The tensions and inconsistencies that I have attempted to illustrate in this book review beg another question: What kind of reformation is The Gift of Life after? The answer Professor Vorster appears to provide is one of “flourishing personhood” that roots out of church and society the dehumanizing idols of racism, sexism,Continue Reading
The roots of Reformed covenant theology are as deep as the Christian revelation and tradition is old. Its importance to the Reformed faith cannot be overstated. The great Princeton theologian, B.B. Warfield, called federal (covenant) theology, “architectonic principle” of the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647). Early Fathers: present but undevelopedUntilContinue Reading
Colossians chapter 2, verses 8 to 15: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells inContinue Reading
For some years, I have complained about Baptist squatters in the Reformed house. These are those Baptists who insist on re-defining the adjective Reformed. As it turns out, however, this habit of squatting is not new at all. Indeed, one of the earliest examples occurred in 1680. I use theContinue Reading
As Reformed Christians, we confess that infants of believing parents (or of at least one believing parent) should be baptised. Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 74 asks, “Should infants, too, be baptised?” Answer: Yes. Infants as well as adults belong to God’s covenant and congregation.[1] Through Christ’s blood, the redemption fromContinue Reading
This is the argument of my friend (you hear his voice in the introduction to the Heidelcast) Jason Estopinal. He appeals to Proverbs 10:19, 1 Thessalonians 4:11, Philippians 4:8, Proverbs 3:30 and Matthew 18 and concludes that Christians should not be fascinated by what one critic has called the “failureContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste and Johannes Potgieter It is our opinion that the 1942 RCSA revision of Article 69 was based on a church historical hermeneutic that set the stage for her more radical revision in 2012. As described above, the decision of the 2012 Synod turned on the assumption thatContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste and Johannes Potgieter By 1930 the tide appears to have begun to change within the RCSA relative to song in corporate worship. That this shift coincided with a similar change in the convictions of Totius (as described above) should not go unnoticed. Between 1930 and 1942, theContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste and Johannes Potgieter Undisputed is the fact that the Doppers desired and realised a return to the 1619 Church Order of Dort (Louw 1999:597). Scholars are in agreement that the secession of the VGK from the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk (NHK) had much to do with what wasContinue Reading
Scott Korljan, the pastor of Scottsdale Church Plant in Arizona, interviewed Simon Jooste, the pastor of Reformed Church Southern Suburbs, on his podcast “No Lasting City” in November 2021. Among other things, Simon spoke about how he came to return to South Africa after studying and working the United StatesContinue Reading