The Real Philosophy of Presbyterianism. By Douglas J. Douma [A speech given Oct 21, 2026 at the Presbyterian Scholars Conference, Harbor House, Wheaton College] What is the real philosophy of Presbyterianism? When we think of Presbyterianism and philosophy we might be led to discussions of Scottish Common Sense Realism, or of Francis Hutcheson’s
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Just the other day my Amish friend “John the Baptist” told me that he sang “How Great Thou Art” when he was thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. And that brought back memories because I too had sung that song on my thru-hike, and for the same reason; verse 2. The second verse of the hymn goes
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Below are the notes for a series of 20 lessons on American Presbyterian Church History that I presented at Unionville Presbyterian Church (BPC) in 2025-2026. American Presbyterian Church History – Sunday School
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The question “is there a pastor shortage?” is likely to elicit an emotional response. It is much like the question, “should teachers get paid more?” No doubt, many people, without research or reason would immediately answer “yes” to each of these questions. But understanding is superior to emotion, and we ought to have reasons for
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Cornelius Van Til, Letters from America, edited by Daniel Ragusa, was published in 2025, but I just heard about it now, having been given a copy. The subtitle of the book is “A Dutch Reformed Perspective for Orthodoxy in American Presbyterianism (1935-1940).” This subject and era of church history is of great interest to me,
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I saw a stat recently that said there are 35,000 Roman Catholic priests in America. I am quite astounded by how small that number is. I’m not astounded that the number has declined over the decades; that fact I’m well aware of. But I am astounded at how small that number is. For comparison, there
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All Truth is God’s Truth by Arthur F. Holmes, Eerdman’s Publishing, 1977, 145 pp. “All Truth is God’s Truth” is not only the title of this book, but a popular phrase among many Christian apologists. The phrase sounds good in and of itself but leaves big questions of epistemology unanswered and even risks falling
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There has long been two peaks in the demographics of thruhikers on Appalachian Trail; they are either 22 years of age or 62; they are either just out of college or just retired. But recently I’ve noticed a major trend that really has surprised me. A new large demographic of hikers is men age 35-45
Checking In with those who have checked out. Read More »
Hey —–, Your mom said that you would be interested to know more about the subject of forgiveness from the Bible. I was just preaching a sermon from the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus healed a paralyzed man after saying, “Take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven.” This was a striking statement to
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I broke out the old excel to make some charts to better see the trends in the PCUSA (Presbyterian Church USA) since it took that name in a merger in 1983 and until today. Anyone who knows anything of American Presbyterianism knows that the PCUSA is a liberal group and has suffered massive declines over
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In the title of this post I originally typed “Dr.” in front of “Dwight F. Zeller.” And indeed he had a doctorate in Greek Language from Eastern Baptist in Philadelphia. Yet, I don’t recall him hardly ever using the title “Dr.” He was not the sort to emphasize that. And so I removed it from
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