June 12, 2024 by John Fonville
Carl Trueman clarifies a common misconception that is popular among Evangelicals concerning the Protestant Reformation doctrine of sola scriptura....
July 26, 2023 by John Fonville
J.C. Ryle answers the common arguments in favor of “Baptismal Regeneration,” which are based on the Baptismal Service of the Prayer-book. ...
July 14, 2023 by John Fonville
J.V. Fesko on the sacraments as visible words- a visible proclamation of the gospel....
July 13, 2023 by John Fonville
J.V. Fesko on the Word of God as the chief means of grace. ...
July 7, 2023 by John Fonville
Martin Davie explains from the homily, ‘Of Prayer’ in the Second Book of Homilies, how the English Reformers taught that the only true purgatory is the death of Christ and no other purgation is either necessary or possible....
May 15, 2023 by John Fonville
Why Use Written Prayers?- Why does your church use prewritten prayers in your service? Isn't this a dry, rote, unthinking, way for the church to pray and worship? Don't pre-written prayers stifle the Spirit and hinder freedom and promote mechanical, vain repetition? Aren't spontaneous prayers more genuine and heartfelt than prewritten prayers? ...
May 5, 2023 by John Fonville
This writing of Martin Luther is from the introduction to his “Postils” (a group of model sermons which he wrote while at the Wartburg Castle). This brief foreword is full of comfort and good news. In it, Luther sets forth insightful instruction on how to read the Gospels (and the entirety of Scripture- the OT and NT)....
August 25, 2022 by John Fonville
My argument is this: By the year 1700, Protestant Christianity had begun developing significantly new practices and understandings of the Christian faith that focused upon Christian renewal, conversion, new birth and the coming millennial kingdom. These new practices and understandings were a dramatic departure not only from Roman Catholic Christianity, but also from the original Reformation convictions of Martin Luther and John Calvin some one hundred and fifty years earlier. Evangelical Christianity, of the free church variety especially, is the contemporary expression of this third form of Christianity. Probably most Evangelicals are unaware that their Christian experience and piety are far removed from Reformation Protestant beginnings. Evangelicals would do well to recover their lost heritage....
August 20, 2022 by John Fonville
Martin Luther's primary concern when constructing the German mass and order of the liturgy in 1526 was that the gospel be proclaimed for the people in their context....
July 28, 2022 by John Fonville
Martin Luther on the worthy reception of the Lord's Supper....
May 13, 2026 by John Fonville | Category: Law and Gospel | Tags: law and gospel, Reformation theology, gospel, law, scripture, hermeneutics, martin luther, reformed theology, Anglicanism, Reformation Anglicanism, Christ-Centered Preaching, assurance, Justification by Faith Alone, means of grace, Biblical theology, Confessional Theology, heidelberg catechism, Thirty-Nine Articles, Westminster Confession, gospel-centered, Law Gospel Distinction, theology, christian life, preaching, Bible, Protestant Reformation
Many Christians speak about “getting in the Word,” but what word? Scripture is not a flat, undifferentiated message. In the Reformation tradition, God speaks in Scripture in two fundamentally different ways: law and gospel. The law exposes sin and reveals our need for Christ; the gospel announces what Christ has done for sinners and gives forgiveness, righteousness, pe...
Keep ReadingJanuary 12, 2026 by John Fonville | Category: Biblical Interpretation | Tags: covenant theology, jesus christ, evangelicalism, Suffering, Dispensationalism, exile, reformed theology, hermeneutics, providence, Isaiah 60, Biblical Interpretation, Christ Centered Scripture, American Evangelicalism, Zion, Triumph Theology, Scripture Misuse, Gospel Centered, Church Teaching, Football, Sports, Sports Culture, Faith and Sports
Isaiah 60:22 is often used in American Evangelical culture as a slogan for personal success and “perfect timing.” This article explains why that use strips the verse from its covenantal, Christ-centered context and turns Scripture into a tool for validating outcomes. By placing Isaiah 60 within the story of exile, promise, and fulfillment in Christ, the piece shows how...
Keep ReadingDecember 2, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Reformation Anglicanism | Tags: sola scriptura, heidelberg catechism, gospel, Regeneration, Reformation, creeds, Anglicanism, hermeneutics, Thirty-Nine Articles, Carl Trueman, Anglican Theology, prima Scriptura, biblical authority, Tradition 1, Tradition 2, Tradition 0, Keith Mathison, Scripture and tradition, church tradition
Some Anglicans describe biblical authority using the phrase prima Scriptura, placing the Church’s tradition as the lens through which Scripture is interpreted. This article explains why the Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura is fundamentally different. Drawing on Keith Mathison’s categories of Tradition 0, Tradition 1, and Tradition 2, and Carl Trueman’s insights...
Keep ReadingMay 1, 2020 by John Fonville | Tags: graeme goldsworthy, Reformation, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, Five Solas, Scripture alone, Reformation solas, Reformation Anglicanism, hermeneutics
Graeme Goldsworthy on the Four Reformation Solas: Grace alone, Christ alone, Scripture alone, Faith alone....
Keep ReadingOctober 4, 2017 by John Fonville | Tags: law and gospel, covenant theology, zacharias ursinus, reformed theology, hermeneutics
Zacharias Ursinus, author of the Heidelberg Catechism, discusses the law and gospel. Ursinus refers to the law and gospel the "chief and most expressive mark of the true church."...
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