Coram Deo literally means "before the face of God". It carries the notion of our living in the presence of God, under the authority of God and to the honor and glory of God. It is what each person was designed for by their Creator. Living "coram Deo" has been best expressed perhaps by the Reformation tradition of the Church. The Reformers recaptured and championed the great "solas" - sola scriptura (Scripture alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola gratia (grace alone), soli Christo (Christ alone) - soli Deo gloria! (to God alone be glory).

This classical theology (and its historic creeds and confessions) of Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Hodge, B. B. Warfield, Francis Schaeffer, John Gertsner, J. I. Packer, James Montgomery Boice, R. C. Sproul, John Piper, Michael Horton and so many others is what the Church today must reaffirm under the conviction and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our joy, our satisfaction, our delight and our very lives are to be in God and for Him alone. Augustine put it this way,"He loves Thee too little, who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for Thy sake." This site is dedicated to sharing some resources on this great theological framework with hope it will encourage serious reflection on the awesome truth, beauty, goodness, power and majesty of Jesus Christ.

What's the Reformation Tradition?

Perhaps the principal doctrinal distinctive of Reformed theology is its understanding of the nature and character of God. This material contains a number of helpful statements and descriptions by such people as C. H. Spurgeon, Loraine Boettner, B. B. Warfield, and Michael Horton as well as texts and commentaries on the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Canons of Dordt and the Heidelberg Catechism.

The Essential George Whitefield Page

In his new book, "Five Great Evangelists", John Armstrong writes,"One of the most remarkable evangelists that ever lived, George Whitefield (pronounced Whitfield), impacted the eighteenth century religious scene with such effect that the mark he left still profoundly influences evangelical Christianity...Certainly no English-speaking evangelist has ever preached the gospel with more effect and determination than George Whitefield. Whatever history concludes regarding other great evangelists the amazing life of George Whitefield demonstrates that he belongs with the greatest evangelists of all time. Undoubtedly, he was a massively effective popular preacher. He moved the masses as no-one before him and hardly anyone since. His life is filled with instruction for Christians today." This thorough going Calvinist sparked America's Great Awakening. George Whitefield also in fact the founder of the movement called Methodism and the man whom Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher, called his role model. Whitefield's deep passion for the Gospel and strong doctrinal preaching of the alien righteousness of Christ revealed from faith to faith (Rom 1:17) stirred the hearts of thousands across colonial America. The Church would do well to re-familiarize itself with the life, work and theology of this great man of God.

Responding to Arminianism

Here are some good, lucid responses to Arminianism, Semi-Pelegianism and Pelagianism.

Some Great Quotations About Faith and Life

The great Reformed Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon once wrote that "The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he no brain of his own." Here are some rich and rewarding quotations that I have used and meditated upon over the years about faith, life and living coram Deo."Trust the past to God's mercy, the present to God's love and the future to God's providence." - St. Augustine

"Not to us Lord but to your name be glory" - Psalm 115:1

God's righteous passion and delight are to display and uphold His infinitely valuable glory for the enjoyment of the redeemed in all the nations. Drawing upon the work of John Piper, here explore the remarkably abundant and deep Scriptural foundation for God being radically God-centered. Text upon text in the Bible describe God's relentless pursuit of His praise and glory from creation to consummation.

THE BEATIFIC VISION
To see God is the promised goal of all our actions and the promised height of all our joys."
-St. Augustine

"Don't be squeezed into the mold of this world..."

Romans 12:2 (Phillips)

Many older hymns of the Church speak of our sin and God's wrath. They also praise God's character and attributes. They bring conviction and repentance as they invoke a sense of awe and wonder at God's majesty, excellency and beauty. Many of these hymns follow a practical systematic theology of Guilt, Grace and Gratitude. Traditional hymns, like those of Martin Luther, Augustus Toplady, John Newton and William Cowper, are rich with theological content and depth. Yet the "ole ones" seemingly aren't much in vogue these days. Much contemporary Christian music appeals to sensual experience at the expense of loving God with our minds. Praise and worship music laden with saccharine sentimentality is a serious reflection of theological anemia among our assemblies. Michael Horton has characterized some of this as "Jesus, my boy friend music". Just as not all prayer is pleasing to God, not all music we sing is either. Amos 5:23 says, "Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps." Subjective, inane experience comes often at the expense of rightly dividing the Word.

As disheartening as this is, there are some modern Christian songs that appeal to contemporary musical tastes, carry sound doctrinal messages and are truly God-centered worship and praise. Jonathan Edwards, who knew God's reality with his head and passionately felt God's reality in the love of his heart, is right when he says, "God glorifies Himself toward the creatures also in two ways: 1. By appearing to . . . their understanding. 2. In communicating Himself to their hearts, and in their rejoicing and delighting in, and enjoying, the manifestations which He makes of Himself. . . God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart." Christian music, therefore, should be an expression of what John Piper calls thinking truly and feeling duly. Such music I believe can be found in the work of such contemporary writer/performers as Reformed troubadour Steve Camp, Reformed rocker Wes King, balladeerDon Francisco, evangelicals Michael Card and Dennis Jernigan, and British charismatic Graham Kendrick, take seriously the whole counsel of God and convey a sense of God's holy character and sovereignty. This Page seeks to explore lyrics of the music of yesteryear and today that convey Scriptural integrity and sound doctrine, irrespective of musical style and genre.

© 1997 Dave Brown's E-mail