In Article 53 of the Church Order of the Canadian Reformed Churches, we are told that the churches ought to commemorate the central New Covenant acts of salvation—namely, Christ’s birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Yet, sometimes, we can feel that this is a holdover from late medieval superstition. After […]

The last of the days for commemoration listed in the Reformed Church Order is Pentecost. It is a day with which Reformed people sometimes seem to be ill at ease. Pentecost prompts articles on “The Holy Spirit: The Forgotten Person of the Trinity?” (a question sometimes answered positively and sometimes negatively) or “John Calvin: Theologian […]

When Peter, as the spokesman for the disciples, confesses who Jesus is, he declares, “Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). These parallel titles, “Messiah” and “Son of the living God”, are both royal titles. “Messiah” essentially means the “divinely appointed king of Israel.” The “Son of God” is a […]