The Personal Website of Christopher Brown
How did Christ atone for His People? Protestant Theologians debate whether it was in an Equivalent or Exact Sense: Equivalent: “Not indefinite as to the duration, still…equivalent as to the value on account of the Person suffering.” -Turretin Exact: “Christ “made satisfaction by undergoing the same punishment…they themselves were bound to undergo…essentially the same in…
The age-old Post-Reformation debate between infralapsarianism and supralapsarianism is useful at times, and, personally, I have flip-flopped between both. At this time, though, I have developed what I think is somewhere between the two of them. You internet theologians let me know what you think: Works of God with Respect to Himself and Creatures I.…
Compel Them to Come in: Calvinism and the Free Offer of the Gospel by Donald MacLeod My rating: 4 of 5 stars MacLeod’s new work echoes much of what is said in Murray’s much-shorter work, albeit in a more readable format. It has an interesting structure, addressing divine sincerity in the middle of the book…
Debates in the Reformed circles of the Church range from petty to vicious to important, and I have no interest in jumping into unnecessary argumentation. But, I think the debate over whether Jesus is eternally, but functionally, subordinate to the Father in the Triune Godhead is an important one. The debate itself is basically over,…
Christians have looked warily at postmodernism for some time now. Its amorphous nature has never been appealing, and its candy-shop variety of metaphysical conclusions has been hard to accept. Sure, one can enjoy certain aspects of so-and-so’s post-structuralism, or rejoice in what’s-his-face’s view of textual analysis, or delight in another fellow’s critique of modernism’s epistemological…
Richard Baxter: 400 Years Later, Still a Model Pastor
Tomorrow, six of my pieces will be shown at Belhaven University at an alumni exhibition. These pieces are small, roughly 12″x12″, and are already framed. As I prepare to talk about my work, I think that a question many people may ask is, “Well this looks nice, but what does it mean?” It seems to…
I am a conservative Protestant, but I follow a good number of blogs by Roman Catholics, liberal Protestants, and a number of other people as well. Recently, though, I’ve noticed two major ideas that have been the subject of repeated and sustained attack. From the Roman Catholic blogs, I’ve seen a continued critique of the…
The Historical Jesus Goes To University Though I agree with J. Gresham Machen that McGrath’s form of liberal/progressive Christianity is “another religion”, I still applaud McGrath’s recent post for showing that scholars across the board recognize Jesus as an historical person.
Paths Christians Take When They Encounter Evolutionary Theory As a student in Seminary, I’m surrounded by the theological debates of the day. Within Reformed circles, the debates mainly revolve around confessional subscription, Sabbath observance, and the doctrine of sanctification. But, more Church-universal issues are centered around things like doctrine of Scripture, the nature of authority,…