Overemphasizing the Family

Is the family more important than the church?  Certainly family is a blessing from God, emphasized in Scripture, and is part of God’s ordinary covenantal way of working his grace in the world.  Family is important for sure!  And as many of our readers know, our culture has been attacking the traditional family unit and…

No More Chemo

Cancer destroys (too) many lives.  Most of us know someone who has struggled or is struggling with some form of cancer; some of our readers are perhaps dealing with it right now.  In this context, the question sometimes arises: should I undergo or forgo chemotherapy?  This is a tough question to answer for everyone involved. …

Natural Law Rejects the Idea of Human Autonomy

 Many Reformers and Post-Reformation theologians talked about laws of nature – natural laws that God has fixed in creation and in humans.  John Calvin, William Ames, Francis Turretin, John Owen, the Westminster Confession, and others used the term “law(s) of nature” favorably and (mostly) in continuity with Christian theologians that preceded them.  In his most…

Bioethics – Body and Soul

Making bioethical decisions is quite often a very difficult and tear-filled process.  I have come to appreciate David VanDrunen’s help in this area: Bioethics and the Christian Life.  As I was looking back at this book recently, I found the following section a helpful reminder to remember as we make bioethical choices.  It has to…

The Two Kingdoms and Christian Ethics

One of the worst misrepresentations of the Reformation teaching of God's two kingdoms that I've heard goes like this: "Two kingdom theology means that we only have to live as Christians on Sunday but not the rest of the week."  This notion is completely mistaken in every way; it is absolutely not at all an…