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....
November 4, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Anglican Theology & Practice | Tags: Anglican, Anglicanism, Reformation, Thirty-Nine Articles, Eucharist, Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, sacraments, Eucharistic Adoration, transubstantiation, Book of Common Prayer, Cranmer, Gerald Bray, Anglican Theology, Word and Sacrament, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
This article examines whether the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion forbid Eucharistic adoration. Drawing on Articles 25 and 28 and Gerald Bray’s The Faith We Confess, it explains why Anglicans reject reservation, elevation, and adoration of the consecrated elements, and instead embrace Word and Sacrament as Christ’s appointed means of grace....
Keep ReadingNovember 4, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Liturgy | Tags: Eucharist, Book of Common Prayer, 1662 BCP, Post-Communion Prayer, grace and gratitude, Reformation theology, Lord’s Supper, Prayer of Oblation, Anglican liturgy, Trinitarian prayer, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
This reflection explores the Prayer After Communion in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (often called the Prayer of Oblation). Gospel-shaped and Trinitarian, the prayer moves from thanksgiving to Christ’s merits, to self-offering, grace, humility, and doxology. It beautifully embodies the gospel of grace and gratitude: grace first, gratitude second....
Keep ReadingOctober 29, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Reformation Solas | Tags: works, grace, faith, assurance, justification, sola fide, Love, Reformation, George Hunsinger, Jonathan Edwards, dispositional soteriology, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, imputed righteousness, Anglican, Thirty Nine Articles, Reformation Day, Calvin, Luther, Turretin
This article examines George Hunsinger’s critique of Jonathan Edwards’s “dispositional soteriology,” showing how Edwards blurred the line between faith and love in justification. Against this, the Reformation upholds sola fide: we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone with love and good works as necessary fruits but never the ground of ...
Keep ReadingSeptember 18, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Ecclesiology | Tags: church, mission, marks, preaching, baptism, Lord’s Supper, means of grace, gospel, Reformation, Anglican, michael horton, Word and Sacrament, Discipleship, theology, evangelism, worship, sacraments, grace, Gratitude, Christ, ACNA, covenant theology, Visible Church, Holy Communion, Holy Eucharist, Means of Gratitude, Means of Obedience
This article explains how the mission of the Church is defined by its marks — preaching, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. These means of grace are God’s strategy for delivering Christ to His people and sending the Church into the world....
Keep ReadingAugust 14, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Patristic Theology | Tags: Gregory Nazianzen, Cyril of Jerusalem, Eastern Church Fathers, Penal Substitutionary Atonement, Justin Martyr, Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, Patristic Theology, Early Christianity, Christ’s Sacrifice, Divine Justice, Atonement Doctrine, Nicene Fathers, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Christian Theology
Explore the teachings of Eastern Church Fathers—Justin Martyr (c. 100–165 AD), Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373 AD), Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313–386 AD), Gregory Nazianzen (c. 329–390 AD), and John Chrysostom (c. 347–407 AD)—on Jesus' penal substitutionary atonement. This post compiles key quotes from their writings, sourced from the Ante-Nicene Fathers an...
Keep ReadingAugust 7, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Ecclesiology | Tags: Anglican, English Reformation, 1662 Book of Common Prayer, 39 Articles, ordained ministry, Article 23, rogue Evangelicals, unauthorized teaching, doctrinal unity, church oversight
This article examines how Article 23 of the 39 Articles, rooted in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, ensures lawful ministry. It tackles Evangelicalism’s issue of self-appointed, unauthorized Bible teachers, promoting ordained oversight to safeguard confessional unity. ...
Keep ReadingAugust 6, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Paedocommunion | Tags: faith, covenant theology, baptism, sacraments, Lord's Supper, reformed theology, J.V. Fesko, Paedocommunion, Christian doctrine
Explore J.V. Fesko’s reasoned argument against paedocommunion, highlighting the distinct roles of baptism and the Lord's Supper, the necessity of faith, and the theological progression within the covenant....
Keep ReadingAugust 6, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Church History | Tags: means of grace, Pelagianism, reformed theology, Church History, Cane Ridge, revival, Second Great Awakening, Charles Finney, ordained ministry, emotionalism
This article marks the 224th anniversary of the Cane Ridge revival (August 6, 1801), critiquing revivalism's negative impact on the church. It examines how it bypasses ordained ministry, neglects the means of grace for emotionalism, and reflects Charles Finney’s Pelagian influence, urging a return to Reformation principles. ...
Keep ReadingJuly 23, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Worship and Church Tradition | Tags: cross of Christ, sign of the cross, theology of the cross, Church History, Cyril of Jerusalem, early church, ancient Christianity, Christian practice, embodied faith, catechesis, fourth century, Christian devotion, liturgical practice, spiritual formation, Christian worship, making the sign of the cross, patristics, Christian tradition, cruciform living, public witness
Discover how St. Cyril of Jerusalem, a 4th-century bishop, encouraged early Christians to boldly confess their faith by making the sign of the cross. This post explores the ancient, embodied practice as a powerful expression of worship and allegiance to Christ that predates later church divisions and remains relevant for believers today....
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Reformation Theology | Tags: sola scriptura, gospel-centered, Liturgy, Reformation, Protestant worship, Thomas Cranmer, Reformers, reformed theology, superstition, Anglican, Reformation Anglicanism, Church of England, English Reformation, Cranmer, Church Ceremonies, Church History, Worship Reform, Liturgical Practices, Ceremony, Church Edification, Christian Festivals, Gospel Clarity, Christ-Centered Worship, Justification by Faith, Gospel Proclamation, Biblical Worship, Gospel Reformation, Worship and the Gospel, Ceremonies and the Gospel, Historic Anglicanism
A concise summary of Thomas Cranmer’s reasoning for removing ceremonies that obscured the gospel or burdened consciences, while retaining those that fostered faith, order, and clarity in worship....
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