John Elias

John Elias (1774–1841) was a man greatly used of God in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Wales, a mighty gospel preacher through whom God was pleased to revive and establish his people. His name is often lost among those now better known, but his example remains full of lessons to those who long to see God work […]

Bullinger’s Decades

Henry Bullinger’s Decades was a collection of theological addresses arranged into five groups of ten, hence the name. The best known of Bullinger’s works, it provides a sweeping survey of Christian faith and life, and outsold Calvin’s Institutes when first published in England. Why was it so popular? How well has it stood the test of time? What can […]

Luther and the Peasants’ War

Through 1524 into 1525, a popular uprising swept across what is now Germany, touching Alsace, Austria, and Switzerland. Luther, himself very much a man of the people, moved from ambivalence to condemnation, putting the worst of himself on display. The revolt was soon brutally crushed. In this paper we will trace the causes, progress, and […]

Greatheart: Portrait of a Pilgrim Pastor

While Puritan history provides us with stimulating examples of pastoral practice, and Puritan literature abounds with profound treatises on pastoral duty, the portrait which John Bunyan provides in The Pilgrim’s Progress offers a vivid and lively portrait of the pastor in action. The allegorical setting provides the opportunity to take a view of pastoral ministry which sets […]

The Salter’s Hall Debates

The Salter’s Hall debates, beginning in early 1719, have become a proverbial point of reference for debates about the Trinity and—in connection with that—the value of creedal subscription. But what was the nature of those debates, who was involved, and what was the impact in the churches of the time? These are not remote considerations, […]

The Council of Nicaea

What does it mean for the man Jesus of Nazareth to be God? What is the difference between God and creation? These are only two of the questions about the nature of God and the person of Christ that the early church struggled to answer. The Council of Nicaea was convened in 325A.D. as an […]