There is a debate about the future of Presbyterian churches in Scotland. The debate is inadequate because it does not begin with Scripture but with historical and theological analysis, presumably to detect where things went wrong in order to put them right. There is certainly a role for this, but the cure should arise from …
Category: Reformation
A new beginning in Rome
The Boyd family gathered in Rome today. It was a unique gathering, on a unique occasion, in a unique place, to witness an international union between Scotland and Peru, and a new beginning in Rome. My only-begotten, beloved son James was united in marriage before God and His earthly witnesses with Rebeca, the beloved of …
Inadequate Presbyterian debate
I have often complained about the poor quality of debate in public discussion and also among Christians. My forth-coming publication about the Book of Job draws attention to this perennial, long-standing human failure. Intelligent, informed debate is essential for progress and community cohesion. As long as the Presbyterian church is unable to debate properly or …
Presbyterian prejudices
I have recently published a few blogposts on Presbyterianism. I am familiar with other branches of Christ's visible church and I critique many unbiblical doctrines promoted by these, but zugological balance necessitates the critique of those that are nearer home. I have already done so with evangelical errors but Presbyterianism itself needs not only a …
The Reformation of Presbyterianism
Current Presbyterianism needs a Reformation as surely as Roman catholicism needed it in the 16th century, and still needs it in the 21st century. Roman catholicism never learned from the Protestant Reformation, but instead it battened down the hatches and carried on worse than before. This is a natural reaction, and not many people learn …
The spirit and form of Presbyterianism
If you ask what Presbyterianism is, you may be told that that it is a form of church government in which the church is structured in a hierarchical manner with lower courts subordinate to higher courts until a General Assembly oversees them all. This is inadequate. This describes the form, not the substance nor the …
Holding the line
Democratic voting is not the answer to "holding the line", whether it is ecclesiastical, political or secular. Democracy works when the loser accepts the result of a vote, but accepting defeat has been abandoned in recent decades. Donald Trump had no sooner won his first term in office as the US President when protests began …
Protest and Reform
Protest and Reform are current political themes. These terms were commonly used in the 16th-century European Reformation and by the Protestantism associated with it. That Reform was a religious movement that continues to the present day, but modern protest and Reform are political movements, with secularism undergirding them. Revolution can also be thrown into this …
The price of losing Christian values
There is a saying: "You won't miss the water till the well runs dry." Britain's wells are running dry. The caring professions are running dry, which many now view simply as jobs without a sense of vocation. Speaking truth is running dry in politics and public life Isa 59:14. Christian conscience is seeping away from …
International socialism
People need to remember that socialism is an ideology and that it is not confined to any one nation. It is an international movement and thus Labour parties throughout the world have an international interest to collaborate in attacking capitalism and its perceived trappings. Australia's Labour Party state premiers plan to snub [at 22:25 hrs] …
