The Covenant Communicator: Comments on stories by Todd Cobb

Todd Cobb — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:01:00 GMT

The summarization listed in this article was first printed in Penpoint Vol 1, January 1994 and posted as a free article on www.cmfnow.com. I would encourage students of apologetics to remember that the primary reason for giving a defense of our faith is not simply to cast down arguments, but to provide a means for evangelism. As Dr. Bahnsen has stated in another article “The very reason why Christians are put in the position of giving a reasoned account of the hope that is in them is that not all men have faith. Because there is a world to be evangelized (men who are unconverted), there is the need for the believer to defend his faith: Evangelism naturally brings one into apologetics. This indicates that apologetics is no mere matter of “intellectual jousting”; it is a serious matter of life and death – eternal life and death”.

Daniel Wellons — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:09:31 GMT

Well said! We began memorizing this passage a couple of weeks ago at home.

Scott Hollander — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:51:40 GMT

There is a story about D. L. Moody making a visit to Scotland in the 1800’s and opening one of his talks at a local grade school with the rhetorical question, What is prayer? To his amazement, hundreds of children’s hands went up. So he decided to call on a lad near the front, who promptly stood up and said, “Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of his Spirit, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.” This is the answer to question #98 in the Westminster Catechism. To this Moody responded by saying, “Be thankful, son, that you were born in Scotland.”

I too believe that the catechism’s are a critical part of growth for us and our children. It is important for believers to know what they believe and know how to express it. The other importance is giving our children the skills to grow into good doctrine with the knowledge of it before they can even understand it all. I also find them a great source of comfort: (Heidelberg Catechism)
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

Scott Hollander — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 03:45:07 GMT

Good report, thanks for the update.