. This month's theme is "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues" and the issue includes articles written by R.C. Sproul, Thabiti Anyabwile, Robert W. Carver, Chris Donato, Ron Gleason, George Grant, Ken Jones, Jonathan Leeman, Robert S. Rayburn,...

Continue Reading Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, May 2008...

Ligonier Ministries has begun working with a unique translation effort called Gospel Translations. It's a partnership between several ministries. We appreciate our friends at Sovereign Grace, Desiring God, and 9Marks who have spearheaded this effort.As Philip Jenkins has written, Christianity is growing in the Global South. Our concern is that...

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Pro Ecclesia (For the Church)by R. Albert Mohler Jr.The Bible consistently affirms education as a central responsibility of God's people. In the Old Testament, the Jewish people were reminded that the education of their own children was an essential part of their responsibility as God's covenant people. In Israel, a...

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Pro Ecclesia (For the Church)by Richard D. PhillipsSince we live in a fallen world, our greatest strengths have a way of giving birth to our greatest weaknesses. This is why some churches that emphasize a strong Bible-preaching pulpit are less vigorous in ministries of mercy. One inner city Presbyterian church...

Continue Reading What the Needy Need...

If you are a reader of contemporary theological works and you have not already encountered the name "N.T. Wright," you will. Wright is the Anglican Bishop of Durham, and he is one of the most prolific biblical scholars of our day. I first encountered Wright's name years ago while doing...

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Generation to Generationby Joshua Harris When I turned twenty-one, my dad gave me this simple advice: “Find men that you want to be like and then sit at their feet.” As I launched into manhood, he was reminding me that the lessons I needed most wouldn’t be found in a...

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Pastor's Perspective by Kim Riddlebarger Of all the Reformation-era catechisms, perhaps none is as well-loved as the Heidelberg Catechism. In the opening question and answer, the personal and distinctive tone of the catechism becomes evident. “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” This is not a theoretical...

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Right Now Counts Foreverby R.C. SproulThe Latin word credo means simply "I believe." It represents the first word of the Apostles' Creed. Throughout church history it has been necessary for the church to adopt and embrace creedal statements to clarify the Christian faith and to distinguish true content from error...

Continue Reading Norma Normata -- A Rule that is Ruled...

This is from Burk Parsons' column "Coram Deo: Living Before the Face of God" written to introduce the April 2008 edition of Tabletalk. He is the editor of Tabletalk magazine and minister of congregational life at Saint Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Florida.*****One dutchman, a theologian. Two dutchmen, a church. Three...

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The April edition of Tabletalk has now reached our subscribers hands. This month's theme is on The Three Forms of Unity, those formative documents produced during that revival of the Gospel we call the Protestant Reformation. The daily devotions continue our study of the book of Matthew.We'll post some of...

Continue Reading Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, April 2008...

Most readers know Tabletalk magazine for its helpful, topical articles as well as the daily Bible studies. In 2008, the editors have started posting the magazine's columns as well as R.C. Sproul's popular "Right Now Counts Forever" article. Here are the links to the March edition:Coram Deo (Living Before the...

Continue Reading Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, March 2008...