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On Images of Christ on Websites

December 1, 2017 · by Cameron Shaffer · in Uncategorized

Brad Isbell and D.G. Hart have raised criticisms of the Presbyterian council members of The Gospel Coalition for tolerating, or at the very least refusing to acknowledge the confessional incongruences that come from tolerating, the use and praise of images of Christ at TGC website. I have deep reservations about parachurch groups and the “networks are the future of Christianity” ethos of TGC. I also affirm the Westminster Standards’ understanding of the law and the regulative principle. The Reformed tradition’s history of exegesis on the second commandment notwithstanding, I do believe Isbell and Hart have misunderstood our confessional documents on this issue. It is the Standards, after all, which we have vowed to uphold, not the exegetical tradition…

On Abandoning The Filioque Clause

November 6, 2017 · by Cameron Shaffer · in Uncategorized

Theological representatives from the Anglican Communion and the Oriental Orthodox Churches have signed an agreement on the Procession of the Holy Spirit. Part of this statement includes the Anglican Communion agreeing with the Orthodox that the Nicene Creed should not have had the filioque (and from the Son) clause added to it, and that they will be urging their constituent churches to remove it…

On Presbyterians and Infant Dedication

August 12, 2017 · by Cameron Shaffer · in Uncategorized

David Roberston, a minister of the Free Church in Dundee, has been in the midst of a debate surrounding Presbyterians administering infant dedications. Paul Levy of East Ealing and Donald Macleod have been his most prominent interlocutors. A lot of clutter has confused the discussion, and I believe it could benefit from some clarity.  I have a lot of respect for all of the men involved in the debate, and owe a great deal of debt to the Free Church, but I believe my distance geographically and historically from British evangelicalism can provide some needed perspective…

On Exceptions and the Binding of Conscience

March 12, 2017 · by Cameron Shaffer · in Uncategorized

A few years ago I was sitting in a presbytery meeting of the PCA where several candidates for ordination were under examination. All had taken exception to the Westminster Standard’s prohibition on recreation on the Lord’s Day, and those exceptions had been accepted by the presbytery. A few members of the presbytery informed the candidates that though the exceptions were granted, they were not allowed to teach them as they contradicted the confession. This elicited a large amount of discussion from the gathered presbyters, and the overwhelming consensus reached, and later affirmed at a following meeting after consultation with the PCA’s stated clerk, was that in granting the exception, the presbytery was allowing the candidates to teach what they believed. To do otherwise would be to bind their conscience to something they did not believe scripture commanded, which in turn would violate the Westminster Standards.

In other instances, I have seen candidates take exceptions where they affirm paedocommunion or reject that divorce is permissible under any circumstances. In both cases the candidates stated that they would bind their own conscience and refrain teaching these positions. My observation is that the presbyteries approved them only because of those assurances, although I know pastors who voted against allowing either exception or ordination on the grounds that you cannot forbid a minister from teaching what they believe…

On Doubt and Revival

February 22, 2017 · by Cameron Shaffer · in Uncategorized

So often the premise of revival is doubt. “Are you really saved?” “Have you changed enough in order to prove salvation?” “Do you actually believe?” “Growing up in church isn’t enough – you have to have a transformed life. Is…

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