Richard Gaffin

If Wayne Grudem's recent publications on the gift of prophecy are any indication, the debate over what the NT teaches about the duration of that gift is taking a new turn. Formerly we who follow the debate had only to study the arguments of the charismatic school (which affirms that prophecy continues) and the cessationist school (which denies that prophecy continues). Now, however, we must reckon with a third position based on the proposals of a Biblical scholar who does not place himself in the charismatic school but who nevertheless affirms that prophecy continues. To some this development will signal little more than the need to rename the charismatic school of thought—for example, by replacing "charismatic" with "noncessationist." But this would be to trivialize the work of Grudem, something that should not be done given the scholarly breadth and pastoral sensitivity he brings to his writings. Despite the very admirable traits Grudem displays, however, I...

A tradition cannot be enforced without having a ground outside itself. This was the conviction of the Puritans of the 17th century. They demanded that all practices must conform to biblical principles. Especially in worship to God, all practices are to flow from God’s commands. Therefore the day of worship must have its foundation in the Word of God. Prior to the Puritan era, the Lord’s Day had been observed with varying degrees of strictness; however, the underlying doctrinal grounds for Lord’s Day observance had often been treated in an ambiguous way. The Puritans delineated the precise relation between the Sabbath referred to at creation and in the fourth commandment, as well as the relation between the Old Testament Sabbath and the New Testament Lord’s Day. Their central argument was that the Sabbath is a perpetually binding moral ordinance rooted in creation.

The church of the Lord Jesus Christ, at least in the western world, lives in a sound bite culture and breathes an atmosphere which affects the way Christians interact with one another. Inadequately considered internet postings caricature opponents’ positions, and sweeping anathemas pollute the ether of theological discussion. Like a breeze flowing in off the ocean, Dr. Richard B. Gaffin’s most recent book, “By Faith, Not By Sight,” refreshes the reader. No, it doesn’t solve all of the problems of pollution. But, in addition to wrestling with issues of substance, it models how believers can and should communicate with and about one another.

... The centrality of the Resurrection: A study in Paul's soteriology. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: ... SPONSOR(S): ABSTRACT: A revision of the author's thesis, Westminster Theological Seminary, 1969, under title: Resurrection and redemption: a study in Pauline soteriology. ...

A survey treatment, in short compass, of so rich and multifaceted a topic as the Holy Spirit in Paul is bound to be supercial. A surely more promising alternative is to identify and reect on those viewpoints in his teaching on the Spirit that are dominant and most decisive. My ...

In commenting on I Peter 4:12, 13 and what is said there about Christian suffering, Calvin speaks of the “usefulness of the cross.”1 This usefulness, as he sees it, has two parts: (1) the refining trial God makes of our faith and (2) our becoming partakers with Christ. In this address I will reflect on what Calvin considers the “far surpassing” utility of the second aspect, what Peter and the rest of the New Testament, especially Paul, call the fellowship or participation of Christians in the sufferings and death of Christ. I propose to do this by exploring our theme (Christian suffering) within the context of the broader, perenially debated issue of biblical eschatology, particularly the eschatology of the New Testament. A subtitle to these remarks, then, could be “Eschatology and Christian Suffering.”